Depthfinder Troubles

[Buzz Wing]

With the Summer months upon us, I'd like to start fishing some deeper water, although I seem to be having trouble finding good structure and deep cover.

Lately, it seems my depthfinder has been acting up. It has been doing things such as:

• Not showing true bottom depth
• Showing "gray" throughout the whole LCD*
• Not showing arches

If you noticed the asterisk, here is what I meant.



The bottom seems to be "clear" and not show a true line. Why is this? It is on "Auto Sensitivity" and it still continues to do this. Is something adjusted wrong? Should I slow Ping and Chart speed down when fishing 10' plus?

Thanks,

[rangerryan]

try turning the gray line off when the boat is setting in the water and lower the sensitivity. is your transducer mounted to the trolling motor or is it mounted to the bow of the boat. if it is mounted to the bow of the boat it could be that the transducer is not making solid contact on the bottom of the boat.

ryan

[Buzz Wing]

Ryan,

The transducer is mounted on the transom of the boat, port side, about 3" above the bottom of the hull. If it helps, the boat is riveted aluminum.

Should I use the Auto-Sensitivity when running/searching? If I am trolling and casting the shoreline, say 5-15', should I leave Auto-Sensitivity on?

Thanks again,

[Buzz Wing]

Here is an actual picture that I forgot to upload. Notice how the bottom is "clean" and not signaled. Does that mean it is a hard bottom since there is a double echo? Are those "humps" weeds?

[rangerryan]

i had one doing the same thing. every now and then it would show 255 feet when i was sitting in three feet of water. so i located the factory mounted transducer in a drain hole and i gave it a little wiggle and it came loose. after examination, i found that the epoxy had a bubble in it. so i moved it to the back in a flatter spot and used quick dry epoxy to glue it back down. worked like a charm.
if you decide to do this make sure to pick a flat spot so that it will show the true depth under the boat instead of showing the depth off to the side of the boat. if their is any air under the transducer at all it will not work correctly. as for the auto sensitivity i would try it with it off first. good luck.

[carolina-rig-01]

i am not an electronics expert and i would have to play with all the settings to make a decision. but the humps look like weeds or something like that. and it looks like your sensativity is set too high giving you too much surface clutter (the gray cloud that covers the screen). like i said that is just my guess but play with all the settings and see what you come up with.

[Buzz Wing]

Thanks, guys...

I think I might try like you said and turn the sensitivity down when I'm just slowly working the banks.

[Jigger]

Originally Posted by Buzz Wing

Ryan,

The transducer is mounted on the transom of the boat, port side, about 3" above the bottom of the hull.

I'm assuming the transducer is outside the boat and not shooting through the hull, right?? If so, and you've got it mounted "3 inches above the bottom of the hull", this may be your problem. I always mount my transducer flush with the bottom of the boat and I've never seen a transducer on anyone elses boat that's mounted on the transom that's not flush with the water or a little below the bottom of the boat and if I'm not mistaken, that's the way the manufacturer recommends mounting one. Try dropping it down flush with the water and see if it helps.

[Buzz Wing]

Jigger, the transducer is underwater...

[Bender]

Which lake are you on? If the water is really dirty and has a bunch of crap suspending in it you could see all that clutter I guess. It does sound like the autosensitivity to too high though. Try this:
"Select the “Sensitivity” option...adjust this down to an average setting around 70% to 80% (a little more or less may be required given the days fishing situation). Hit the “Exit” key to return to the Full Sonar Screen. To obtain the best possible setting you may consider one of the following. At your depth of operation, turn sensitivity all the way to 100% or until the screen darkens with noise. Then back off the setting until a good readable chart is seen. This gives the maximum sensitivity possible, and still has a readable chart. Alternatively, set the depth to twice the actual depth and turn up the sensitivity until you begin to see the second echo begin to chart. Set depth back to actual depth and use normally. This ensures you are receiving all possible echoes in the water column."
Borrowed from here: http://www.iovino.com/lowrance.htm

[Buzz Wing]

Thanks, guys, I figured it out...

[carolina-rig-01]

well what was the solution?

[Buzz Wing]

I adjusted the sensitivity down to abot 60-75 percent when fishing, auto-snesitivity when running.