To use electronic aids or not?

[elcampo]

I'm new to fishing with electric aids, fish finders, sonar, etc. and I'm not real sure how much benefit they will provide. So should I spend money on a local guide...or opt for a nice fish finder instead? I plan on fishing the OBX Sounds & Chesapeake Bay this summer with light tackle and my two kids. These gizmos look great, but just not sure how much benefit they provide a shallow water fisherman.

Thanks for your responses.

198 DLV Skiff

[Southerly]

i'd say both if you can afford it. otherwise, i guess it's up to your personal philosophy. catch fish today (guide) or possibly catch fish today with increasing probability of catching fish as you go along.

me, i'd even rather skunk with a fishfinder than without. at times, i've picked up absolutely invaluable fishing information with FF; including actual picking up fish sometimes. around $100 gets good technology by top names like garmin for example. indicates bait fish, larger fish, depth, bottom hardness, and water temperature.

the next step up is FF/chart plotter - now you not only know how deep you are but how deep it is up ahead and to the sides, and fish location, bottom, temp,... this technology costs a good deal more.

[Seahunter]

There is a reason why surf fisherman say that boat fisherman cheat.:wink44:

Unless you can look over the side and see the fish, I don't see what the depth of the water has to do with it. I wouldn't leave the dock w/o my FF or chartplotter.

[hardhead]

Yeah... get that extra weight out of the boat...It will make it easier for you and the kids to push the skiff off the sand bars in the Banks.Take a spare prop and tools... Those channel markers are really just a one time guess in the Albermarle and Pamlico sounds.

[n2striper]

A fish finder helps you find drop offs,bait,structure,and most fish. A GPS will get you back to port in a storm of fog. A GPS helps me land more fish because I can mark the spot on a drift where I caught a flounder and allows me to pull up and drift over the SAME SPOT. I think they are a must. Year to year you can go back to the same locations with the same conditions where you caught fish. My $0.02.