Uncertain Perspective

[RangrSkipr]

I installed my livescope system (2-106SV's and LVS box) on my boat in May. Shortly after updates followed with Perspective mode so I purchased the Garmin Perspective mount. First time on the water I could see an occasional fish but never my bait so I kind of blew it off as operator error and fished all summer with in just forward mode. It's been a learning curve but a good one and I've enjoyed seeing more fish and structure than I ever imagined. Yes I have ghost tree and dead spot now and again but Ill chalk those up to part of the learning curve and they don't bother me. This morning I decided to fish some shallow water and thought I'd try out the Perspective again. Sorry but I find it absolutely worthless. Could see no fish and never saw my bait. Even when dropping it right in front of the transducer. Back to forward mode. I think its an angle thing but there is no adjustment on the mount to give you anything else but what it is. I have a bubble on my mount so it is always on level plane so. .. To add to the frustration, bass fishing in my area has been crap all summer and I have not boated a fish in my last six outings on lakes that I've historically caught a number of very nice fish. The only saving grace is that everyone else is kind of reporting the same. I know the livescope has me looking for more fish than catching more fish, but even my honey holes have not paid off. Any thoughts, ideas or settings on the Perspective that I might need to try? I've pretty much left all factory settings as they came, forward and down is fine. TVG off, medium gain and typically 40-55' ranges and auto depth.

[Chris9702l]

I have almost never seen my fly while in perspective mode. Perspective if great For just looking ahead to see where the fish are. It is finicky sometimes but all electronics are like that. The thing that does help is being able to vary the angle of the transducer. I have mine on a fishing specialties pole with a ram mount which allows for setting of different angles. And what helps me is a second livescope. I can use perspective for an overview of where the fish are and then quickly switch the screen to forward view. My next purchase is a 93sv so I can see both views at the same time. But with all this technology you still can't force a fish to take your bait.

[LWINCHESTER2]

I don't much know where to start. I've never been a bass fisherman, focusing on walleye and crappie. We still have plenty of crappie but our walleye are nearly gone due to the influx and explosion of bluebacks. At least that's what our biologist attributes it to. The crappie are easy to find but not necessarily easy to get to bite and besides, in February and March I can fill the freezer with them, so my time lately has been fishing for spotted bass. I can find them every trip somewhere. It may be open water, or in a cove. They may be suspended to on the bottom at 60ft, even sometimes 80ft. What I like about them is that it seems when I find them they nearly always bite, even if they are on the bottom. And after one bites, the struggle of reeling that one in turns the others on and then the action is wild. It's a LiveScope game most all the way. I find them better with LiveScope than everything else. Sure, sometimes I see them on 2d or SideVu but generally it is LiveScope. Sometimes it's the PS22 I find them with when they are suspended because of the extra range it has but it still takes LVS to determine if what I'm seeing is bait or bass. I may have to search an hour, sometimes two hours before I find a good bunch, but when I find them the search time was worth it. Nothing shows them on the bottom, or actually nearly on the bottom as good as LVS. And I can generally tell if they are going to be the smaller ones to ignore or better ones I like to catch. Perspective is no help to me for this kind of fishing. I have to know how deep they are and generally they will be too deep for Perspective. Sorry your fishing has been so tough. One thing I've learned about spotted bass on my lake. After I have searched 4 or 5 promising locations and don't see them suspended, they are on the bottom. It's tougher to find them when they are on bottom. For that I use 2d, ClearVu and LVS. When they are 60-80 ft deep, even on LVS they may look like a layer of bait on the bottom, but usually one of the three sonars I named will give them away. We have so much bait right now, I can't just fish the bait, I have to verify on the sonar that fish are there. None of this may be of any help to you. Different lake, different circumstances.

[Tromanoski]

Here is a real dumb question. Is the transducer mounting bracket in the correct position? The reason I am asking is I was switching modes and thought perspective view just sucked. After several trips I finally realized I was not rotating the mounting bracket to be parallel to the trolling motor shaft. Pretty stupid of me. Once I realized that, it started looking pretty good in shallow water. I also travel with a boat cover. I discovered at times the cover install/removal would mess up the transducer position. Learned the hard way on that as well. So now when I check over the boat before backing it into the water, I also check to see if the livescope transducer is set correctly.

[RangrSkipr]

Here is a real dumb question. Is the transducer mounting bracket in the correct position? The reason I am asking is I was switching modes and thought perspective view just sucked. After several trips I finally realized I was not rotating the mounting bracket to be parallel to the trolling motor shaft.

Yes. I have the transducer mounted on a separate foot controlled Minkota trolling motor that I stripped down to just the pole and foot controller. I've tipped the shaft forward and aft to look ahead and neither seemed to be better than the other. Like I mentioned, I can't even get a flash of a bait dropped right in front of the transducer when in Perspective mode. Livescope is definitely a vertical fishermans tool. I've seen massive schools of crappie in brush piles that someone without livescope would probably never find. I just haven't fished them. I've had varying success with tracking my baits when casting in forward mode, sometimes good, sometimes not so good, and with the same baits. I don't know what changes but it seems to be a different experience every time I'm on the water and I'm forced to learn how it's going to function for the day.

