Finding deep water smallmouth

[Jhawknseattle]

I have a Helix 9 gen 4 msi and need help with finding smallmouth in my deep natural lakes. My general strategy is to find rock piles or other structure in the 20-35 foot range and fish that. While this works, I rarely see the fish with down imaging that I'm fishing for. I'll mark a spot, drive over it with mega down imaging but fish are hard to see, it seems I have better luck seeing them on 2d. My cousin on the other hand has a Lowrance elite 9 ti2 and the fish absolutely pop on his unit. Are there some settings I can play with to get fish, particularly smallmouth to stand out? Most the time they're glued to the bottom. Here's a picture of my cousins down image on his lowrance and how those fish pop out. Thanks

[Real L]

I think that's 2D on the Elite 9, not Down Imaging. It's 2D with a different color palette. You can also change the 2d color on a Humminbird unit. Fish are always easier to see on 2D.

[BASStard6344]

Lowrance has a function called fish reveal. 2d imaging is overlayed onto down imaging. That’s what your seeing in the above image. When I had Lowrances it was a pretty cool feature IMO. I don’t know if it’s a patent thing or not but Garmin doesn’t have it. Apparently HB doesn’t have it either?

[Jhawknseattle]

Yeah it doesn't have that I guess. Sounds like 2d is my best option for looking for fish on a specific rock pile or structure. Thanks

[bmwnc2]

MDI the fish can show up as Dots, or less detail....
run dual screens on the unit, one DI and one Sonar and you will learn what i mean and how to identify.

[Wayne P.]

[SLYDoggie]

You might try the "Water Column Sensitivity" setting. The setting goes from -3 to +3. I only search for fish in the water column and keep it set at +3 all the time. I frequently see things on the DI that I don't see on the 2D. You just have to have it tuned right since you are only typically seeing smaller dots and dashes at the deeper depths. Most of the time, I don't even use 2D but when I do, I have it in the top right 1/4 of the screen directly above the DI on the bottom right of the screen. It is easy to correlate the two to be sure you don't miss anything.

The Solix has ultimate view flexibility on what you put where but I don't know if the predefined Helix views have this combination.

[OK_BassBum]

Smallies in the brush at Bull Shoals.

[Real L]

I guess smallmouths up north are easier to see. You can see the arches form on 2D when they rise from the bottom to chase a baitfish or you're bait. The ones glued to the bottom don't really bite ( not active) or are walleyes.

[bobcoy]

There are Walleyes on Bull Shoals as well.

[gholbert]

Try turning down the frequency on your DI, I know it sounds counter intuitive, but with the Mega DI the fish often times won't show up. Turning down the frequency down to the 800khz or even 455 kHz should show the fish better on DI. Hope this helps!

[Jhawknseattle]

I've wondered if the fish don't get kind of cluttered in the detail
Also alot of the fish I'm targeting are deeper than 25 feet and I have heard that mega frequencies don't penetrate the water column as far as 455 kHz does.

[Jhawknseattle]

Great tip. I've never messed with that setting will give it a go.

[Wayne P.]

I've wondered if the fish don't get kind of cluttered in the detail
Also alot of the fish I'm targeting are deeper than 25 feet and I have heard that mega frequencies don't penetrate the water column as far as 455 kHz does.

Higher frequencies don't have as much range and depth as lower frequencies, but up to 100' is no problem with the MEGA frequency. The only thing that can prevent deeper function is stuff in the water column that blocks the imaging pulses==algae, thermocline, silt, etc. If you use Contrast or Sensitivity to filter out those, you also make fish harder to see since they are stuff in the water column.
This is the thermocline blocking the MEGA frequency in 100'----



This is cold water with layered muddy water passing through the system that is typically very clear:

[MikeF]

You can cycle through the frequencies quickly by just pressing the check mark, to compare sonar images on the Helix units.


I always hunt at the lower freq. and use the check mark button if I want a higher frequency image.

Not sure about Solix and other models.

[BoilermakerZ519]

You can cycle through the frequencies quickly by just pressing the check mark, to compare sonar images on the Helix units.


I always hunt at the lower freq. and use the check mark button if I want a higher frequency image.

Not sure about Solix and other models.

that’s a great tip…are all of these “shortcuts” or “hidden commands” in the manual?

[SLYDoggie]

You can cycle through the frequencies quickly by just pressing the check mark, to compare sonar images on the Helix units.


I always hunt at the lower freq. and use the check mark button if I want a higher frequency image.

Not sure about Solix and other models.

On the Solix, the frequency is easily switchable by touching the frequency on the top bar and selecting which frequency you want. You will, however, typically have to tweak the Sensitivity and Contrast for the newly selected frequency.

[bobcoy]

that’s a great tip…are all of these “shortcuts” or “hidden commands” in the manual?

In your manual in the beginning there is a heading "control head keys" that may be the only place for that type of info. Its on page 22 in the latest Helix manual.
Link to manual: https://879dd651a809fc1b59de-035169d...4%20Manual.pdf

[BoilermakerZ519]

In your manual in the beginning there is a heading "control head keys" that may be the only place for that type of info. Its on page 22 in the latest Helix manual.
Link to manual: https://879dd651a809fc1b59de-035169d...4%20Manual.pdf

thank you for the link and reference Bob.

[JohnN]

When searching, I like to set the display for side imaging on top with 2d and DI side by side on bottom. You'll definitely see fish on 2d that you don't see on DI and vice-versa. Just a quick thought - settings can obviously vary on all three sonar versions depending on conditions.

Attached is an image showing a school of walleyes on a flat. Classic vertical jigging rap opportunity. These showed up better on DI than they did on 2D. I've seen fish on 2D that didn't show up on DI. Food for thought.