Fish Finder Help

[Shaveme]

I purchased my first boat about a month and half ago and it came with 2 fish finders: on the trolling motor it has a humminbird wide eye and on the back of the boat it has a 400TX. Anyone have any opinions on either or both of these?

neither have helped me locate any fish really. I mean they show fish occasionaly, but they honestly have not helped me catch any. So i am wondering if I need to replace them or am i expecting too much?

[bigun]

First thing you should learn is that there is no such thing as a "fish finder". They are, in reality, sonar units and ALL of them are almost completely useless until you put forth the effort to learn how they work so that you can interpret what they are telling you.

The vast majority of folks who own them, regardless of how much they paid for their units, don't do that and know only the depth of the water they happen to be in at the moment.

They ones you have were great units in their day and will still tell you the depth of the water you are in so I wouldn't replace them unless or until I was ready to spend some time really learning to use the technology.

[bigun]

Reading this old thread, including all the replies, is a VERY good place to start!

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/archi...hangy-etc.html

[Shaveme]

thanks for the link. I guess i need to play with the settings more and see what i get. i know these units don't actually "find fish". I am just not sure that i am getting an accurate picture of what is below the boat.

it seems like i am consistently getting a flat bottom with some depth changes, i am not seeing things like trees and cover that i know are there.

but i will reread that post you linked a few more times and try to adjust the settings accordingly.

thanks,
michael