transducers and cone angle

[J.A. Veil]

Many Snaggedline members use fishfinder units on their kayaks. Most of us, myself included, have a basic understanding of how they work, but lack detailed knowledge of what things and how much of the water column we are actually seeing.

I saw an informative post on Tidalfish this morning http://www.tidalfish.com/forums/show...ur-fish-finder. The author, Greg Shute, is a part-time charter boat captain who has taken the time to learn about his sonar capabilities. I particularly like the table that shows how much of the bottom is painted by the sonar with different angles of transducers and at different depths.

I hope this helps some readers to better understand their fishfinder units.

[BassMoore]

Thanks for posting John.

That is really quality information !

[dirtyjake237]

thanks for the link to the information. I just picked up a unit with side imaging and tomorrow will be the maiden voyage on the Severn. I'll let you know what I find out about it and post a pic or a screen capture if possible.

[EMSer]

Great stuff John! I will play with FF tomorrow.

[dirtyjake237]

so after 2 days of playing around on the water I have found that I need a lot more experience with the electronics to be effective. while in down imaging or normal sonar the unit was easy to use. side imaging is a whole other story, I was reading another post and I can see why yakfishers don't really benefit from Si. the scroll speed to yak speed and hull stability have to be perfect for it to work. luckily my unit does both it has a narrow and wide angle cone facing down and 2 ultra wide angle but razor thin side angle beams. I did get some great results but more practice will be required to identify a fish or bait ball. I thought it was a great time to paddle around and play with my new toys cause the bite is slowing up a bit....... then I saw someone post picks of his SUPER DAY!! hand lining and catching his pb, all 3 fish looked like footballs they were sooo fat. nice job Bruce!

[EMSer]

I played with both frequencies during trips over the last 2 days. I love the enhanced pics when using the lower frequency. Images are definitely more distinct. The one sacrifice that I see is interpreting the bottom density. I have had success when I can identify a live, hard bottom, aka oyster beds.

I think I will vary which frequency I use depending on how well I know the waters I am paddling. I will likely use the high frequency for scouting new waters and then use the lower range when I know what I am paddling over.

Thanks again for posting this John. It was very timely for me. I had read it all before, but hadn't had enough experience to properly interpret and appreciate the tool.