Coral Bay....day 2
Took it a bit easier this morning and didn't get to the ramp till 9am. Was greeted by a fresh easterly and a high tide. Headed out towards the south passage and made our way thru without any problems...didn't have to go too far before we started seeing some promising signs on the Furuno.
Things were looking good with a couple of quick hookups but when 2 Norwest blowies surfaced, it was time to move.
Found a really promising spot in 70m and set up a drift. It wasn't long before we had some action with Mrs gates bagging a 5kg Rankin (her first big fish since a baldie at Jurien last Easter) to get on the scoreboard and make the boys jealous. She followed that up with a big sweetlip looking fish about the same size as the Rankin...silvery colouring without any distinctive markings. (nice white flesh when filleted)
Then I hooked a small shark which went back ok, then we had a visit from 2 sharks just cruising around the boat....with 2 Cobia in tow. We hooked a Cobia and for the next 15mins we played tag trying to get it to the surface without it going under the boat....managed to get it alongside but after some indecision regarding the gaff or the net, the line broke and we were left to wonder what might have been....the Cobia was at least 1.5m long.
I lobbed an unweighted mulie out, just in case, and within a minute I'm on and the reel is screaming. After a short fight, we decked a Mackeral Tuna...my first!
Time to head home and we stopped off near 5 fingers for a quick swim before we hit the ramp and headed home to fillet the catch and clean up.
I thinly sliced some Tuna and dipped it in Soy sauce...yummo. Can't say the others were too excited so I cut up some small medallions of Tuna and lightly pan fried them in butter...they didn't last long so I'm on a winner there.
I guess we'll go and do it all over again tomorrow 
regards
rusty...
If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18032
Date Joined: 11/03/08
nice fish there Mrs Gates.
nice fish there Mrs Gates. that fish your not sure of do you have any pics, thinking it might be a robo. all ather fish i know of up there have distinctive markings, the robo's are all silverish looking a bit like a dhuie
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
bitten
Posts: 803
Date Joined: 07/04/10
robbo was my first thought
robbo was my first thought too but then they do have some dark spots along the sides, cant see the resembelance to a dhuie though
deepwater
Posts: 1921
Date Joined: 09/05/07
coral bay 2
welll done there r.gates , a nice cod there mate mate by Mrs gates and a good mac tuna mate well done
that sounder shot looks excellent ,i wish i had found stuff like that up here in exmouth
jeff
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
please educate me!
the picture on the furuno looks (to me) like a lot of electrical interferance. Can someone please educate me and explain exactly what the sounder picture is showing, it would be most appreciated and what part of the picture means what
r.gates
Posts: 573
Date Joined: 15/11/10
Unknown fish
You might have called it correct, Russ. I've been trawling thru the fish identification guide here and the closest I can find would be a cross between a Robinson Sea Bream and a Spotted Javelinfish.
Don't have a picture but I do have a glimpse of it on some video footage I took today...I'll try and take a screen dump and post it tomorrow.
Tasted ok on the bbq, along with some Rankin and Tuna.
Hey deepwater, I was pretty happy with the sounder pics today, especially when we converted them into some fish!!
regards
rusty...
If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!
carnarvonite
Posts: 8671
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Silver fish
The only other one is a painted sweetlips, all silver in colour and pretty ordinary eating.
scottland
Posts: 3039
Date Joined: 10/05/10
Nice day by the sounds
Enjoy your holiday keep us posted
i support two teams eagles and whoever is playing the dockers
r.gates
Posts: 573
Date Joined: 15/11/10
Silver fish & sounder pic
Thanks carnarvonite, my first thought was it looked like a sweetlip.....possibly is. As for it's eating quality, when compared to the rankin, it wasn't close, but having said that, it tasted ok.
Hey megladon, here's my take on the sounder pic.
Firstly, the screen is split in half...the left side is set to bottom lock with a setting of 5m...which means the bottom is basically indicated as a flat line on the bottom of the screen and anything within 5m of the bottom will show up in better detail. The right side of the sounder is the actual bottom image including any echo from anything sitting just above the bottom...in this case, fish.
The 'arch' that shows up as a fish is considered to be from the air in it's swim bladder....well that's how it's been described to me.
The sounder's range has been manually set to 17m and the offset is set to 58m, which means the screen is only showing a range of 17m with a starting point of 58m. If you look closely on the right side, you'll see the bottom as a thick red solid line at approx. 70m and there's a couple of metres below that, which them tapers off in intensity.
Above the wavy 70m (bottom) line is a 4m band of red echo, which I read as a school of fish, with some individuals above the main school....as seen by the individual red dots.
Looking at the left side of the screen, you can see the same 4m thick band of fish, which is shown in more detail...the individual fish are represented by the red streaky vertical lines that correspond to the individual fish on the right side of the screen.
