Hey guys, I got out on the Ross Barnett yesterday to try out my Humminbird side scan. I need help with some of the settings. Im trying to find crappie with it, I think I did but not 100% sure. Let me know what you think.....
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Hey guys, I got out on the Ross Barnett yesterday to try out my Humminbird side scan. I need help with some of the settings. Im trying to find crappie with it, I think I did but not 100% sure. Let me know what you think.....
Looks like you did, and you certainly found some good sized schools of Shad (if those are not massive schools of "fish"). Determining the species can be a bit tricky, though.
I'm wondering, though, why you chose b/w (inverse greyscale) for your image color palette ?? White specks (fish/shad) over a white bottom contour are going to be hard to see (if not impossible to see) under certain conditions. Most seem to prefer the brown tones.
I'm running a Lowrance DI ... and after checking out several of its color palettes, settled on the blue gradient. It just seemed easier on the eyes, while still giving a good image.
... cp :kewl
Thanks for your observations! I'm still playing around with the color palettes, but that makes since now that fish show up white and also the bottom. Will change to the brown and try it out. Another question I have, why is there a bunch of noise (cloudy areas) in some images and not in others? Is that bait fish? Prop wash? Thanks again for the help. I've been reading a bunch on this forum and appreciate any advice!Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
That cloudy area to the right of the center line is prop wash. If you notice in the frames with small amount speed is zero. The second frame down shows clearly that you shifted into gear for a short time and then back to neutral.
I also run a Lowrance unit and use the blue palette most of the time.
Watch as many You Tube videos as you can on setting up your Humminbird for the best view.
You can get a MUCH clearer picture than that I hope. Do you have the HD transducer?
Here is transducer info: XHS 9 HDSI 180 TQuote:
Originally Posted by kickingback
I've seen a few videos and your right, I need to get it dialed in. I'm a young grasshoppa so bare with me on the dumb questions!!! lol.
I like the Inverse ... Especially on sunny days ...
I also use 800kHz ... a lot...
Because unless I'm in new water looking for new structure, I'm more interested in what's closer to the boat than what's out to the edges of the screen ...
Use the SI Sensitivity to darker the bottom some so the fish echoes will contrast against the bottom better ...
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...psfbc4ce68.jpg
Rickie
+1. Inverse is awesome. What better to see something but using black and white. Nothing has more contrast. The problem with his images is not he color pallet but his sensitivity and contrast settings. Keep one thing in mind when setting side scan and down. Keep the screen as dark as possible. Fish will jump out better, structure will as well. A good way to test this is to activate the curser on a interesting side scan you are making. While the curser is active the screen with stop and allow you to drastically change settings of sensitivity and contrast. I find myself adjusting contrast all the time. Durmatic changes will make fish jump out at you. The programming is designed to adjust hard returns faster than soft ones. So the background ( bottom) will darken much faster than the fish will.Quote:
Originally Posted by rnvinc
Good on you Marine181!! I just watched the videos and read the forums and dialed mine in to meet my needs where I am fishing at. I change the settings sometimes depending on the light or time of day. It does help to know the settings and make changes on the fly as you are boating around.
Let us know how your images turn out! Good luck!
Marine181, do you get that same constant vertical line next to the centerline even when the boat is drifting with the motor off? If so, tan it is being caused by something to the left of the transducer that is blocking some of the left Si sonar signal. Try raising your motor up to see if it goes away. This is assuming that your transducer is mounted to the right side of your motor. If not, try posting some pictures of your transducer mounting.
Adjusting the SI with the screen stopped when fish and structure is on the screen worked the best for me. When you do this you can see how each adjustment effects the picture. I like to use the blue screen. It looks to me like most of the fish on your screen shot are schools of shad, because of the way the school is shaped, with a few larger fish mixed in.
Greg,Quote:
Originally Posted by Humminbird_Greg
This was my first trip out but I want to say the motor was trimmed up. I was wondering the same thing, why the streak was showing up on the left side. I assume it was just prop wash. I will be taking the boat out again this weekend to see if I can get it to change.
Marine181,
Might also check for your livewell drain/pickup screen to see if its in the way. On my boat, I need to trim my motor up a bit.
Here are the pictures of the transducer mount.
You might try dropping the transducer a little lower ..... The tail end may be dropped down a little also..... The leveling depends on how the boat sits in the water, and I think others have described ways to make sure the transducer is level.
I agree with dfar ...
The line looks like prop wash because the second image at a slower speed shows the line less prominent ...
I also agree with Greg to allow the boat to drift to see if the line goes away ...
Rickie
Trim the motor up and try it again. Looking at your photo's it appears that your td is pointing down at the back, opposite of what it should be unless your boat sits bow down. The td should be parallel to the waters surface. I used a digital level to set mine, on the water I noted the degrees up or down fore and aft, then side to side. Once home I used the jack on the trailer to replicate the fore and aft attitude on the water and then set the td level. My boat sits low on the starboard side in the water, I don't remember the exact number. Let's say it's down 5 degrees on the starboard side, with the boat level side to side in my shop I set the td 5 degrees down on the port side. Keep in mind that the level needs to be in the same location when making adjustments that it's in when taking initial readings.
Thanks guys for all the info! Much appreciated! I will adjust the angle of the transducer to get it more on a level field. I will have some new pictures this weekend!
Marine181, i wouldn't worry much about your transducer tilted down in the back.i run mine like that also.its will give you better on plane 2d like that and also, I don't think you'll notice a difference on si with it tilted up.That interference that your seeing in the water column, on the left side sure looks like maybe something under your boat, in front of the transducer making air bubbles.
This is good advice. Also, when wanting fish to pop out, use the sharpness menu.Using sharpness, doesn't make for good Internet pictures, but will aid in distinguishin fish from the bottom/sstructure.gstructure.good luckQuote:
Originally Posted by nhartke
Quote:
Originally Posted by kosmo
+1 I agree it does not look like prop wash.
What ever it is it is on the left side of the boat viewed from the rear. If you were using your trolling motor during that time I still think prop wash.
It might be caused by the trolling motor being set too shallow. Just a thought. I have some show up on mine and I just ignore it and fish.
Best of luck to ya.
Another thought. It might have been caused by that big basket of fish you had hanging down on the side of the boat. :biggrin