Help Interpreting fish location

[rob0225]

I could use some help here please. I'm new to fishing with fish finder and I thought I had this figured out, but today humbled me a bit. I just cannot in my mind picture where the fish are in relation to the boat. I understand the SI picture, I know once I've seen it, it is behind me but every time I turned around to go back or switch the DI I can't in my mind figure out which way I need to cast to or where I need to move the boat to get to the location where the fish are in the image. Can someone help me understand where the fish in the pictures were in relation to my boat?

How would you go about getting back to the fish?

Thanks for any help.

[rob0225]

BTW, the last one was taken with the trolling motor DI transducer. I get these fish are already behind me by the time I see them, but what is the best technique to determine where to cast to them

[Wayne P.]

Only the very first horizontal row of screen pixels at the top of the screen on the SI view is current data, all below that is history. The farther down the display, the older the history.

For the 2D view, the very first vertical row of screen pixels on the right side is current data. The farther left across the display, the older the history.

A good way to return to a "subject" exactly without creating a waypoint is push the 4-way button (pauses the screen scrolling) and move the screen curser to the "subject". You will get another set of readouts with the direction and distance from where you are to the "subject". All you have to do is turn the boat around and make the distance number 0. Then push the Exit button to continue the screen scrolling. If the fish have not moved you will see them displayed on the first row of screen pixels.
That is what the GPS function will do for you.
As long as they are repeatedly being recorded they are within the coverage of your sonar.

The only other way without creating a waypoint is watch your screen all the time and when the subject is first recorded, look around to get a shore or other visible object reference of where you are, then turn around and guess where that was.

[rob0225]

Thanks Wayne. I'm trying to understand/figure out the best strategy to get back to the fish to catch them. Understanding once I navigate back to the point and see them on the DI, at this point they are now already underneath the boat. Do I navigate to a position before them or to the side and then cast to them? If so, how do I verify the fish are still there with the electronics?

Only the very first horizontal row of screen pixels at the top of the screen on the SI view is current data, all below that is history. The farther down the display, the older the history.

For the 2D view, the very first vertical row of screen pixels on the right side is current data. The farther left across the display, the older the history.

A good way to return to a "subject" exactly without creating a waypoint is push the 4-way button (pauses the screen scrolling) and move the screen curser to the "subject". You will get another set of readouts with the direction and distance from where you are to the "subject". All you have to do is turn the boat around and make the distance number 0. Then push the Exit button to continue the screen scrolling. If the fish have not moved you will see them displayed on the first row of screen pixels.
That is what the GPS function will do for you.
As long as they are repeatedly being recorded they are within the coverage of your sonar.

The only other way without creating a waypoint is watch your screen all the time and when the subject is first recorded, look around to get a shore or other visible object reference of where you are, then turn around and guess where that was.

[akaslyguy]

In the pic below, the fish you have circled were suspended off the bottom, under the right side, and to the right side of your boat. I think I would use the arrow keys and move your cursor to the middle of those fish and set a waypoint if I was trying to learn more about where they were in relation to the boat. Then turn around and point your boat towards the waypoint and start casting while easing towards it. You really have no way of verifying the fish are still there unless you see them on the graph, but then you possibly spooked them by getting too close.... if you didn't spook them the first time you passed by. Having a heading sensor antenna really comes in handy for this type of fishing and will allow you to be able to keep your boat pointed directly at the waypoint, stop before a target, or slowly ease up on a target without the map getting jumpy and showing the circle on map.



The picture with 3 circles on it is about the same as above. The fish are under your boat, some under and to the right, some under the left side. They are suspended off the bottom. I would also say that on the right side up closer to the top, you are marking 5-6 fish that are much closer to the bottom (very little separation between the fish and the shadow). In my opinion, I think you would have better luck with those fish still being there if you marked them with a waypoint and turned around and started casting to them before you got back on top of them.

Another good technique is to get you a marker bouy or several. Have one ready and as you are moving around looking. When you see some under the boat, throw the bouy out behind the boat as soon as you see them. If the fish are off to the right or left a little, throw the bouy behind the boat but over to the right or left more. This would give you an instant visual reference and you will be surprised how far away you get from the bouy before you can get turned around. Possibly a better idea would be to practice on some brush piles first with a marker bouy. Idle around and find some brush, toss out the marker bouy as soon as you see it. Then turn around and either drive back beside the marker to see how close you came to marking it, or get on the trolling motor and use that transducer to find the brush and see how close or far off you were from getting it marked correctly. You will quickly start figuring out the relationship to what you see on the graph compared to where the bouy marker is. Just takes practice. Hope this helps.

Joe

[ntslam]

This is where a 360 would really show its worth

[terry5357]

Are the numbered at the top that are left and right side if the boat actually the distance the target is from the boat?

[akaslyguy]

Are the numbered at the top that are left and right side if the boat actually the distance the target is from the boat?

Not exactly. The distance from the boat is actually figured on a slant. But an decent estimate would be to think of it this way.... The black area in the middle is the depth or water UNDER the boat. So on the sides where the first bottom returns start is at around 18-25 feet DOWN, depending on where you look on that pic. Then the distance FROM the boat extends out to each side. If something (brush pile, school of fish, bridge...) is DIRECTLY UNDER the boat, then you will usually see it on both sides of the black area because you passed right over it and "split it" so to speak.

On down imaging.... depending on depth, and how wide your imaging is set for (narrow/normal/wide), sometimes the object will show up on the DI screen, but not really be DIRECTLY under the boat. But because of the fan shape of the DI beam, and the fact that it can be spreading out wider than your boat (depending on depth of water and width of beam and size of your boat) it will pick it up on the screen and may actually be just off to the left or right. Much like regular 2d sonar.... on DI, you really have no way of knowing if what is on the screen is on the right or left side of the boat. That is where side imaging or 360 can take that guess work out of things.

Joe

[loganmartincat]

This might help some, turn on casting rings (I use 40') you will still have to mark a waypoint but they are no trouble to delete if you no longer desire to save it. Now you have a ring around the waypoint, put your boat on the ring and you will know the distance from boat to waypoint marked. Wayne turned me on to casting rings some time back, works very well for me. Although not very technical you could just throw out a marker buoy.

[rob0225]

Thanks, will give this a shot. The other day I spent some time just playing around with visually gauging distance traveled. I'd identify a structure on the bank or a bouy and get an idea of how far away it is from my boat once i pass it and then when it's halfway on my screen, etc. It's gonna just take time, but I like the casting ring idea as well.

[loganmartincat]

This might help some, turn on casting rings (I use 40') you will still have to mark a waypoint but they are no trouble to delete if you no longer desire to save it. Now you have a ring around the waypoint, put your boat on the ring and you will know the distance from boat to waypoint marked. Wayne turned me on to casting rings some time back, works very well for me. Although not very technical you could just throw out a marker buoy.

Using stationary markers on shore or buoys will work just fine but remember that boat speed, chart speed and track of boat must all be the same on each pass. There are many regulars on here that are more than willing to help and share any information you need, believe me they have more knowledge of HB products than HB. That's why I just lurk in background and read.

[mn_bowhunter]

What was said above. Use the cursor to scan to that area on the screen, and drop a waypoint. You can throw out a marker buoy too. 360 on the bow would help if the school is moving about as well to locate them as they transition. Otherwise just wet a line!