HB 688 DI with Ice Ducer setting

I am new to ice fishing and the use of electronics. So late in the year I was fishing the bottom in 20 FOW for Perch, occasionally a fish would rise off the bottom and mark on the chart. Then I realized I could actually see fish on the bottom staring at my jig and spike. The fish and the jig wasn't showing up on my HB. Then by toying with my jig I noticed I was missing the bottom 9-12 inches of the lake on my chart. I had the HB setup for ice, (Clear mode, digital depth on, low noise, 2d sensitivity 10)

What can I do next year to get the bottom of the lake more refined on my chart without the whole screen filling with color which happens when I turn up the sensitivity? I don't use the flasher view, I prefer the scrolling chart.

I had a lot of fun "sight fishing" these perch and ignoring my HB. But I can only see the bottom when the sun is high in the sky.

You were likely fishing over rocks/weeds and it was showing the top of that structure as the bottom. 688 has 3" target separation I believe, so you should be able to see down to 3" off bottom. Try zooming in on bottom when targeting perch as well, that will help.

Ok, so would zooming along with changes in sensitivity get down to that 3" separation? The bottom did have some weeds, not many rocks.

What about the white line bottom versus structure id for bottom?

Thank you

For ice fishing you just want to run the basic settings. Narrow beam if you have it, then adjust sensitivity until you can see your jig. Weeds are difficult, sonar hits off of the top of the weeds and thinks it is bottom, so you can't see anything below them. The only thing you can do is put the unit into the narrowest beam and hope to shoot through a pocket in the weeds, which only works in really shallow water. On a clean flat bottom you will be able to see down to whatever your target separation is, most Hbirds are about 3", which is just fine for perch fishing. Zooming in on the bottom will help distinguish your jig from the fish/bottom better. The only time I don't use zoom while ice fishing is when I am chasing suspended crappies.

Thanks Kevin, I noticed sometimes I see my jig easily and other times it is faint. Occasionally it is as big as the yellow lines of the fish. So each time I go out to a spot I'll adjust it it so the jig is faint and see what happens. Will try the zoom view as well.

Thanks again.