Ok, I have a 60 degree dual beam hummingbird. Now 60 degrees doesn't sound like a large area, but I'm thinking that once it goes down about 20 ft, it becomes a rather large area. What doesn't make sense to me is that the bush down there comes on to the screen and the right and moves off the screen to the left. How the heck would I know where it is when it could be around 20 ft off either side of the boat?? I guess I don't understand the constant movement on the screen. I would love to be able to get off of the bank now and then and zip something past a bush or stump, but the deptfinder just looks like an old atari game to me. Any help on the little gaming system would be greatly appreciated...thanx

you're not alone. truth be told i don't get the mechanics of it either. what i do is, whatever is in the exact center of the screen is what is directly under the transducer. the right side is what i'm coming up on and the left is what just went by. this is probably far from the truth but it's a good theory that my brain can easily wrap itself around and if i'm wrong (which i most likely am) this sounds good enough to bluff my way thru a conversation.

The screen refreshs from right to left it has nothing to do with location of the object. If your boat is moving forward the object is behind you. On many units you can adjust the screen rate and with practice you can tell how far away the objects are. If you are sitting still it means a fish swam under your transducer but unless you can refrence that against a stationary object you will have no idea which way the fish is swimming. Find or create a under water object that you can see on your graph and and practice locating it with your sonar. Also make sure your transducer is mounted and aligned correctly and allways adjust the gain and sensitivity to get a clear picture. Also since water changes density with temp many units can also show you where the thremocline is. But finnally practice practice practice the more you know about how it displays known objects the better you will undestand the unknown ones.

tight lines

  

GLAD TO BE OF SOME HELP. I DON'T USE SIDE IMAGING OR WIDE ANGLE TRANSDUCERS BUT I FISH MOSTLY DEEP WATERS SO THOSE COULD SHOW ME FISH IN THE NEXT ZIPCODE. MY NEW UNIT IS 20 DEG  AND 35 DEG CONES SO I KNOW THE MARKS ON MY SCREEN ARE GOING TO HAVE MY LURES GO PAST THEM. ALSO TRY ICE FISHING MODE WHEN NOT MOVING YOU CAN SEE THE FISH COME TO THE BAIT. ALSO I SELDOM USE THE FISH ID FEATURE UNLESS I AM UNABLE TO MONITOR THE SCREEN THEN I TURN IT ON FOR THE ALARM FEATURE WHICH TELLS ME TO READ THE SCREEN.  AGAIN PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE  READ THE MANUAL AND PRACTICE MORE AS I TOLD A FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS A MUSICIAN THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US WAS 10,000 HOURS OF PRACTICE.

TIGHT LINES

Recently I bought one of those small portalble Fish and depth finders.( I'll post the specific type if anyone is interested) A friend told me that since I fish in waters that aren't very deep, I should get one that beams out to the side rather than one that has a transducer for under the boat. The one I purchased was supposed to be moveable in different directions so you can scan a wide area. Things started OK until I tried to turn the unit in another direction.  The handle attaches by screwing it in one turn.  This is the units first problem. I turned it with little pressure and it snappped off. ( A very poor design)  You can still turn the unit with your hand, but obviously I wasn't happy having to stare at the big hole in the front with wires visible. I was under the impression that this would show structure like logs. I moved the unit in all directions trying to get it to display a very large tree under the water, but the screen remained blank. I thought it would show the drop offs in depth that I know the lake has, but once again a blank screen.  It seemed to only register 3 feet and deeper,(not the biggest problem) but that was in question also since I was definitely in deeper water than the unit showed. Pretty much it was a $90 water temperature indicator.  I could have bought a thermomater for a lot cheaper.  Needless to say I wasn't impressed.  I like to keep it simple so I'll have to do without.  I returned it the next day and Dick's issued me a full refund.( Warranty included)  Also for the record, I used it on a small kayak, so it seemed to get in the way.

Dan "Stealthfisher" Doc NAFC LIFE MEMBER I FISH, THEREFORE I AM<*{{>>< SPARE THE ROD, SPOIL THE FISH! <*(((>>>< ><<<)))*>

i hav`nt got one yet, but steathfshr i read a review i think on the one you got, and they said about the same thing, the clamps are weak and you can't realy troll with it on and in the water.... i almost bought that one too, was it a Fishin' Buddy?...but i  have been waiting to hear more.... what is the best bang for the buck?

jig~n~pig recomended a Cuda at one time, the price is good, but I would love to hear more as well....

steathfshr git a pool thermostat, hang it over the yak! $5.00 !the bad thing, it takes about the time you need to tie on a lure or 2 to tell the temp, its not instant...in the river the temps should be fearly consistant, till you git to a impondment......

also guys there should be some modifications to your setting , reread your instructions... and see if you can have a faster refreshing screen or a realy sinsitive slower but smaller area read out, you want fast refresh if you move alot, and a slower more detail if you are sitting, there has to be a happy medium but it will take some time! if you have it set sinsitive and slow while moving you will always be a day late and a dollar short, but if it is to fast with less detail you will miss alot of info even sitting still?

i think anyway,like i said i don't own one yet, and i'm sure i'll need to reread the instructions more than once.... lol 

 

keep the info on fishfinders comin...

