HB 597

[amateurfishing]

still learning my HB 597 ci HD, tried a different large lake this weekend, still learning what the graph is telling me.....anyone know what a large round red ball anywhere in water column might be or smaller oval red sitting right at bottom? trying to understand if bait ball? fish on bottom? or what? sometimes those blue icon fish (rarely) go across the screen but more often i catch fish with those blue icons never appearing? is red on bottom a fish or a rock? just need a little help deciphering. what color/shape would fish look like? thx

[mainbutter]

Unless I see distinct "hooks", I generally assume a bait ball.

[JohnMickish]

Red on bottom could be a fish or it could be a rock. The big red ball is more then likely a bait ball.

Keep in mind that if you are in the default color patern, blue is the lightest return and is more than likely not a fish. You want red and yellow. Also, with a Humminbird you may not see an arc since they do not modify the signal to show you arcs, they show you the actual return. Think of it this way, have you ever seen any arc shaped fish?

[amateurfishing]

is there any way to differentiate between a rock or fish (red) on bottom?

[BrdHunter01]

If there is any seperation from the red oval/line and the bottom that is clearly a fish. I would say any line or narrow oval off the bottom is fish. If its ball shaped it is prob a school of baitfish or bugs

Unless I see distinct "hooks", I generally assume a bait ball.

I disagree, Fish on the bottom most often do know show up on my HB as "distinct hooks" More of a line or narrow oval shape as I stated above. I rarely see distinct hooks when walleye fishing.

Also I would turn the "fish icon" off. It just adds more clutter to your screen and makes it harder to see what kind of mark your HB is reading

[311Hemi]

Not sure what setting are available on that unit, but a few tips that recently helped me.

1) Turn switchfire to max for waters deeper than 10'

2) If you can, set the screen to use 200/83 simultaneously instead of just one or the other.

3) Set your scroll speed = to your boat speed when trolling or drifting...or close.

I was not seeing arcs on my HB unit when I started using it a month or so ago. I made the changes above based on some recommendations on various sites and was seeing arcs like I would expect.

Also, to my knowledge are an actual occurrence of sonar readings and how they display graphically on a moving screen and not actual images of arcs that are displayed on the screen....so you should see them on Lowrance or HB units. There are some good explanations of why they look like arcs on the screen. It has nothing to do with a fish looking or not looking like an arc or a preloaded arc image that they just show on the screen.

[BrdHunter01]

I presonally wouldn't want my finder to show an arc. I like to know exactly how far the fish is off the bottom so I can fish accordingly. An arc image would be more confusing. Is the top of the arc the depth the fish is at? The bottom of the arc? Somewhere in the middle?

Also A fish is not "arc" shaped, why would I want my sonar show a fish shaped as an arc?

[ozzie]

well in the big shceme of things the arc you see shouldn't cover multiple depths as it should be relatively small unless zoomed in. And what should the shape of my sonar hitting a fish and returning that message to the unit look like if not an arch? Should it be half a line since the sonar only caught a bit of the fish? should it be a verticle line when it is swimming up? I think the arch shape appears by the way the sonar bounces off the object and that is what is returned as it gets a stronger return from the solid part (mid section) of the fish rather than the tail or the head...

[JohnMickish]

is there any way to differentiate between a rock or fish (red) on bottom?

The best way I have to see this is to look at the down imagining on my 1198!

Seriously now without having the ability to run down imaging the best way to tell the difference is to just put time on the water.

[BrdHunter01]

well in the big shceme of things the arc you see shouldn't cover multiple depths as it should be relatively small unless zoomed in. And what should the shape of my sonar hitting a fish and returning that message to the unit look like if not an arch? Should it be half a line since the sonar only caught a bit of the fish? should it be a verticle line when it is swimming up? I think the arch shape appears by the way the sonar bounces off the object and that is what is returned as it gets a stronger return from the solid part (mid section) of the fish rather than the tail or the head...

I like the sonar to be a line when marking fish. When the line fades the fish is swimming away. If I see a fish right under the boat I drop my line off the side, I can see my line going down to the fish, I hold the bait 2 ft above the fish and watch the fish (Line on my HB) swim up to my bait... FISH ON! Just like ice fishing

The down imaging does help in some cases. To me the down imaging is basically a second sonar with a tad bit of a different look. If it were me I wouldn't pay more for the DI. I got the DI feature $10 cheaper compared to the same unit without DI because it was on sale

[TruthWalleyes]

is there any way to differentiate between a rock or fish (red) on bottom?

Upgrade to side imaging. Sonar will tell you a lot, but it also lies to you a lot. You'll figure out how it lies to you when you upgrade to side imaging.

[amateurfishing]

Not sure what setting are available on that unit, but a few tips that recently helped me.

1) Turn switchfire to max for waters deeper than 10'

2) If you can, set the screen to use 200/83 simultaneously instead of just one or the other.

3) Set your scroll speed = to your boat speed when trolling or drifting...or close.

I was not seeing arcs on my HB unit when I started using it a month or so ago. I made the changes above based on some recommendations on various sites and was seeing arcs like I would expect.

Also, to my knowledge are an actual occurrence of sonar readings and how they display graphically on a moving screen and not actual images of arcs that are displayed on the screen....so you should see them on Lowrance or HB units. There are some good explanations of why they look like arcs on the screen. It has nothing to do with a fish looking or not looking like an arc or a preloaded arc image that they just show on the screen.

will check with switchfire setting

always have sonar on 83/200

will check scrolling speed

thx

[amateurfishing]

i understand time on water is the only real way to learn, much appreciated, would like to learn from someone that actually has experience with this stuff on the water in real time.

thx for the info

[311Hemi]

Hopefully this image will explain why you should see arcs on your sonar if set up properly and the boat is moving. Granted, if you are stationary and the fish is staying in the cone of the sonar it will be a line....not an arc.

Also, one positive thing about having the fish ID turned on is that it can tell you relatively how close to the boat the fish is. The fish will be displayed either red or blue, depending on what cone it was located in. This can tell you if the fish is right under you, or possibly out to the side a little bit and if you know how wide the cone is you can tell relatively how far (max) it could be....although you wont know to which side.

[amateurfishing]

well ironically last time out (mille lacs) i had fish i.d. on and it never came accross screen yet multiple times i did see oval reds or bait balls in middle of water column or on/near bottom, did not understand that.......& what is structure i.d. good for?

[TruthWalleyes]

well ironically last time out (mille lacs) i had fish i.d. on and it never came accross screen yet multiple times i did see oval reds or bait balls in middle of water column or on/near bottom, did not understand that.......& what is structure i.d. good for?

First off, make sure your depth finder is set to "Fresh Water" mode. 2nd there is sensitivity adjustment for fish ID. Smaller the fish you want the blue fish to pop up, the higher the sensitivity. I prefer fish ID OFF.

Structure ID, i believe, has to do with how the sonar shows the bottom. I think the options are White line, or structure. In structure mode, if you are going over mud, the bottom will be a color like blue or yellow. When over rocks or gravel it will be a harder return with different thicknesses of red. The thicker the red the more dense of a bottom.

Regular sonar it is very difficult differentiate between a rock or twig or bump vs a fish. Suspended fish are easier to identify, but you still have to be careful with weeds, branches, tightly grouped fish, and bait balls because they can also look like suspended fish at times.