[TheBandit]

Can anyone point me to an article or guide on the basics of using a fishfinder to locate fish? THANKS!! I guess my biggest hangup is: what area of water would I be looking at? is it directly beneath the transducer? (I have a 20 degree transducer by the way) Is the display a representation of looking at the area from the side?

 

[M.Magis]

Heres you go.

http://www.lowrance.com/Tutorials/Sonar/sonar_tutorial_01.asp
Don't forget to click "next" at the bottom of each page.

 

[blance]

I'm far from being an expert on sonar and am learning myself, but I'll throw in my 2 pennies as to what I've learned so far. What you are looking at is actually a cone beneith the transducer. The degree of cone angle on your transducer (20 degrees in your case) and the depth of water dictate how much area you are looking at. Think about as a cone sitting point up and the plane of water depth cuts though it parrallel to the bottom. The closer that plane cuts through towards the point, the smaller the circle you are seeing represented on the display. One mistake is then to read the display like a TV screen. I catch myself doing that all the time. The marks on the display are really a verticle representation of reflected echos within the cone area. Sometimes that is a hard distinction to make. Here's a few links I've found in the past that maybe will help you out.

http://www.hookedoncatfish.com/Lowrance.html
http://www.lowrance.com/tutorials/sonar/sonar_tutorial_01.asp
http://www.muskies101.com/article_understandingyourlcr.htm

Hope those help you out

Barry

 

[TheKing]

I have ignored sonars in favor of instinct on many occasions. It seems to be just an indicator, but only a tool for catching sometimes. More often than not, they locate fish, but not biting fish.