Depthfinders 101

[slabbandit]

I've seen where a lot of people have asked specific questions about how to use their depthfinders. I would like to see us start a thread that has different pics of depthfinder screens along with a description of what we are seeing.

Also if some of the guys that are a little more knowledgeable on fine tuning their units to get the most out of them would give us some tips that would be great.

Remember your camera tips for taking pictures of your depthfinder screens like watch the glare from the sun or your flash. Always take a picture from an angle instead of straight on.

I don't have very many pics of my unit right now but I found this one. This is a cedar tree that is probably 6" in diameter at the base. It has several limbs but not a lot of little stuff. My unit is pretty old as it only has 160 vertical pixel count and has 600 watts of power. I hope to update to a Lowrance 102 C Color unit soon.

[thudpucker]

The picture on your Sounder is about all I see on my Fish Finder too.
Big Splats, little splats, some unrecognizable splats.

I paid $100 on sale at BassPro for this thing. I guess I should have spent a few more bucks and got the one without so many splats.

No matter what direction I go over a stump, it alwys shows the stump going from right to left.
What if a fish went half way through the Transducer cone, and then went back?
Would the Icon reverse course in the LCD display?

Yeah, good idea, we could use a Fish finder primer.

[reelcrappie]

I'll be watching with great interest. The books that come with fish finders are confusing and they assume you know a lot about fish finders. I need a fish finder 101 course. Bet I'm not the only one.

[tarheel]

Great idea for a thread. I am by no means an expert, but I have learned that there are certain brands and models where you just have to have the PHD from Harvard to figure out. Spend a little extra now if you can and it will make a huge differnce in the amount of relaxation you get while fishing.

[slabbandit]

Crappie and baitfish are relatively small in comparison to other gamefish therefore knowing how to fine tune your electronics is crucial to what you will be able to see on your screen.

Also, if set properly, your unit will show you the thermocline in the summertime. I really like seeing pics from the nightstalkers along with descriptions of what we are seeing when things are starting to come together on their set-ups.

[tkpaul]

The South Carolina message board has a great thread on depth finder interpretations.

[Fmab]

I think this is a great idea. It would be helpful if each display was dated and included a consistant pattern of displaying comparable depth finder information like model, pixels, mode, settings, etc. This might help reduce the confusion especially if different units could be displayed in a comparable settings way.

[slabbandit]

Going out tomorrow. Hope to get some good depthfinder pics. Would like to see pics of some of the newer color units.

[crappiencali]

Slabbandit if your old graph is a Lowarance yo ucan call them direct to get a voucher for a new graph. I had to X75's on my boat and sent them of for rwo vouchers. I got $100 of my 332C and $75 on my 102C.