Being a civil engineer for the S.C. Department of Transportation has more than a work impact on Andy Wicker. He loves technology, so the use of modern fish-finding electronics is not only a big part of his success, it puts even more fun in his fishing.
“Ultimately, on most January days, we’ll succeed or fail by the fish we catch on mid-lake humps, points and drops,” he said. “I still have to figure out how to catch the fish, but finding them quickly is a great advantage.
“The new, computerized technology is changing. Deep-water fishing for me now is exciting and fun because I can look for, find and pinpoint exactly where the fish are, and often on Monticello, I can be almost certain I am fishing for black bass.
“Since we don’t have stripers or gar in Monticello, the echoes I read in the down-scan mode of my unit will have a bright inner core, and on this lake that’s usually indicative of a black bass. Without that bright core, I can usually rule the school of fish to be perch or maybe crappie. Having the right electronics and learning how to interpret it saves me a lot of time in a tournament or just enjoying a day of bass fishing.
“Another example of the versatility of high-end electronics is when using the side-scan mode, looking for a specific target, I may see something interesting off to the side, and I mark that location” he said. “After checking my primary target I go to that place and use other features to specifically identify what’s there. I’ve found some real sweet spots like that and can only imagine how long it would have taken, or if ever found, without the use of modern electronics.”
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