Thread: HDS 7 Touch First Time Out - Not a Clue - Help Interpreting Appreciated

I'm no expert, however the one thing I got out of the sonar class at crappie academy from the humminbird field rep is that the arch indicates the the fish has moved into and out of the sonar cone, either by swimming or the boat moving. Fish that are still in the sonar cone will be a line. He said the arches look good for marketing the units but it's not what you want to see, lines indicate that they are still under the boat.

good info, thanks.

Big arches are big fish. Crappie don't make big arches.

ok, so then what I am hoping to find is white dots on my side scan and straight lines on my downscan?

Originally Posted by ibmack

ok, so then what I am hoping to find is white dots on my side scan and straight lines on my downscan?

Most guys look for bait balls and such. With time on the water, you'll learn to distinguish crappie and how they relate to the bait, cover, and the structure (I call structure the topography of the lake bottom, not cover).

Crappie usually stack vertically in the water column. If they are are tightly grouped they may look like a small vertical bait ball. If they are more spread out, you may see a bunch of red dots (on 2D sonar) because the signal is weaker. You'll figure it out with the TOW I mentioned earlier.

thanks for all your help and advice Bill and all others. Will get some pics when, and if, I Actually catch some fish on something I have located. Paul

Did you get the unit from Cabelas! Did it come with the bundle? Thanks. I want one BAD!

Originally Posted by blackfish

Did you get the unit from Cabelas! Did it come with the bundle? Thanks. I want one BAD!

actually, I got mine from Bass Pro. it was the bundle. it had a $200.00 rebate and they had a spring special for $100.00 immediate off if you used their bass pro credit card. I signed up for one at the counter and made the purchase with it and got the hundred off in addition to the Lowrance rebate. what a sweet deal (and got all my BP points on top of that!) . it was $1,199 less 200 rebate from lowrance, less $100 using BP credit card (which I will just pay off and then cancel) for total of $899. it is the hds7 gen 2 touch bundle. comes with everything you need except screws and a mounting board if you want to use one. you might find a better deal, but I am happy with my deal. good luck. had a lot of help from the guys on here while figuring where and how to best mount it on my small 14' jon boat.

I have a HDS7 Gen 2 from Bass Pro and love it. I have been using it on Ouachita marking brush piles and Game and Fish attractors. Getting ready !!

I watched some youtube videos on the HDS7 Gen2 when I first got it. Some were very helpful..