Getting your fish finder right to find untouched Wonky Holes

Garmin and Ryan Moody Fishing Ambassador Ben “Westo” Weston takes the reins for this week’s blog post. Ben was one of our first “Wonky Holes” online course members and has since gone on to find some fantastic country off the coast of Central Queensland using his trusty Garmin fish finder.

Be sure and read to the bottom as we will will have links to Ryan’s live Wonky Holes presentation, filmed at a BCF club night.

Oh… and if you have any questions about sounders for Westo, be sure and leave a comment below and he will get to them over the next few days.

Take it away Westo…

Wonky holes have been somewhat of a mystery for me for many, many years.

I distinctly remember back in the mid-nineties my old man talking about fishing these small pot holes of gold which lay on the sea floor, but we never actually fished one. Lack of knowledge and a distracted mindset, we never went in search them, preferring to take the easy option.

However that all changed after biting the bullet and doing Ryan's Wonky Holes course. Ryan lays all of his cards on the table, really making sense of the mysterious ‘Wonky Holes’. Without this kind of in depth step by step knowledge and the electronics to aid in the search of these honey holes, they are very difficult to find. In fact, it’s somewhat of a fluke locating one without the two ingredients mentioned above!

 

 

Since doing the course and achieving some amazing results, I have fielded many personal messages asking for the best sounder setup on the market to make the search easier. I reluctantly say ‘easier’ because I assure you there is a science in finding them, but as the saying ‘goes a tradesman is useless without his tools’ and a fisherman is no different. But there is an answer, to be honest it’s the easiest part of finding wonkies. GARMIN!

As a Garmin Ambassador, it is not through bias that I say this. Well maybe it is, as I only represent products I have full faith in. I also work at a tackle shop and at the moment (October 2017), in my opinion, there is nothing on the marine electronics market in direct competition or even close to what Garmin has to offer to the offshore market, particularly in Side Vu.

The Garmin GT51 transducer is easily unrivaled in its ability to Side Vu at depth out to 150m either side of your boat. The GT51 has a dual frequency capability in Side Vu, the more traditional 455khz and the deeper water frequency of 260khz.

Since Ryan put together his Wonky Holes Course, there have been many Garmin fish finder packages roll out the door, and as a direct result his students are finding Wonky Holes with little fuss on the back of Ryan’s priceless knowledge laid out in the course.

 

I currently run a Garmin Fish Finder GPSMAP 7410xsv and GT51 transducer combo in my 6.15m Yaltacraft. Over the 12 months I have been associated with Garmin Australia I have hosted many mates who swear by other brands and I assure you they leave the boat with a new-found respect for the clarity and capability of this setup in deep water.

Scroll through the screen shots I have attached to the article of the Wonky Holes and isolated structure of have found in recent months. I also encourage you to take note of the depth they are found in. This Garmin Fish Finder combo makes short work of grinding away finding unfished country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether you have done the Wonky Holes course or not, I believe if you don’t have a Garmin fish finder unit running the GT51 transducer you are well behind the eight ball. Yes, I agree other brands have proved themselves in the past offshore, Furuno being the stand out performer. But in my opinion they come at an inflated price and still run old school sonar technology. Garmin CHIRP gives you superior target separation making painting the picture clear as day, even to the point of counting individual fish through the water column.

If you’re about to search for some illusive Wonky Holes with your fish finder and want to find some untouched new ground, there is an answer to shorten those long days searching the deep blue. Go Garmin, you’d be lost without it!!

Pop your sounder questions in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer them.

Cheers Westo.

Want to learn more about Wonky Holes?

Check out Ryan Moody's free presentation on the topic including Fish Finder screen shots of what to look for - filmed to a 700 strong crowd during a BCF club night.

 

 

 

 

Additional Resources;

How to make Berley Bombs and catch more reef fish

Releasing fish with Barotrauma

Spinning Reel Basics

Traditional vs CHIRP sounders

 

Our online fishing course WONKY HOLES contains step-by-step instructions to find and fish these underwater gems.

Click here to visit our Wonky Holes online fishing course information page.

 

 

 

 

And for more great fishing tips [emailed fortnightly] and a chance to win a barra fishing charter with Ryan Moody, enter your name and email below and join our free fishing community.