I borrowed a Vexilar FL-8, help get me started.

[coldmark]

I borrowed an FL-8 SLT for my first trip to LOTW. It seems to be easy to use. What I don't understand is the coverage it gives you. Is it only good for the hole the sensor is in? Or does it give coverage to other holes in the shack?

[veximan]

It'll depend on how deep you are fishing. The deeper the water, the larger the "cone" the tranducer will cover. So if your holes are roughly 2-3 feet apart and you're in 20 ft of water theorically speaking...then yes, you'll be able to see both jigs on the graph. different size jigs also determine if you will see them on the graph as well. Hope that helps and good luck.

[Dave]

Turn the gain up just so you can see your jig, too.

[Dan Thiem]

And if you are seeing a bunch of clutter. Try pushing the IR button a few times. See if that clears up the screen a bit.

[Captain B.R.K]

Coldmark, thought I'd do a little research for you on this topic as you have some good questions.

The FL-8 SLT comes with three different beams on their transducers: 9,12,and 19 (degree). I'm not sure what is normal, so I found a graph to help you understand

Depth of water 10ft

1.6ft(9degree) 2.2ft(12degree) 3.4ft(19degree)

Depth of water 20ft

3.2ft(9degree) 4.3ft(12degree) 6.7ft(19degree)

Depth of water 30ft

4.7ft (9degree) 6.3ft(12degree) 10ft(19degree)

This tells you that if you have the 12 degree transducer and you are fishing in 20ft of water, the diameter of the circle below you is 4.3 feet.

So if you are fishing in 20 feet of water and you have two holes within 4 feet of each other, chances are you are going to be able to use the FL-8SLT to graph both of your lures.

Hope this helps.