Sounder Help
Submitted by C.P on Sun, 2014-09-14 17:04
Looking for some help with what I'm seeing on my sounder. This is my favorite fishing spot. I catch a lot of Dhufish here & not much else. (Although none today) Not that I'm complaining but I cant see any thing special on the sounder. There's nothing much different from the surrouding area as far as i can tell. So can you tell me what I'm looking at? Why are there Dhufish there? Knowing the answer might help me to find other areas to fish.n
Image Upload:
Brody
Posts: 1021
Date Joined: 06/02/07
Probably some low ledges
Probably some low ledges with a little bit of coral if the spot is anything similar to some ground I fish in the same sort of depth. If you can, zoom in on the bottom 5-10m and you may find what you're looking for.
Mick71
Posts: 125
Date Joined: 18/12/10
I do a bit of spearfishing
usually find good fish in strange places, usually at spots that are not on any charts, where most fisherman go, with anything from a 2-4m drop. Also Dhuies like clean reef without weed and a sand patch next to it. It doesn't look like any fish on there at the moment, but I usually don't look at that, just look at the ground, preferably with a bit of a cave.
To fish or not to fish....
Shakespeare had it SO wrong!!!!
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
If you send me
Hi if you send me the GPS fix I'll check it out with my sounder if you like LOL. The second picture looks like it has something of a good size in the centre of the pic right on the bottom.
Thanks for posting the screen shots I always learn some thing from them and to all those that post screen shots please keep them coming.
C.P
Posts: 345
Date Joined: 04/01/12
Bottom Structure
Thanks Guys for the replies. What I really would like to know is, can any one interpret the picture & tell me what the bottom structure is. Hard / Soft / Coral etc. & How do you know that. As I said, I'm not complaing but I want to find out why there are Dhuies there.
Deleted
Posts: 6265
Date Joined: 26/04/14
I do a fare bit of you tube
I do a fare bit of you tube study to help me with my sounder. Might be worth a try, see if there is any good videos on :edit lowrance (face palm) website as well
Good luck
Rig
Posts: 2925
Date Joined: 27/12/06
structure
Hard to say exactly as it depends how you have your lowrance set up and what sensitivity(gain) setting your running, are you stationary (drifting) or on the move?
but If mine was showing that I would consider it to be hard ground looking at the thickness of the yellow line and some of the tails below it indicates hard bottom, adjust your sensitivity up and down and it may become more obvious. Bearing in mind your getting dhuis there its a good chance there are some limestone ledges as Brody said and if the bump shown in your bottom isnt due to swell then it does definately show a small lump (2-3m)
Just a tip, change your range setting to max out at 40m in that depth and you will be able to see a little bit more detail on exactly how thick your bottom sounding is, its best to keep your bottom around 1/3 of the way up the screen, I find the Lowrance units can be very good but you just need to go very slow when looking for fine detail particulary bottom hardness like this
If you havent got it already pick up the John Adams echo sounder book from oceanside it will be of interest I am sure
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
But I was told recently it's
But I was told recently it's best to leave everything on auto, just don't adjust or touch the unit, go figure........
Love the West!
Rig
Posts: 2925
Date Joined: 27/12/06
lol
i saw that mate, my 587 arrives this week so we will see if its that good
I had some good fun in the 30-40m range yesterday with the lowrance gear took advantage of the nice conditions to find some new ground
C.P
Posts: 345
Date Joined: 04/01/12
Thanks Rig
Thanks for the tips. I will change the range setting & look at the John Adams book. I was drifting very slowly when the pic was taken. Swell was around 1.8 so that may be the reason for the lump.
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Yeah CP Bottom lock will
Yeah CP Bottom lock will iron all that out.
Love the West!
Rig
Posts: 2925
Date Joined: 27/12/06
bottom lock
apparently bottom lock is just a zoom feature on the lowrance gear and not true bottom lock like say on furuno. Dont know myself (John Adams made a comment about at at the oceanside night) even though I ran bottom lock as a split screen for years on a HDS5, if your running a HDS 5 like CP IMO its reckon its better to display the whole screen as normal due to the smaller screen and you will see more variation and be able to display more info especially when your on the move. I found things alot better when i just switched into full screen sonar.
Soon I will be running a 587 and HDS 10 side by side so I can let you know if the lowrance bottom lock feature works the same as furuno
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
It'll be different Rig, as I
It'll be different Rig, as I used to run a Lawrence. Won't know yourself with the 587. I've bought a HDS10 for my project boat and am contemplating putting in a Furuno as well.
Love the West!
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
as you said, bottom lock on
as you said, bottom lock on the Furuno and Lowrance are different.
In Coral Bay I use BL almost exclusively but the Lowrance "zoom" isnt a lock as such, at least on my older one.
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.
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
My understanding is the
My understanding is the thicker the colour line, in this case the yellow part, the harder the bottom.
Fish! HARD!
JohnF
Posts: 2836
Date Joined: 07/07/10
your hillarious Sea-kem.
your hillarious Sea-kem.
Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
What's the problem JohnF?
What's the problem JohnF?
Love the West!
JohnF
Posts: 2836
Date Joined: 07/07/10
just joking mate. Getting a
just joking mate. Getting a bit edgy after not fishing for 3 weeks!!!!
Time to dust the boat off and get it wet.
Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Well now you know how I
Well now you know how I feel, I haven't dropped a line since June, so very toey.
Love the West!
Ol Tom
Posts: 331
Date Joined: 17/12/13
CP I dont mean to discredit
CP I dont mean to discredit Johns book because it is a real good read to be honest, but I found it of little use for the Lowrance. In fact since reading it I am almost off the Lowrance. The book is good in explaining reading or interpreting the pictures and features like white line and bottom lock and using manual mode. But as a few fellas have pointed out here, the Lowrance doesnt have these features.
Maybe go buy the book and at the same time a different sounder. Or if you work out how to use the Lowrance properly then let me know coz I cant ahahaha
C.P
Posts: 345
Date Joined: 04/01/12
Thanks Ol Tom
Yeah I cant work it out. I think the tails that Rig pointed out might be the thing to look for. I'll compare the picture at my fishing hole with the picture at an area I know to be sand & hopefully I'll see the difference in the tails. If not I might just leave the sounder at home. Theres a few adjustments to be made as per the suggestions so I might do that & post another pic for scrutiny.
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
What I would say and I would fish the spot if I saw it.
I,d say coral/limestone ground. If there are dhues there you may not neccessarily see them as they have a "high target strength" and when they are on the bottom they will blend in with the sounder picture. Thats where the whiteline comes in to play. I have an HDS5 Gen2 and it does have whiteline. The ground I am interepreting is not rock hard but a softer rock bottom, hence I am thinking coral,limestone.
To view the bottom in more detail it would be wise to use the cross hairs on the sounder and select the bottom 10 meters, this is how you get the full view of the bottom using the whole screen. After that then use zoom. I would also be changing the picture speed aswell (cant tell what you have it set at, normal?) and this will give a better reading of the bottom. When stopped or drifting you want the picture speed fast.
And definately the book by John Adams is a great investment, its just a guideline on how to set up "a" sounder and how to interpret what you are seeing.
Good luck.