Muckline

[CHAMP]

Is this what you would call a muckline in florida.

[Steve Craig]

I appears to be just a transition from hard bottom to harder bottom. i could be wrong.

It is easier to see on a Flasher.
By adjusting your gain, you can set it to show a weak signal when over hard bottom. As you come over the muck, that weak signal will disappear.
Most depth finders will still show you hard bottom even when over the muck, as there is hard bottom below the muck.
The muck line is very easy to follow using a Flasher set up like i just posted above.

[CHAMP]

Would you consider this a good place to fish

[Steve Craig]

Yes
It is a breakline
Needs checked out.

[John Bales]

Your unit shows it perfectly and you better believe that transition is important. When I was in Florida, I used my flasher, sonar and also down scan. They all show the transition. John

[Steve Craig]

I remember my unit looking somewhat different., But it could be the way i set it up. Its been a while. I thought my Blue color was on top of the harder yellow/orange.
Here is a screen shot of Kenny's unit. If you look close, you can see some of that mucky mud lightly floating or drifting just above the heavy muck. This is the stuff Buck told us about not to have our Spoonplug running down into. Basically fishing BELOW the fish. Line length is critical in a Florida lake muckline situation.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/ ... &crop=fill

[Steve Craig]

One of the Bass we caught at the north end of the slot on Griffin.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/ ... &crop=fill

Another one I caught on Griffin.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/ ... &crop=fill

An 8 pounder Kenny caught on Griffin.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/ ... &crop=fill

Dave Bowers, Steve Parker in background. Wayne Alford in foreground.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/ ... &crop=fill

[Fran Myers]

That is one view of a change in bottom hardness. There are other types and all look a little different and display differently on different units.

For instance...
You photo shows a definite transition. BUT John and I have seen that same view but on the DownScan seen that AND a layer 1-2 feet above that transition. So if you fished the transition shown and were just above the bottom, you would infact be UNDER the bottom the fish use.

There is no simple answer for this.

[Steve Craig]

Well said Fran.
You said in just a few words the point i was trying to get across.
The unit HAS to be set up perfectly in order to see the Muck.
The muck in Florida is like no other. I cant recall seeing it anywhere else. Far different than out here, or in Indiana, or even in Canada.
They all have muck, but it is different from what is in Florida.
The Mucklines change with all the big storms/hurricanes that come through. What was there one year may not be the case the next.

On one of the days that Kenny and I were fishing Griffin, Kenny was catching all the fish! He was running the boat, so I should have had full concentration on what my 100 was doing, but for what ever reason, I didnt realize I was in that floating muck and fishing UNDER the fish. When I adjusted my line length, then I started catching too.

Like you said. there is no simple answer.

[John Bales]

Frank Hamill told me he made 20 trips to Florida before he caught his first fish. After I was shown how to find the muck line(by Mr. Perry and Kenny), after a few trips to Florida, I realized why the boys never talked much about the lakes and told me to keep my mouth shut also. It is very hard to learn(see), but once you know what to do and where to do it, you can do some damage. When John Z and myself got to fish along side of Mr. Perry, we made our best catch. I have never been able to be there at the right time when the fish are moving good since. You catch a few nice fish and now the only thing you think about is getting that ten pounder. Zaborney got a 12.5 and he said it fed 7 people. Only John would eat a fish like that . John