Ps30 sensitivity

[puhlw]

Have only used my ps30 a few times but I’m not real impressed with the sensitive being able to see my jig. Yesterday it was dead calm and the water was nice and clear. Tried crappie fishing in 15 ft of water and had a hard time seeing my jig unless I was holding it still and a good ways off the bottom. Im talking an 1/8oz jig and 2” plastic tail. I have my ps30 mounted to a pole and I’m fishing right next to it. Have tried adjusting gain and noise rejection but no combination seems to make it much better without a lot of noise. I have the cone set to 40 degrees to make sure I can keep my jig in the cone. Seems like it works decent if my jig is literally straight down but that’s hard to do.

I guess just wondering if this is normal or if I need some adjustments or have something wrong with my transducer?

actually have better luck seeing my jig with my ps21 I point it under the boat and fish out the opposite side.

[rocket man]

Not hijacking your thread, but how does the ps21 do pointed straight down.? I thought of trying this but didn't think the cone angle was wide enough. Thanks

[puhlw]

I don’t have it pointed straight down but the beam is 90 degrees up and down so it shoots straight down the beam is just very narrow by the boat. Like I said I point it under the boat and fish off the opposite side.

[MikeF]

I have the cone set to 40 degrees to make sure I can keep my jig in the cone. Seems like it works decent if my jig is literally straight down but that’s hard to do.

Dropping straight down the transom with 40 degree cone in 15 ft of water, your beam coverage is only 5.3 ft forward or rearward of the transom centerline.
Lure is probably out of the cone coverage.

Try using a 2oz weight 1 ft below the 1/8oz bait and see if you see two objects while jigging up and down.
The two objects should move together and stay about 1ft apart.

If that works, then you know you can see the 1/8oz jig, but it is probably outside the cone angle.

[puhlw]

Yeah it’s possible it’s going outside the cone just seems like jigging right next to the transducer I should be able to keep it in the zone when it’s calm. I’ll try the extra weight below that’s a good idea. If I can see my jig the ps30 is much less useful.

[puhlw]

If I can’t see my jig

[Schins]

its normal.

use regular sonar when straight down in that situation

[LWINCHESTER2]

I don't know about the shallow water thing but I can easily see a W9 Rapala Jigging Rap or a 1 oz Mann-o-Lure below 100 ft.

Also you can be certain a transducer is pointed straight down when it's not. Get into some deeper water. Use a larger lure. Pitch out in front of you and notice the angle of incline when you first see the lure. Move the boat with the trolling motor past the lure and notice the angle of incline when it disappears. That will tell you how your transducer is pointed. Then move the lure closer to the boat.

[puhlw]

Yeah with a 1/2 oz jig for walleyes I have no issues somewhat because it la larger and somewhat because it stays more vertical. Around here you won’t find a suspended walleye, in fact I would say that’s an oddity from my experience they lay damn near on the bottom most of the time. I have noticed the ps30 doesn’t mark things close to the bottom as good as 2d. Now crappies suspend around here but they don’t like anything over a 1/8oz jig and even that’s on the large size.
overall though panoptix is great hard to say how many more fish I actually catch with it but feels like a few more.

[MikeF]

LW2 brings up an excellent point about the transducer setting.

Quick easy way to make sure your transducer is parallel to the lake surface when fishing.

Back home with boat on trailer, run 8ft piece of masking tape along edge of the scum line on one side of the boat hull.

Stick one end of the tape and then sight down the tape edge to apply it as straight as possible along the scum line.

Adjust trailer up/down until the tape line is level.
Level the transducer.
The transducer is now parallel to the lake surface according to the angle the boat actually sits in the water.

It has been my experience that most boats squat in the rear when in use and the transducer beam ends up shooting slightly forward towards the bow.

I know the instructions show mounting according to transom angle, but the scum line will show you exactly how your boats sits in the water as you have it rigged.

[puhlw]

LW2 brings up an excellent point about the transducer setting.

Quick easy way to make sure your transducer is parallel to the lake surface when fishing.

Back home with boat on trailer, run 8ft piece of masking tape along edge of the scum line on one side of the boat hull.

Stick one end of the tape and then sight down the tape edge to apply it as straight as possible along the scum line.

Adjust trailer up/down until the tape line is level.
Level the transducer.
The transducer is now parallel to the lake surface according to the angle the boat actually sits in the water.

It has been my experience that most boats squat in the rear when in use and the transducer beam ends up shooting slightly forward towards the bow.

I know the instructions show mounting according to transom angle, but the scum line will show you exactly how your boats sits in the water as you have it rigged.

Thats a good idea.

I have been playing with the transmit angle to deal with some of this but doesn't seem to matter than much.

[LWINCHESTER2]

........... Around here you won’t find a suspended walleye, in fact I would say that’s an oddity from my experience they lay damn near on the bottom most of the time.

You are wrecking my how theory of fishing. My theory is that when most anything gets hungry, first thing is does is go hunting. For fish, walleye included, that means swimming above the bottom and looking for something to attack. When I find walleye, bass and yes crappie on the bottom, generally they are inactive and more difficult to get to bite. My presumption is that they have already eaten.

[puhlw]

I guess if we ever figure it out, it won’t be as much fun anymore. My lakes have so much food available I don’t think the walleyes ever have to go very far to eat. Lay tight to the bottom and grab a snack that passes by once and a while. Problem is I want to catch them even when they are not hungry. Suspending is a thing for walleyes out on Erie and such I guess I’ve just never experienced it in the Midwest or Canada. Sounds like a great time not fishing in a snaggy pile of rocks and trees all the time like around here.

[hays47]

Can't comment on walleye feeding tactics even locally. But crappies in my neck of the woods . ( Northeast Ohio) When my Panoptix or 2D shows them tight on the brushpile , or stumps its game on. When they are near but not on the cover. They tend to be way less aggressive. I have learned over the years to bypass the non-aggressive schools and continue to search for the tight holding schools. Suspended crappie are fairly common but usually related to some kind of drop. Closer they suspend to the actual break again the more active they are.

The walleyes I do manage to catch are all quite by accident. Panfish are my preferred target but walleye taste good enough to keep for sure. Around here finding a good spot usually results in a multi-specie bag. So I can only assume they have a lot in common when setting up shop in certain spots.

[Schins]

You are wrecking my how theory of fishing. My theory is that when most anything gets hungry, first thing is does is go hunting. For fish, walleye included, that means swimming above the bottom and looking for something to attack. When I find walleye, bass and yes crappie on the bottom, generally they are inactive and more difficult to get to bite. My presumption is that they have already eaten.

I would think walleye would actively feed on crayfish when available

[Treeguyus]

my PS-30 shows a small swivel on my line ahead of my lure in 50 to 60 of water. Not before spending time aligning.

[puhlw]

my PS-30 shows a small swivel on my line ahead of my lure in 50 to 60 of water. Not before spending time aligning.

Thanks, that's the sort of thing I was looking for. I just want to make sure I am getting similar results to others and I don't have some sort of issue with my transducer. What sort of gain and rejection do you run? Is the image pretty clean?

Thanks

[Treeguyus]

Low rejection, medium gain and the image is very clear. Find I use the PS-30 a lot, but recommend a lot of trial and error.

[ifishinxs]

Not related to your ps30 but when I originally hooked up my ps22 it sucked. It wouldnt pick up much and I went through all the adjustments without much luck. Out of desperation I hit the factory default/reset. HOLY crap the PS22 came to life. Then I went back and adjusted as needed and it works beautifully.

[MDBASSNPRO]

What he said....