lorance x85?

[Benny]

I have a Lorance X85, up in Canada I mark fish every where on Lac Suel Res. But here on Mille Lacs, it doesn't seem to pick up the fish. I did not change any settings, just ran on auto in both areas. Is it do to the rock botom on Lac Suel that the fish show there? I tried shallow and deep (5ft to 45ft ) and fish swoed up in all depths, but on Mille Lacs all I saw was weeds and some bait fish. I find it hard to believe there were no fish there as others were catching walleyes.
Thanks, Benny

[Guest]

There could be many reasons that you do not pick up fish on Mille Lacs. If the fish are laying right on the bottom they are extremely hard to spot on sonar. Also fish on a heavily fished water will move away from a boat even in deeper water putting them out of the cone angle and unable to be seen on the screen. Direction that you are moving on the structure can make a difference too, going from deep to shallow will give different readings that shallow to deep. The rock bottom of Lac Seul could effect the reading but not that much. On Mille Lacs wwe have never marked a great many fish usually on here and there. Without knowing all of the settings on your X-85 it is hard to give you a real clear answere. Even in auto no sonar unit is perfect at determining all of the water conditions. Sometimes you have to override its settings to get the best presentation.

Rob

[Benny]

Thanks Rob, I usualy try changing the settings but for this test I did nothing differant. I may have been as you said the fish are just moving away from the boat. Up north it is not uncommon to go all day and only see one boat.
Thanks for the confedance boost, Benny

[Benny]

Hi Doc, I have marked fish both in canada and mille lacs in less than 15ft. But it seems to be 20 times more in lac suel res than in mille lacs. I try adjusting the sensitivity all the time, usually get faverable results. But for the test I did this year I only used auto. We caught fish every time we marked them on lac suel , but no marks on mille lacs and no fish. Others around us were catching tons of walleyes trolling raps, maybe as said before the fish moved away from the boat and we did not have enough line out?
Well I will keep trying to get it come next year, my storage place is waiting for me to bring it in. He locks the doors just before deer season starts.
Thanks for your input, Benny

[doc]

I am assuming you are fishing in more than 20 feet of water. If you are fishing shallower than that, I wouldn't expect to mark too many fish because of the area of the transducer cone.
I have has my best luck using the sensitivity set on manual. I have a LMS-350 which is basically the same sonar system as the X-85. On my unit I set it at 53% and never change it. Unfortunatly on the LMS-350 this forces you to adjust the depth range manually as well. I have never had much luck consistantly marking fish in auto mode.
I determined the 53% value by jigging a 1/4 ox jig directly below the boat in 30 feet of water while in creasing the sensitivity until I could see the jig on the sonar screen. This is easiest to do on a calm day since you have to be right under the transducer.
Hope this helps.