Kayak Sonar Discussion

[acorad]

Great thread! I bought a FF last year, but have never used it.

This is giving me the motivation!

Need to get an over-the-side arm for the transducer...

Andy

[steveooo]

What are these? Are they tasty?

















































*edit* chewy jacks

[ful-rac]

They look like PANCAKES stacked up like PANCAKES!

[Denis_Ruso]

explain to me why I still cant get a bite

[goldenglory18]

My Dragonfly 7 pro is getting a soft install Friday and I'm so stoked. I'll be taking it out for a quick paddle on Sat for a final adjustment before final hard install with in-hull wiring and plastics painting.

I can't wait!!!

[chris138]

Originally Posted by Denis_Ruso

explain to me why I still cant get a bite

I think you need to wiggle your bait more dude

[chris138]

Originally Posted by steveooo

What are these? Are they tasty?



*edit* chewy jacks

PREFACE: no disrespect intended SteveOOO. Thanks for posting! Purely my opinion and I could be completely full of it...

To me, these marks don't look like fish. Not sure that I know exactly where this is, but looks to me to be an outside rocky kelp ledge area. Bull kelp zone.

Note the symmetry and length of the marks. See how they are vertically stacked and all similar length, thickness, and heat. I see how both the "head" and the "tail" of the marks are all very similar, and taper off to a pointy tip, without much change in depth. To me this is indicative of stationary objects, or something that is drifting passively in the current. Yellowtail seldom sit still, and are usually very erratic looking and asymmetrical. The marks will look all "tangled" as the fish change depth and react to each other.

This looks like a deep kelp ledge with a good amount of current, and bait in the bull kelp pinned down to the bottom. No doubt prime YT feeding grounds and epic conditions. Cheers boys!

[steveooo]

Originally Posted by chris138

...Not sure that I know exactly where this is...

That was LJ, out in the sandy squid grounds. We caught yoyo YT off it.

One sonar setting that is worth putting into the discussion is Sonar Scroll Speed. It doesn’t change what you see on the meter, but it does change how it appears on the meter. I find setting a faster scroll speed will give me more of a real time picture of what is under the boat. It also gives more defined, and longer individual fish arches. Our kayaks move relatively slow, and sometimes we are chasing fish that move relatively fast (YT). I think of the slower scroll speed as the history channel, or “old news”, where sometimes what is shown on the meter is long gone, but it just hasn’t left the screen yet.

The best time to experiment with this setting is when making bait. With the new chirp units, adjusting scroll speed to a higher setting can make a bait ball go from looking like a cloud, to showing hundreds of individual tiny arches. IMO thats too much clutter for just making bait, but turning up the scroll speed also does the same for a school of YT, turning that mess of squiggly spaghetti hanging out under the kayak into more defined individual fish.

Fast scroll speed is my preference when yoyo fishing. When its there, its there. When dropper loop fishing or fishing for structure oriented fish, I’ll turn scroll speed back to normal, so I don’t blink and miss anything or leave an area prematurely. Normal or slower scroll speed is also good for giving a little more history of what the fish is doing under the kayak, e.g. showing a YT dive bombing your bait. Its really a matter of preference of how you want the fish & screen to look.

*disclaimer* I’ve caught many more fish through dumb luck than I have by using my sonar.

Good thread

[chris138]

Originally Posted by steveooo

That was LJ, out in the sandy squid grounds. We caught yoyo YT off it.

One sonar setting that is worth putting into the discussion is Sonar Scroll Speed. It doesn’t change what you see on the meter, but it does change how it appears on the meter. I find setting a faster scroll speed will give me more of a real time picture of what is under the boat. It also gives more defined, and longer individual fish arches. Our kayaks move relatively slow, and sometimes we are chasing fish that move relatively fast (YT). I think of the slower scroll speed as the history channel, or “old news”, where sometimes what is shown on the meter is long gone, but it just hasn’t left the screen yet.

The best time to experiment with this setting is when making bait. With the new chirp units, adjusting scroll speed to a higher setting can make a bait ball go from looking like a cloud, to showing hundreds of individual tiny arches. IMO thats too much clutter for just making bait, but turning up the scroll speed also does the same for a school of YT, turning that mess of squiggly spaghetti hanging out under the kayak into more defined individual fish.

Fast scroll speed is my preference when yoyo fishing. When its there, its there. When dropper loop fishing or fishing for structure oriented fish, I’ll turn scroll speed back to normal, so I don’t blink and miss anything or leave an area prematurely. Normal or slower scroll speed is also good for giving a little more history of what the fish is doing under the kayak, e.g. showing a YT dive bombing your bait. Its really a matter of preference of how you want the fish & screen to look.

*disclaimer* I’ve caught many more fish through dumb luck than I have by using my sonar.

Good thread

Thanks for the info, and for joining in the conversation! As I said, I can be completely full of it!

[Orca Winfrey]

Originally Posted by acorad

Great thread! I bought a FF last year, but have never used it.

This is giving me the motivation!

Need to get an over-the-side arm for the transducer...

Andy

Or just go with a friend who has one and knows how to read it.

[acorad]

Originally Posted by Orca Winfrey

Or just go with a friend who has one and knows how to read it.

Yep.

Andy

[jorluivil]

This is all I see on my screen.
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Any guess what it could be?

[MITCHELL]

[MITCHELL]

On my fish finder.....

[INGRIDSDAD]

I recently upgraded to the HDS7 gen 3, has anyone messed with the total scan transducer? Any advantage over the 50/200?

[chris138]

Originally Posted by INGRIDSDAD

I recently upgraded to the HDS7 gen 3, has anyone messed with the total scan transducer? Any advantage over the 50/200?

I personally have not... but I've read up on it and apparently it's bitchin. Its one for the first consumer grade sidescan transducers on the market... and definitely one of the best for rec fishers. The thing can allow you to generate 3D bathymetric maps of the sea floor!

Aside from all of the awesomeness of the total scan, it comes with one huge drawback for kayak. In order for the side scan to work, the transducer must sit proud of the bottom of your boat. It has to be able to see out to the sides, so it cant be recessed into the transducer scupper. That's fine on the water, but when you go to launch or land on sand (or worse yet rocks or a boat launch) the transducer will scrape on the ground. Scratching up the surface of the ducer is bad and will mess with its precision.

If I were gonna try the total scan, I would go with a boom arm over the scupper mount. Then you could just pull it out the of the water for launch and landing.

[chris138]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

This is all I see on my screen.

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Any guess what it could be?

WOPR... shall we play a game? How about tick tack toe?

[MITCHELL]

Tangles with your sabiki rig.....

[chris138]

Bump to 2020! Here's some shots from the end of 2019, hope your sounders are dialed in the new decade!

[acorad]

Originally Posted by chris138

Bump to 2020! Here's some shots from the end of 2019, hope your sounders are dialed in the new decade!

I think yours is broken, it makes everything look like slug YTs.