Sounder advice
Hi all,
I've got an Lowrance Elite 5 sounder/chart plotter combo and I was making my way back to the boat ramp the other day. Half way across the Cockburn Sound, it was 20 metres deep and I noticed arches on the sounder 2 metres off the sea floor. I would have been close to the middle of the sound at the time. I thought that they were fish arches so I dropped down a line and nothing was biting. The water wasn't the clearest but I wouldn't have thought that settlement in the water would have given off the arches on the sounder like it did but as I have only just bought the unit, I am unsure. When I first installed the transducer, I used to get a shadow echo but I have adjusted the angle of the dangle and no longer get the shadow echo.
Just wondering if anyone could clarify this for me if it's just false echoes off the bottom or what?
Cheers,
Ken
grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
dunno what you mean by shadow
dunno what you mean by shadow echo but a mate of mine has the elite 5 , and when set up right , it gives a good rep of whats down there.
are you surprised you saw arches??
sediment won't give solid arches , just clutter.
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
crasny1
Posts: 7029
Date Joined: 16/10/08
I suspect it was fish mate
Just not on the chew.
Neels
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Yep, what crasny said!Bloody
Yep, what crasny said!
Bloody frustrating that is
STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
Agree with Neels and
Agree with Neels and Lamby
Finding fish is easy, finding hungry ones is a bit harder!!
Fraser 5.25
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 25/07/11
Cheers,I have had the same
Cheers,
I have had the same echoes in the past when I've gone over the spot before. Looks like I'll have to hit it up again later.
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
I've got an elite 5x sounder
I've got an elite 5x sounder also. Just post the co-ords up and I'll do a few passes and see if I get the same reading. Cheers.
Agree that they were not hungry at that time.
CCC
Posts: 539
Date Joined: 29/03/10
Might sound like a weird
Might sound like a weird question but how big were the arches. Is it possible they were dolphins? Plenty in Cockburn Sound
CCC
Fraser 5.25
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 25/07/11
I'll get the co ords off the
I'll get the co ords off the gps when I put the boat in the water again. I've got the boat under a tarp when not in use as I don't have the luxury of a big shed (it's on the cards one day though) and I don't leave the head unit in the boat when it's parked up. If it's not there to steal then it can't be stolen. On the subject of setting them up, I have just used the standard settings with ping rate as normal and bottom lock on I think. The bottom shows as brown. I leave the sounder in "General" mode as I have found when I put the boat into reverse, the sounder chucks a wobbly and takes ages to come good again if set to "Shallow fishing" mode. I think it is the bubbles in the water. Is there any other settings to make to improve the sounding abilities or it is what it is?
Ken
Fraser 5.25
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 25/07/11
The arches were red band
The arches were red band across the screen. I can't remember if they were broken up or not. I should have taken a photo of the screen, maybe next time. When I moved off the spot there appeared to be bait schools but they were within a couple of metres of the surface but I couldn't see anything when I looked into the water with polarised sunnies.
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Sounders
They don't work in reverse so it takes time to reconfigure
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
I have had decent arches in
I have had decent arches in the depths of the sound before with no bites, marked them and come back to nothing at all!
grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
fish on the move. done
fish on the move. done that a few times , gone round for another look , only to find..... nothing
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
haha yep or in my case big
haha yep or in my case big rays!
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
remember the cone angle is
remember the cone angle is pretty skinny so in shallow water the area you're covering is tiny, a couple of metres off the fish and they might not show at all