Topic 17 - Individual fish and fish schools
Usually when spotting fish on a fish finder display, the fish is formed into large fish schools. These fish schools show a great deal of variation when displayed. Their shape can be said to resemble fluffy clouds, towering thunderclouds and thin blurry formations.
This cloud like pattern depends on the species of fish, the behavior and the way the fish schools swim through the water. The way individual fish and fish schools are displayed on screen differs greatly, making it easy even for novice fishermen to spot the difference.
For example, sardines tend to group together in very large and compact fish schools. These fish schools will then get displayed accordingly, large with intensive colors denoting concentration. Horse mackerel swim at a different depth compared to sardines, but their way of forming schools is very similar. Fish species that form schools vary considerably when it comes to shapes and sizes, but the common element is that the fish finder display shows fish schools in a bulging or protruding fashion.
Individual fish swimming about are very easy to identify since they have a very distinct boomerang or half moon shape. When observing individual fish, one can notice that they move around seemingly aimlessly flocking where they believe food might be found.