[Tromanoski]

Sorry you seem to be having trouble. My system once I figured out the stupid stuff I was doing wrong works really nice. I noticed that water clarity etc can sometime impact it somewhat. Also I do get a very slight ghost tree, which is more of a faint line. But the fish swim threw it and pop out on the other side. So I don't pay attention to it. I have my livescope plugged into a Echomap Ultra 122sv networked to the same unit on the console.

[LWINCHESTER2]

My suggestion in learning to use perspective would be to focus on consistency. Pick an area you are already very familiar with. Make repeated trips to your favorite crappie tree. Stay in a consistent depth, like 10-15 ft deep. I'd also spend some time casting large lures and watching for them. Use top water lures and shallow crankbaits. That will help you get your settings dialed in. Use the same range setting, like 40 ft.

[MDBASSNPRO]

OP
Agree with Leonard but you are not alone with bait identification. Make sure you have your LVS 32 level, xdcr positioned correctly for the direction your looking.. This is essential to having the settings and alignment dialed in for viewing your bait especially in perspective mode. For forward vue knowing where your forward vue is shooting is critical to seeing your bait.
.
see post #5 and #7 On the following thread for considerations on seeing your bait http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=1038407. Also note the other discussion on post #20.

As far as finding your lure, if you are running the Garmin perspectives view mount the can’t maybe making it a little more difficult.
apparently those running the “no cant” mount can see lure more easily. http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....Texas+boys+out

To help in finding your lure and dialing in the angle, having an adjustable mount is best. There are utube vids on this or some ingenuity can provide an adjustable mount. :) I found that adjusting the angle such that you can see a buzz bait coming across the water towards you helped in sensing where the angles are showing. Then adjusting it from there knowing the math. Once you have the xdcr positioning setup and understood water clarity and unit settings with adjustable mount has biggest impact on results.

Hopefully this helps. Good luck.

[Kulibin]

You can talk for a long time ...
Better show the video ...

[pfisher]

To many variables with perspective mode. A very accomplished crappie fishing friend of mine tried perspective all tournament season. We removed the mount today and replaced his mega 360. Yes, he took the 360 off so he could give the perspective mode a fair shake. Yes, he ran two systems also.

Now he gets to listen to me tell him "I told you so." I had used perspective for 3-4 trips before he called me about it and I told him to leave the M360 on. :-)

[aero320]

I found a good use for the Perspective view ... cast netting Shad! We have been fishing with live Gizzard Shad for the last four months. The transducer is mounted at the bow as is the Ultra 106sv. I am standing on the front deck throwing the net. You can see the schools of Shad swimming around and cast your net accordingly. You can even see the opened net go over the bait fish. It does take a while to figure out where to throw. This is a real game changer for catching bait. On the final throw of my last bait trip, I caught 50 baits! I have also been experimenting with looking in front of the boat with the Perspective view to look for schools of fish. The idea is to adjust the boat direction so that you pass over the schools of fish. This looks promising.

[Kulibin]

I have also been experimenting with looking in front of the boat with the Perspective view to look for schools of fish. The idea is to adjust the boat direction so that you pass over the schools of fish. This looks promising.

I do that too ...





This is how you can fish with perspective mode....

[RCR1]

I find it to be pretty valuable for throwing a cast net on baitfish like shad in shallow water. I can tell the size of the shad before throwing, and also tell them apart from undesirable fish like gar (which is a big benefit, as those toothy beaks are not fun in a cast net).

I don't bass fish so I really can't comment on that.

Take a look at this video. Yes I know the quality is garbage. I haven't taken a new video since I learned how to screenshot it properly lol.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Ig...ew?usp=sharing

[ridge_runner91]

I find it to be pretty valuable for throwing a cast net on baitfish like shad in shallow water. I can tell the size of the shad before throwing, and also tell them apart from undesirable fish like gar (which is a big benefit, as those toothy beaks are not fun in a cast net).

I don't bass fish so I really can't comment on that.

Take a look at this video. Yes I know the quality is garbage. I haven't taken a new video since I learned how to screenshot it properly lol.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Ig...ew?usp=sharing

I use perspective mode exactly the same as you...... it not only helps me to know where to throw my cast net but just as importantly where not to throw it.

I know most folks on here hate perspective mode but I really like it.

[Tromanoski]

If you dont like the view the perspective mode gives then rotate the transducer back to froward or down view. I use all three. The only problem I have had is when I thought I had it set a particular mode, I did not check its position when I went back on the water. I found that my boat cover would change the mount position and/or move the alignment of the transducer. Now I check it every time before I launch. All 3 modes work good for me.

[RangrSkipr]

All great replies and experiences. Livescope is a tool which proves to be a little more rewarding every time I'm on the water and one I would hate to be without. I'm hooked and will get it dialed in with time