Here is a good tutorial on how sonar works and why fish arch...
Sonar Tutorial | Lowrance
The 2d sonar has a cone shape beam...
The point where the fish first "enters" the cone shape is slightly farther away (from the xducer) than the point where the fish is in the "center" of the cone... This distance difference is what plots the first half of the fish arch....
Then, the point where the fish "exits" the cone shape is farther away (from the xducer) than the point where the fish was in the "center" of the cone shape... This distance difference is what plots the last half of the fish arch...
Not only does the fish have to pass "thru" the cone shape beam... The fish also has to pass thru the beam on a horizontal line so that the u]first and last[/u] "tips" of the fish are farther away (from the xducer) than the "center" of the fish...
Rickie