HDS Live 9 2D Vertical Fishing Help

[dkinney6]

New to Lowrance, coming from Humminbird and wanted to get thoughts on setting the unit up for vertical fishing drop shots and jigs. The unit is a HDS Live 9. I was running a universal sonar with it originally and was able to see consistent returns of jigs and drops shots very well at 200kHz, but have since put a 3-in-1 nosecone on my Ghost and am having the worst time trying to find my lure in the cone using any frequency. After playing with settings, e.g., frequencies, ping rates and refresh rates, I am still not seeing consistent returns from my lure (fishing in 15-30 FOW). Looking for advice on where to start with setting up refresh rates, frequencies (High Chirp, 200kHz, etc.) and ping. Perhaps a preset wouid be better, e.g., Ice Fishing mode? I usually am running "shallow" preset and then playing with settings from there. I've also turned sensitivity up and down to little avail. BTW, I've checked to ensure the right transducer is selected. Really thought that might be it at first since I wasn't seeing any lure returns. Since then, I've only been able to get very faint lure readings that appear and disappear - likely moving in and out of the cone. I thought the nosecone would be a significant improvement over the universal sonar in terms of target separation and lure visibility. Probably user error and it will just take more time on the water to figure out. Any advice to point me in a good starting direction is appreciated.

[Basshopper]

Before you do a bunch of setting that obviously did not work. You need to determine if you Ghost is hanging straight down when the boat is sitting in the water. I see this as an issue with Active target all the time Depending on what boat you have if it has a hooked nose that means your ghost is back towards the transom up to 8 deg. If you have a point 1 next time on the water go to data under point 1 in device list and measure the altitude pitch of your boat. When home jack the boat up to that deg deploy the Ghost and measure the degrees from verticle. If it off then you have to shim and level your Ghost mounting bracket to correct. I have no issue with my Ghost and live veritcle Jigging for crappie up to 30 ft of water with a 1/32 oz jig and seeing it. That is where I would Start. I use High Chirp first then 200khz if condions down't alow image, Max pin, turn up my sensitivity Auto plus 2 to 8 depending on what I can get away with Turn off Noise rejection, SCC Low,

[NoCAL]

Have to agree with ‘hopper. I have no issues seeing my Dropshot on high CHIRP but as mentioned the motor has to be perfectly perpendicular to the water surface AND you must drop right next to the motor to get it to stay in the cone. I typically put the tip of my rod next to the motor and open the bail from there. Even then if there is any wind or current, you lose sight of it pretty quick.

NoCAL

[dkinney6]

Thanks. My set up is a 2020 Ranger 520L. It came with an Ultrex so I was using the universal sonar on it. Like I said - no issues. I could see everything very well. Just had the dealer switch over to the ghost with nosecone and have been struggling ever since. I’ll check for level as you recommended and see if it’s an issue.

[Basshopper]

Ranger had a hook nose but have been told the new ones that has been fixed. So you will have to ckeck, Good luck

[Team Colibri]

Start by checking that the transducer has been recognized (Pages-Settings-Sonar-Installation, channel 2).
In such shallow water, use mode "Shallow water". High chirp, colourline around 72-78%, A-scope on is a must (Menu-More options) as this is what you primarily use, not the sonar-history. As you use A-scope, scroll is not important, but generally should be set very low when fishing vertically. Ping on max or a few steps down (like 18). All filtering off.

More on settings:
https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/202...nce-guide.html

[dkinney6]

Appreciate the info! When I saw your location, I thought you might have been the one who posted the guide! Your link is one I spent a lot of time reading when initially setting everything up. Thanks for taking the time to put it out there. I'm planning to get on the water today or tomorrow and see what I can figure out.

[Team Colibri]

Thanks. :)
Grab some screenshots while you are out, so we can see what you see.

[dkinney6]

Found it! I went to a calm cove to experiment and discovered I have to be on the left side of the TM and a lot further forward than I was with the Ultrex. Turning off the console 3-in-1 sonar seemed to help, too. Maybe interference? BTW, pitch and angle were level.

Once I found it, I played around with some settings and could easily see a 1/8 damiki rig and a very thin 4" robo worm drop shot at both High chirp and 200kHz. Worked well on spot lock and manual control. A-scope is a very nice feature. I've used it in the past on cheaper finders, but this seemed a lot better. Getting out into the wind, I was able to replicate - now that I know where to place the lure and how to dial it in. Going to be fun again. We have a large saugeye population at my local lake, so it's a blast vertical jigging them in summer and late fall. Doesn't hurt that it works for bass, too.

Sorry about the pics - forgot to put in my chip for screen shots so I used the iPhone. I'm assuming the "ghosting" at the top is a strong return for my lure as it followed my movements with it. Out in the wind, sometimes I'd see the upper ghosting and not the lure at the bottom when there was a lot of cover I was fishing. Once I got on fish, a big T-storm hit, so I'll have to wait for another day to play...

IMG_9611.jpegIMG_9613.jpegIMG_9615.jpegIMG_9616.jpeg

[Team Colibri]

Not bad at all. :)
Ghostlines when fishing vertically is quite common, and is a result from the signal bouncing back and forth. Try dropping ping a notch or two, as that usually reduce the ghostlines a bit.

[Mechanic Bob]

Start by checking that the transducer has been recognized (Pages-Settings-Sonar-Installation, channel 2).
In such shallow water, use mode "Shallow water". High chirp, colourline around 72-78%, A-scope on is a must (Menu-More options) as this is what you primarily use, not the sonar-history. As you use A-scope, scroll is not important, but generally should be set very low when fishing vertically. Ping on max or a few steps down (like 18). All filtering off.

More on settings:
https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/202...nce-guide.html

Awesome advice Thank you!