How deep does my fishfinder need to be rated for?

So Ive been trying to figure out this fishfinder choice.  I will be fishing salt for the most part but will be fishing some very deep water lakes. Out in the salt it can be pretty common to not be that far off shore and you will be in 500 feet of water. I dont think any of the lakes will be deeper than 300.

Ive been eyballing the lowrance elite 5. I really like that down imaging sonor. Most of that stuff is limited to 250 ft. Now lets assume your in 500 feet of water. Will that sonar still pick up fish that are within range even though its not hitting bottom?

The only real reason I can see to have a deep ranging sonar would be for halibut fishing. but even then I dont think I would want to fish deeper than 250ft

DSI limits your depth finding capabilities due to the high frequency of the sonar (455/800kHz).  Non-DSI will get you a lot deeper as the dual frequency runs (usually) at 83/200kHz. 

I'm not an expert, and if this is wrong someone please correct me, but I don't think it matters how deep the water is relative to your sonar's capabilities WRT finding fish.  E.g. if you're in 800 FOW, but your sonar will only go down to 250ft, you should still be able to mark fish/bait/etc down to 250ft deep.

Will that sonar still pick up fish that are within range even though its not hitting bottom?

Yes

Your only possible issue would be if the software in your FF gets confused if it can not find the bottom and screws up the signal. You may need to switch to a manual mode if your FF is constantly hunting for the bottom and changing ranges.

For 99% of the normal fishing from a kayak u do in AK, 300 ft is plenty. BUT I need one that goes at least to 500 ft so I can set shrimp pots. Also, more than once I caught much larger rockfish when I got bored and sent a big bait down to 300 to 400ft.  I will say its a work out hauling one cod after another from 300ft. I only do it when I get bored or desperate.

One of the next evolutions in my kayak fishing is hopefully a daiwa dehndo reel to dredge up fish from 2000 ft or better. I'm likely not going to get a sonar that powerful but rely on charts. Black cod, shortraker rockfish and halibut. Hopefully less pressured by fishermen...so the theory goes.... Lol. I can dream, right?


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...One of the next evolutions in my kayak fishing is hopefully a daiwa dehndo reel to dredge up fish from 2000 ft or better. ...

2000' of 50# braid is about $150 worth of line!  Unfortunately in Puget Sound one cannot fish deeper than 120' for bottomfish, except halibut. 

2000'. Do you just lower the line for a bit, wait and then reel in and hope you have some thing or is it possible to feel a bite that is .4 miles away.

Do you use an a mushroom or a claw anchor at that depth

...One of the next evolutions in my kayak fishing is hopefully a daiwa dehndo reel to dredge up fish from 2000 ft or better. ...

2000' of 50# braid is about $150 worth of line!  Unfortunately in Puget Sound one cannot fish deeper than 120' for bottomfish, except halibut. 

You can get 1500 yard spools of 65# power pro for under $90 on Ebay.    :-)

(oops!  Checked my receipt, it was $93.99 with shipping)

2000'. Do you just lower the line for a bit, wait and then reel in and hope you have some thing or is it possible to feel a bite that is .4 miles away.

Quality braid has almost no stretch, so feeling a bite shouldn't be that difficult.

I sure hope you have a dual speed reel though.  Reeling up at 4.2 or so to 1 would suck big time. 

Uhh... Electric reel? 

I have no idea how it's done. I hear drop time can be 10 minutes. I have heard that if you drop over mud your lead can get so stuck you can't pull it out. So hopefully fish about a third of the way down unless I have some intel the bottom is hard.

No anchoring! Lol. Drift with current, peddle to compensate for wind. Other than the reel and line, the extra funds will have to go to a beefier battery.

A few power boats do it here. I LOVE black cod. The shortraker rockfish are HUGE(a big one can be 40 inches and 40 pounds!) and hopefully the halibut untouched.

I'm getting my info mainly from my commercial longlining fishing buddies who say to catch the rockfish and black cod the preferred depth is 2500 ft or more.

Not sure I can pull it off this year but its on the list of things to do!


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Uhh... Electric reel? 

Yeah yeah....there's a definite wimp factor but from that depth it's just a function of reality.  It maybe a stupid fruitless adventure, but I'm hoping not only for the target species but a few oddities as well.  The technology has improved a lot. They sell quite a few of the reels so I think someone is doing it....but not telling. Drives me nuts.  Gotta know!!!!


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Other than sitting in a store's case,  I have only seen one of those Daiwa's on the water once.   Granted I didn't get to see it in action.   Years ago I went out on a charter to fish in the 500 to 700 foot range.   One of the other guys walked on the boat carrying a rod with no reel and what looked like a tool box.   Later when the captain announced we were getting near the fishing area,  the guy opened up the case and pulled out one of those electric Daiwa's he had apparently purchased just for that trip.  When he found out the boat didn't have accommodations for him to plug it in, he threw a Hissy Fit.

  Guess he neglected to talk to the captain before hand or invest in the battery kit.
Everyone was busting his b@lls for spending that kind of money and still having to wear out his arm like the rest of us.

Being the cheap skate that I am,  I wonder if this would be a good cheap route to go:

http://www.tackletogo.com/1540232.html





 

Let's say you hook a 40lb fish at 2000'.  No self-contained battery powered reel is going to fight that fish for 2000 feet.  You are going to have to reel in your fish from a long, long, ways down.  You could get an electric downrigger, a marine battery, and replace the cable with braid.

You can get 1500 yard spools of 65# power pro for under $90 on Ebay.    :-)

(oops!  Checked my receipt, it was $93.99 with shipping)

Despite having bought a 1500 yard spool in the past, I confused feet and yards - doh!

Let's say you hook a 40lb fish at 2000'.  No self-contained battery powered reel is going to fight that fish for 2000 feet.  You are going to have to reel in your fish from a long, long, ways down.  You could get an electric downrigger, a marine battery, and replace the cable with braid.

The electric reel will be plugged in to a separate battery in the hull. I agree that even with that I'm only going to get a limited number of drops.

I don't think you can use an electric downrigger since I think any use of electric reels for sportfishing can't be attached to the hull.

The real target species is black cod so they won't be too big of a fish. I hook a monster then I guess it's a one fish kind of day if I can even land it. I drop to 600 ft using a small avet sx on occasion. So if it's only once or twice a day I can handle manually reeling them in when you factor in adrenalin.

Sorry Matt for hijacking the thread!


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