Also, the gain is set to manual and I adjust this to increase or decrease the colour/detail that I see....I'm still new to running the gain on manual, but everyone tells me that I'll see more with it on manual.
If I ran the sounder on Auto gain and Auto range, I'd probably still see some tiny red bits just above the line represented by the ocean bottom, but by narrowing down the range, I amplify what's down there and show it in greater detail.
We came across a bait ball today that was 10m thick, just above the bottom, but I didn't take a photo of that one...if I see one again, I'll take a pic and post it for you.
Hope this helps. I'm also interested to hear what others have to say about the sounder pic, as well as my interpretation of it.
regards
rusty...
If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!
scottland
Posts: 3039
Date Joined: 10/05/10
That is great
Cheers mate
i support two teams eagles and whoever is playing the dockers
sarcasm0
Posts: 1396
Date Joined: 25/06/09
The arch from the swim bladder?
Thanks for the explanation, but im a bit curious about the swim bladder making the arch. If the sounder shows up dense features like the bottom in red and lighter porous stuff as blues and greens, why would the arch be from the swim bladder, the least dense part of the fish? I would have thought you would be seeing the return from the large bony/meaty features of the fish?
dodgy
Posts: 4578
Date Joined: 01/02/10
If it was just 'ok' compared
If it was just 'ok' compared to the rankin then it wouldn't of been a robbo.
Robbo's have a really white flesh. Almost translucent. Beautiful to eat.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
thanks rustry
many thanks for the info on reading sounder pictures
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Nice rankin, bummer about the
Nice rankin, bummer about the cobia, just call it a boatside release though ;)
Bakerc
Posts: 61
Date Joined: 07/04/10
Been thinking of one getting
Been thinking of one getting one of these sounders for my new boat, your thoughts on the unit as a whole? And did you install it yourself?
r.gates
Posts: 573
Date Joined: 15/11/10
Sounder
I'm not 100% sure about what makes up the fish arches but I seem to remember either reading it or being told it...I should google it. But you make a good point about the colour and density being the same as a hard bottom. I suppose the important thing is that as long as the sounder shows fish down there and they're hungry for my bait, I don't mind how they show up on the sounder.
Good call Till, the Cobia was a boat side release!
I bought my FCV620 on the recommendation from a friend...I've found the sounder to be really easy to use and operate, including the installation, which I did myself. I'm still learning to operate it and interpret what it's showing me.
If I was buying it again, I'd probably go for the FCV585 with the bigger screen, even though I'd need to modify the mounting point on the dash, as it's a bigger unit than the 620.
regards
rusty...
If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!
bitten
Posts: 803
Date Joined: 07/04/10
gain is possibly too high
gain is possibly too high
r.gates
Posts: 573
Date Joined: 15/11/10
High gain
Hey bitten, I tend to agree with you about the gain being a bit high....I was mucking around with it a bit yesterday. I'm still learning how to get the best out of the sounder and it's all trial and error....more time on the water is what's needed!!!
regards
rusty...
If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!
gazzman
Posts: 33
Date Joined: 07/05/08
Im no expert, but i was
Im no expert, but i was taught that the arch effect is created but the fish/object swimming/moving throught he beam.
as it passes through the returned signal is at its strongest when the fish is directly underneath and as it moves toward the edge the signal tappers off and creats a shadow effect behind the fish, this is displayed as an arch on the screen.
echo soundrs only pulse a "noise frequency" on differant frequencys and wait for the returned signal then interpruit the strength and time to give a visual representation. they arnt cat scan machines so im not sure if they will pick up the fishes inards.
next time your diving under the boat blow some bubbles at the transome and get somebody to see if they come up on the screen rising to the surface?
Ive got a book floating around here somewhere by Rick Huckstepp called Depth sounder Secrets ill have to find it and read it again but from memory thats what it says.
Again im no expert though and like you said Rusty as long as they are taking baits....
great reports and sounds like you had a great trip
Gaz
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Gazzman
No expert either but you are and arent correct. It is correct what you are saying, but the signal does bounce off the fishes swimbladders.
Anyone can correct me if I am wrong.
Neels
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Rob H
Posts: 5806
Date Joined: 18/01/12
Ive worked with sounders all
Ive worked with sounders all my seagoing life and still cant answer this question unequivocally.
But if true then a shark wouldnt show up?
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
RMac
Posts: 36
Date Joined: 06/03/12
Love the sounder shot
Love the sounder shot! Yep that is correct from what I have read. I bought this book a few months ago, great read highly recommend it if you want to know how to get the most out of your sounder
https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?cat=113&item=11170&intAbsolutePage=1
r.gates
Posts: 573
Date Joined: 15/11/10
Sounder book
Thanks RMac for the link to the sounder book....knowledge is power so the more knowledge we can gain, the better equipped we are to get the best out of our gear.
regards
rusty...
If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!