Fish icons and alarms on a Simrad use the Fish ID feature to place a fish symbol on the screen and, more importantly, sound a beep when something marks, so while trolling you can set a shallow range, ignore the bottom, and get an audible alert to fish in the top of the water column you would otherwise drive right over. In this How 2 Tuesday I sit down with Captain Scott Walker to cover exactly how he sets it up.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
When Scott leaves the bait patch and starts trolling, he sets his bottom machine to a shallow range, around 250 feet even in a thousand feet of water, because he only cares about the top of the water column. Then he turns on Fish ID set to symbols and depths, which puts a fish marker on the screen and, crucially, beeps when something marks. He cannot stare at the screen all day, so the beep turns his head. He shows the setup in the episode.
Because while trolling you only care about fish that will actually come up and bite your bait, not what is sitting on the bottom. Scott sets his bottom machine to about 250 feet even in a thousand feet of water so the screen focuses on the top 300 feet. That keeps the picture relevant to trolling and makes the Fish ID alerts meaningful. He explains the logic in the episode.
Tom thought of it that way for years, but Scott uses it deliberately while trolling. He does not need the fish marker so much as the beep, which alerts him to a mark he would have driven right over while watching his teasers and spread. Used this way, it is an advanced tactic that gets you more marlin, dolphin, and tuna, not a crutch. They discuss the shift in thinking in the episode.
When Scott hears the beep he glances at the screen, sees the fish and its depth, say 150 feet, and makes a couple of loops over the mark. If the fish does not roll up, he at least knows he marked something he would have trolled straight past. The alarm is not loud, but it turns his head and tells him to loop or stay a few more minutes instead of driving in a straight line. He describes it in the episode.
Scott says this one little tip will get you more marlin, dolphin, and tuna, and Tom agrees. The value is the audible beep that catches fish you would otherwise miss while your eyes are on the spread. Instead of randomly driving a straight line, you react to every mark in the strike zone. It is a small setting with an outsized payoff. They explain why in the episode.
There is a feature on a lot of units, Fish ID, that puts a little fish on the screen, and I always filed it under beginner stuff. Then I noticed it turned on in one of Scott Walker's screenshots and realized he was using it on purpose. Scott has a way of taking features people overlook and turning them into real advantages, and this one is a perfect example. Hear why he runs it while trolling in the episode, so press play in the player above.
When Scott leaves the bait patch and starts trolling, he resets his thinking. In a thousand feet of water he sets his bottom machine to about 250 feet because he does not care what is on the bottom, he only wants to know what is in the top 300 feet that might actually bite. Narrowing the range keeps the screen focused on the strike zone. He explains the setup in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Scott turns on Fish ID set to symbols and depths, but he is quick to say he does not need the fish marker so much as the beep. He cannot stare at the machine all day while he is watching his left teaser and his spread, so the audible alert is what does the work. When it beeps, he looks. That is the whole value. He breaks it down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
When the alarm sounds, Scott glances over, sees a fish at 150 feet, and makes a couple of loops over it. If it does not roll up, he still knows he marked something he would have trolled right past. The alarm is not loud, but it turns his head and tells him to loop or linger instead of driving a straight line. He describes how he works a mark in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Reframing Fish ID from a beginner feature to a trolling tool is the lesson here. The beep catches fish you would otherwise miss while your eyes are on the spread, and over a season that adds up to more marlin, dolphin, and tuna. As I told Scott, when you hear a tip like that from him, you go set it up on your own boat. He makes the case in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I went into this thinking fish icons were for beginners and came out setting them up on my own boat. The icon is incidental, the beep is the point, and the beep is what keeps your spread over fish.
Set your range shallow, turn on Fish ID with the alarm, and let your ears do some of the work while your eyes stay on the teasers. Press play in the player above for Scott's full explanation.
Captain Scott Walker · Into the Blue · Simrad · Fish ID · fish icons · trolling alarms · marlin · dolphin · tuna · Waypoint TV · How 2 Tuesday · Tom Rowland Podcast
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Captain Scott Walker runs Into the Blue and is one of the most respected charter captains in the Florida Keys. He runs a full suite of Simrad electronics and is known for turning overlooked features into real on-the-water advantages. He is a frequent How 2 Tuesday guest in the Simrad electronics series.
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