Winter 2018
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This is especially helpful when it comes to spotted and smallmouth bass.
“It is just as much of a technique as flipping or cranking and something that bass anglers should learn,” he said.
For Iaconelli, knowing when to utilize this technique all starts with seeing fish on his electronics and then judging how the fish are acting.
“If you see streaking fish on the screen on 2D sonar, that shows that the fish is rising up,” he shared. “For these fish, I always keep the bait above them. It is something I learned from ice fishing.”
To keep his bait above the fish at all times, he will visually watch his bait fall to the fish and will stop the line to ensure that it always remains above the fish. He then shakes it in place and says that that is often all of the enticement the fish need.
Another clue for Ike when video game fishing is how the fish are relating to the bottom.
“Usually, the closer to the bottom they are the easier they will be to catch,” he said.
To maximize his Lowrance units for this technique, he makes the following adjustments to his units:
PING SPEED
This setting changes how fast the sonar pings travel to the bottom and also affects how fast things scroll on the screen.
“I turn this setting all the way up and changes it into ‘real-time’ instead of seeing a fish on the screen that may be halfway back under the boat,” he said. “I will often keep the bail of my reel open, index finger on the line and rod tip pointed down until I see a fish just starting to appear on the screen.”
This allows him to be more efficient and get directly to a fish he sees under his boat.
SURFACE CLARITY
Surface Clarity is the other adjustment Iaconelli makes for video gaming bass. He turns the setting up until things are
to his liking.
“This cleans up the screen and makes it easier to see what is on the screen,” he said.
The use of Lowrance electronics to find bass has changed how we fish.
As Ike explained, even the smallest changes in depth, fish activity, and bottom composition can help you land more bass. •
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