Back when I first started fishing seriously, some 55 yards ago, the term fishing electronics referred to an electric trolling motor.

Only the wealthy fishermen could afford such a luxury.

Everybody else used a skulling paddle. Some people even thought the electric trolling motor gave the fisherman an unfair advantage over the fish. However, as time went on every fishing boat on the lake had an electric motor.

Then came the electric depth finder. It had a round face like a clock and a red light that lit up at 12:00 and another red light that flashed indicating the bottom.

Anything flashing between the two red lights was fish. The first one that I ever owned was a Heath Kit unit that I had to assemble myself.

In order to sell more units the company changed the name from depth finder to fish finder, which sounded better, but it was still the same unit.

Then came the chart recorder, a unit that actually drew an outline of the bottom of the lake on a roll of paper.

After that there was the liquid crystal recorder (LCR) that had a screen like a TV. It also tells you the water temperature.

Finally came the global positioning unit that always tells you exactly where you are. A fisherman could tie up quite a few dollars buying electronic stuff to help him catch fish. Advertisement of this equipment makes the average fisherman feel like he is not really fishing if he doesn’t have this equipment in his boat.

Now comes the problem of learning how to use some of this equipment. These units come with a thick book full of instructions on how to make the unit perform for you.

They sort of work like a cell phone.

They will take pictures, play games, tell you where you are, communicate by voice or by a secret written code, or if you run out of things to do while on the lake you might want to fish for a while.

Actually, you can buy one of every unit they sell and if you don’t understand how to use it or what it is telling you then you have just wasted your money.

It would be nice if these units would tell you just the basic information without going through all the other bells and whistles.

I would like to know the water depth most of the time. I have gone fishing with people in nice boats, but I could not see the depth finder because of its location.

When I ask them the depth they would reply, “I don’t know; I don’t have the depth finder turned on.” Maybe if I called it a fish finder he would turn it on.