The " Fishin Buddy".  Made by Bottom Line.   That's the one I bought ( and immediately returned)

They have 2 models. almost identical execpt one is 120 something pixels and the other  I think is 160 pixels.  I would NOT recommend the "Fishin Buddy".

That handle snapped right off. ( A poor design)

Dan "Stealthfisher" Doc NAFC LIFE MEMBER I FISH, THEREFORE I AM<*{{>>< SPARE THE ROD, SPOIL THE FISH! <*(((>>>< ><<<)))*>

I almost bought one of those last weekend and was about to go get it this coming weekend. Thank you for warning me about this, you just saved me a bunch of money.

PERSONALLY I HAVE ALLWAYS BOUGHT USED FINDERS FROM MY FRIENDS WHO HAVE TO HAVE THE LATEST GREATEST GEAR. SO WHEN ONE OF MY BUDDIES GOES OUT A GETS HIM A NEW FINDER I DO MY BEST BY BUYING HIS OLD ONE. SO INSTEAD OF GIVING A COUPLE HUNDRED BUCKS FOR A NEW ONE THAT WON'T BE WORTH MUCH MORE THAN 50 BY THE END OF THE YEAR. A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I BOUGHT A 1500 DOLLAR NAV AND FINDER UNIT OFF A FRIEND OF MY FATHER IN LAWS FOR A 100 BUCKS IT WILL STILL OUT PERFORM MOST OF THE CHEAP UNITS ON THE MARKET. THERE A LOT OF GREAT NON COLOR UNITS OUT THERE THAT PEOPLE DON'T WANT AND ARE STILL GREAT FISH FINDERS.

TIGHT LINES

wow maniac...bet it's sweet having contacts like that...lol I've got a hummingbird 565 that I rigged on a homemade bracket so that I can use it on any jon boat. It doesn't seem to be a bad unit, I just still need to get out there and practice locating objects, but I does show the thermo line great. I guess that's all I need though, is something to show me what's down there, the thermo line, and the contour...only thing better to me is a side image and get the actual pict, but I'm simple like that..lol

Can I get in this can of worms ? Or are they wires? I think you have to be a technician to understand them fully. I've had many different models and have finally setteled in with Hummingbird. I have a Wide Portrait. It's an older model, and a matrix 27 with GPS. I think of them first as a  "structure finder" Practice in clear water as you can. Find an object  you can see in the water and note its relation on the finder and depth. Try to mark the outside edge at that depth to give you a general idea of how wide of an area your transducer is covering at that depth. Make several short moves in even increments to determine how much  wider your cone reads each move at each depth. ie, in four foot of water, if it covers an area, say , 4 foot wide, then in 8 feet of water its 8 feet wide and so on, you can apply these figures to deeper water by making yourself a formula to give you a rough estimate of how large an area is covered at a certain depth. I shorten my width of each reading by a foot or so and it gives me a ball park to work in.  Play with adjusting sensitivity settings, etc... to help you understand what it is your'e seeing. Auto Mode is easier to use and understand after you know what your'e seeing. Your resolution and readings will also be effected and less sensitive if you display large, instead of normal size readings on the screen. Reread the manual. Positioning of readings is very important. Some tell you, if a fish is facing a certain direction in relation to the finder or boat  it  will be in a certain position. ie, my h-bird, if a fish symbol is facing to the left, it is on the right side of the boat . Then by using my depth/ width formula I get a general  idea of how far and on what side of the boat it's on, and the finder gives you the depth. I keep some basic stats and it helps keep me tuned in for faster reaction time.Learn what different shapes different structure looks like. Then say enough, mark some fish and get some. A little training each time out & you'll finally go, damn things really do work.  NEXT PAGE !!
NAFC Life member since 1994, member NRA/ILA ,FMCA, NAFF,Veteran (73-89) extreme survivalist and Redneck. Toothpaste does not make the smell go away !!!

ok i have a question. when you see fuzzy things standing striaght up is that fish, weeds,or what ?

how do you tell the size of the fish being shown on the screen ?the books you get with the fish finder suck, they do not tell you enough.

                                       moose 

I know I shouldn't be talking up another site here, but there isn't any good info about locators on this site. Log onto     thebassholes.com    Go to message boards and scroll down to sonars section. They have an unbeleivable section on sonars. Real time video and pics with descriptoins of what the uderwater objects look like on the screen and how to set up a unit and interpret the images. They also have a link to instructional videos. I have learned more about sonar in the last week at this site than I have in 20 years on the water.

I agree with the last post.  they post pictures of sonar screens and let you guess what's going on beneath the boat.  you can learn a lot.  I'm trying to use mine to locate dropoffs or structure and still have a ways to go.
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