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Post by smlmike on Dec 15, 2015 20:08:09 GMT -5
I have a 5" Lowrance HDS (trolling motor) & HDI (console) on my pontoon. Then I have Lowrance 4" HDI on my jon boat. With all 3 I am having a hard time tracking fish while setting or drifting slowly. When I get over top of fish I loose sight of them. What settings should or would help me to continue to see what I found? I thought I read before where Ping Speed had something to do with it? Help is much appreciated. Thanks.
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Post by striperjohn on Dec 16, 2015 6:27:47 GMT -5
First, Mike if you're tracking them how do you lose them? I guess we need more information, you can't just have them on the screen and then poof they're gone. If it's a moving school perhaps?. I think you need to explain your situation a little better. Because to be honest with you most of the Lowrance products default (factory setups) settings work good right out of the box. I have a couple units I've used that I've stayed in auto and never messed with any settings and they did everything I needed them to do regarding finding bait, fish etc.
John
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Post by smlmike on Dec 16, 2015 19:16:14 GMT -5
Okay let me try again, I will search for fish normally with boat in gear around 2.5 mph or up to 8 mph. When I mark something I will slow to a drift over that area. When I do this the screen seems to go blank or doesn't mark anything anymore.
Basically I see a lot more activity at medium speeds and very little to nothing if drifting over the same areas. I wasn't necessarily talking about schools just marks.
I use the default settings for the most part also. I think the default Ping is set to fastest. Would this or scroll speed have anything to do with this?
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Post by striperjohn on Dec 16, 2015 20:39:33 GMT -5
If you are getting inverted Vs at speed then slow to go back over them if the fish are not moving then all you may get is a straight line. It might look like interference. Ping on high is good and shouldn't change when you slow. Scroll speed usually is on high as well. Those settings should not cause you to loose a signal.
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Post by striperjohn on Dec 16, 2015 20:45:03 GMT -5
One more thing is your transducer installed level as the boat sets in the water? I can't think of anything regarding your unit settings that would change when you you slow down. That occurs when you speed up on a plane due to turbulance but not the other way around.
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Post by mwardncsu on Dec 16, 2015 22:07:30 GMT -5
Mike - you're using HDI - the Down Imaging - correct? If so then that explains it.
Due to the shorter frequency (which allows for much better target separation), down-imaging does a poor job when still..... it is best for rendering structure at a few miles an hour. At slower speeds if you come over some fish you'll get returns - but it won't be like the regular sonar spaghetti. Also - HDI is not a "cone" - well, at least not as circular / perfect cone, but rather you're looking at a down-slice (technically a wide but very narrow cone). So the targets have to pass through this cone, and without movement you're relying on the fish to pass through that specific plane (vs. a MUCH higher likelyhood of passing through the cone).
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Post by striperjohn on Dec 16, 2015 22:33:30 GMT -5
Thanks Mike I thought he was using reg sonar. Lol.
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Post by striperjohn on Dec 17, 2015 6:45:38 GMT -5
Hey Mike go on utube and search for Downscan imaging interpretation. Lowrance has some great videos on this. Sorry, I didn't realize you were using DI only.
John
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Post by smlmike on Dec 17, 2015 11:14:57 GMT -5
Thanks
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johnr
New Member
Posts: 1,297 
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Post by johnr on Dec 18, 2015 7:20:42 GMT -5
Also, if you are moving at those speeds, you are condensing a lot of scanned area onto your screen. This can make it seem like you've found a good group of fish, when in actuality they are pretty spread out. So when you slow down, you are putting a lot less scanned area onto your screen which makes it seem like the fish have suddenly vanished or spread out.
I've seen this when scouting for bait mostly.
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