Bending Active Target bracket?

[96MrBass]

So watching the Big O tournament yesterday and today I hear Steve Kennedy talking about changing the angle on the AT bracket. After installing mine last year I kinda thought to myself that it looked like it was pointing awful low for shallow water fishing. Anyone done this with theirs in shallow water mainly and noticed a big difference?

[MI bassassassin]

Following

[Marc Marcantonio]

Was he in scout mode?

[Sleepy111]

Was he in scout mode?

Yes and was in 3-4ft of water. He said lowrance had brought some new brackets for him and other people but he said he bent his own. It was a good image and clear. Haven’t seen anything on lowrance site saying anything about a new bracket but I’m curious myself.

[MI bassassassin]

Was he in scout mode?

Yes he was, he said he bent his bracket to get better performance in shallower water. He said Lowrance had made the scout mode to work better in deeper and that they have now come out with a new bracket for shallower water.

[Marc Marcantonio]

Yes he was, he said he bent his bracket to get better performance in shallower water. He said Lowrance had made the scout mode to work better in deeper and that they have now come out with a new bracket for shallower water.

Figured that was the case. If I still lived in the OP's State (I grew up fishing there) or lived in Florida, I would bend the mount up on Scout mode also because of the flat bottom shallow lakes.

[MI bassassassin]

I think I’m going to try bending it myself, I was just hoping that someone had real world experience and could give a little guidance.

[78Staff]

It's essentially an L bracket... bear in mind if you bend it "up" to shoot shallower in Scout Mode, you'll also be affecting the angle in which it shoots forward/down as well, shooting more out to the side. If you only intend to run in Scout mode that won't be any issue, but if you still want to run all three modes, you'd be better off just upgrading to either the Fish Obessesed or even better yet the Rytek Mounts.

EDIT - if you are talking abou the Scout Mode only mount, as shown in Steve's Facebook post, then yeah no issue bending it as it's only for Scout Mode :).

[MI bassassassin]

Another option might be to shim the mount and not bend the arm.

[96MrBass]

Figured that was the case. If I still lived in the OP's State (I grew up fishing there) or lived in Florida, I would bend the mount up on Scout mode also because of the flat bottom shallow lakes.

Exactly Marc, the day of install I stood back and looked at the mounted transducer and it just seemed to be pointing down a lot. All I could think was how far out is this going to work when almost all my fishing is 6' or less. I would think that the bracket would need to be at a different angle for different boat brands and individuals who fish different waters.

[96MrBass]

Another option might be to shim the mount and not bend the arm.

There was some earlier talk about the shim I believe.

[Mark O'Neill]

The Lowrance bracket that comes with AT will work BEST for one specific depth and one specific distance from the target. So unless you only fish in one specific depth range of water and a specific distance from the the target, you need to be able to adjust the angle by either bending the bracket or buying an adjustable bracket. Fishing in the north and in Canada, the fish will may be in more varied depths depending on the time of the year and I need to be able to adjust the angle to cover from 5 feet of water to say 30 feet of water depending on the time of year/species I am targeting and the only way to do this is with a bracket that will adjust.

[Johnnyred]

Following.

I have a new AT2 install and have fished a couple times with it. My TM shaft leans forward and it is not plumb side-to-side, either. My next trip I plan to not only move the ducer down 1-2 teeth to get it shooting more straight forward for best distance in forward mode, but also get some measurements so I can consider bending the bracket (change the angle of the "L") so the ducer is plumb (straight up and down) when in forward mode. Really I consider both of these moves a way to "index" the ducer so my geometry is zeroed out.

Getting the ducer to sit plumb (straight up and down) while in forward mode by either bending the bracket or replacing it with another bracket will also have a positive affect on down and scout images... in theory anyway. At least at the water depths that Lowrance set the unit up for.

I am however intrigued by the prospect of having TWO angled TM mount brackets... one that is indexed and setup for shallow water and one that is indexed and setup for deep water. Deep and shallow would vary from user to user based on their lakes, fishing styles, etc.

I will admit to being ignorant of what aftermarket adjustable brackets are out there and how they may better address the issues discussed here.

[96MrBass]

I would think to a degree having a fishing partner or even the given daily load on the boat would affect the distance. Scout mode shallow water fishing mainly imo.

[azbassman352]

Here is what Steve posted on facebook.


https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100043234302608

[Moneyshot]

Is he using AT1 and 1 xducer setup?

[NoCAL]

In the box with my AT2 was an extra bracket recommended for Scout mode in Shallow water.

NoCAL

[Bass in the grass]

No, I haven’t googled it. Do they sell these shallow brackets separately? Seems like it would help us guys with the AT1, just screw the ducer onto the shallow bracket, without all the twisting and bending.

Any way to find the part number for the shallow water bracket?

[MikeTTI]

Use a heat gun to soften the glue and pry the disk of with something sharp. Flatten the mount how you see fit. I did it with a hammer on the floor. Reattach the disk with some adhesive.

[96MrBass]

Use a heat gun to soften the glue and pry the disk of with something sharp. Flatten the mount how you see fit. I did it with a hammer on the floor. Reattach the disk with some adhesive.

Have you noticed the difference or the benefits so far?