using fish finder help

[danny27]

Hi everyone. i just got a hummingbird small portable fish finder for my dinghy. do i just go along with it on or do i have to stop and turn it on when i wanna check an area?

Please can ya all give me some advice on what to do.

here is a pic of it.



Cheers for your help.

[farehamgoods]

Hi Danny,

I havent used one off a boat but i have seen them used by carp agnlers. I cant see why you cant drag the sensor behind the boat but remember the reading you get will be behind you other than that maybe this site can give some tips

www.hawkeyeelectronics.com/customerservicecenter.htm

Cheers Peter

[danny27]

I'll have a bucthers cheers m8

[spottius]

Hi Danny

You can use your fishfinder either way. What you might find is that when you are steaming along air might pass under the boat and go under the transducer. This will totally screw up the image on the screen. It depends on how fast your going at the time. Generally in most boats the faster you go the less well your fishfinder works. I use a bracket fixed to the transom that allows me to put the transducer about 12 inches below the bottom of my hull for when I want to find something and then lift it up clear of the hull line for steaming fast or beaching the boat. Some people fix their transducers to the inside of the hull in a pot of oil as the transducer will fire its signal through fibreglass. As long as your hull is single skined and there is no air between the transducer and the hull(hence the oil) this can be a good option as once you've fitted it you don't have to worry about it again.

Cheers mate.

[Canuck]

I always turn the the unit off when the anchor is set and i start fishing, I'm sure the fish can detect the signal and may be frightened off by it especially in shallower water. In hull transducers can also be filled with neat antifreeze.

[spottius]

Sonar uses 50khts and 200khts its totally inaudible to fish and humans. You really don't have to worry about it.

[danny27]

Well i got my fish finder. went out on the dinghy to try it over eastney, launched from the beach and went out about half a mile then hung it over the side of the dinghy. it picked up weed and guess what. it was weedy so moved spot a few hundred yards, it was picking up fish at different depths but didn't catch sweet F A. if there is a fish half way up from the bottom am i meant to guess how far down to put my bait? i was using squid and mackeral, 2 rods, one with a flowing trace and another with a 2 hook flapper and i was anchored not drifting. I ain't got the slightest clue and really need some help with this and the right thing to do

Came home with 3 mackeral for dinner from feathers . one was a stonker.

Please guys someone must have the answer..

Cheers

Dan

[shonzy 2]

a fishfinder is genuraly used to read the bottom of the sea bed so if your looking for shelfs,big banks,drop offs,wreck fishing,mud,sand or rocky bottoms and also used for drifting to find shols of any fish that will be at the back of a bank,wreck etc, and when to drop you lure, i wouldn't bother using it as to look for fish, it will also pick up weed floating past at different depths.

[danny27]

i don't get this at all! ;-(

[chris329a]

Shonzy says it all really.......

They shouldn't really be called fish finders as they only pick up on objects in the water and depending on the settings interpret them as a fish symbol.

As he says, it is probably weed anyway. The purpose of them as he said is to look for features like shelves where the fish can sit to get the food that might have landed there. You might be able to find a wreck if you are in the right place too - something you couldn't do easily otherwise.

Hope that helps................

[danny27]

if i do find a ledge how do i find out which way it runs and for how long?

[chris329a]

I take it yours does show depth? If so then as you go along you will see it drop off suddenly. That is obviously a ledge.

If you paddle/cruise around a bit you can mentally see what the sea floor looks likes and see the features......

[Rich]

its the age old saying you get what you pay for!im sure it wasnt cheap but the more you pay the better you get!take a look at the charts forn youre area the will show the contour lines have a drift over them,then anchor up the also hold fish,as you drift over the line you will see it ruise or drop,hope this is of some help,
also try the mca website theirs a link to a 3d image of the sea bed for a few areas

[danny27]

this seems blimin difficult to me. first time and everything trying to find ledges from a dinghy in an open spot in the sea lol. i find an area where it seems ok,drop the anchor.time thats gone down i've drifted and can't physicly see the spot where i was. dows anyone get what im saying lol?

[spottius]

To find shelves and ledges your going to need a gps or if you can afford it a plotter.With out one it is nearly impossible to work out where you are. If you did have a plotter this is how you do it.
Set your plotter or gps to the right range ie how much of the virtual map is displayed(I use1/16 of a nautical mile)
You steam the boat up and down over the feature in a grid pattern.
Each time you see the start of the feature you put a mark on the plotter(on a Lowrance unit you press wpt twice fast).
When the feature starts to disapear you do the same.
After you've done this say 15 times you will have lots of dots on your screen. These should indicate the edges of the feature.
You now stop the engine and wait to see which way your going to drift.(the plotter/gps will leave a track line on the screen of where the boat has been)
If you drifted s/e you would anchor the boat n/e of the feature and as you pay out anchor line the boat would slowly move back over the feature.
Hope this helps.
If you want I've got a leaflet that came with a BFM mag that really goes into detail. If you give me your address I will post it to you.




If you