Photo: FLW
Bass anglers rely on their electronics for different uses. Some are glued to their screens as they idle looking for structure and others would rather find fish with their rod and reel. FLW Tour pro James Watson is one of those who would rather be fishing with his rod and reel, but he still says his Lowrance units are one of the most important things on his boat.
There are some pro anglers like Mark Rose and Randy Haynes who are noted for their prowess with electronics for offshore fish. Watson explained that he used his electronics differently.
“For me, my Lowrance units are tools that are good for many things besides just finding fish. It is my way of taking notes, maximizing my practice for tournaments and a way to be more efficient,” he said.
Lowrance Setup - Split Screen Sonar and Map
Watson is admittedly a power fisherman who likes to fish fast, but he is always keeping his eye on his front graph.
“I split the screen of my front graph to one-half 2D sonar and one-half showing the map. Even if I am throwing a big topwater bait very quickly, I will always be watching my graph and will have a drop-shot ready to drop on fish,” he said, adding that this is one of the best ways to catch big single fish cruising along points during the summer. “You will see the streaks of fish, the ones that I called 'sphagetti’d up' and those are fish you can drop down on and catch if you are paying attention to your Lowrance.”
Mapping Docks with Electronics
One of Watson’s favorite ways to catch bass on his home lake, Table Rock in Missouri, during the summer is fishing deep docks with a spoon.
Finding the right docks and more importantly, the depth can be sped up with the use of his Lowrance units and Navionics Hotmaps Platinum card.
“It is really easy to see which docks are deeper because those will stick out further when you are looking at your map and it really stands out which ones are over deep contour lines,” he said. Once he finds the right depth, he can look for similar areas.
“You might see a series of docks that are perpendicular to the shore versus parallel and those are the ones they may be on. Once you find the type of docks the fish are using and the right depth, you can easily replicate that all over the lake,” said Watson.
Video: Loading Navionics Card, Saving WPTS and Orange Panels
Electronics Approaching a New Lake
Similarly to how he looks for docks, Watson will use his electronics to scout out potentially good areas before he even hits the water on a new lake.
“I will use something like the stop sign symbol to remind me to stop and check that area out when I am on the water,” he began, adding that he uses this method along with Google Earth to develop a plan.
Using Trails for Tournament Practice
The trail feature on Lowrance units are helpful for anglers who want to navigate the same direction when they return to the ramp, but it also helps to show where you have and haven’t fished. Watson keeps his trails showing at all times and changes colors based on the day.
“I have a system where I will use black on the first day of practice for a tournament, red the second day and blue on the third day. This helps me remember which day I was in each area and I can quickly remember if it was a productive area or not,” he shared.
He does this again in the tournaments and uses colors and will also use this to let some areas rest before targeting them again.
“I will use this system during tournaments to make sure I don’t backtrack on areas that weren’t any good and if I was catching them on the last day of practice, I may wait until the second day of the tournament to give the area some more rest,” he said.
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Lowrance Waypoint Management
Like the color trails that Watson uses, he has a similar system for how he manages his waypoints.
“I use different symbols to indicate different things as well as different days. There are so many different symbols you can use and I think it is a good idea to have some sort of system you can remember. I’ll use the signal light to show beds and stop signs to show places I need to come back to,” he shared.
Modern day electronics are powerful computers that can do many different things. Each angler is different in how they use them and like Watson said, develop a system and allow them to work with the way you fish.
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