ID fish on Humminbird 7 In Helix

Hi,

I have a 7: Humminbird Helix unit. I fish Lake Somerville which has a lot of whites and hybrids. I have seen numerous screen shots of whites/hybrids/stripers on the forum and many from Lake Somerville itself but I am yet to see anything that looks like those posts when I am out on the lake. I can ID schools of shad easily. I like to use the regular sonar profile side by side with side scan 100 ft on either side. I think I can see schools of shad on side scan (clouds) and fish, schools and individuals some with shadows. What I can't do is ID anything other than schools of shad on the regular sonar profile. So I'll circle back over what I think are schools of fish I see on the side scan and I never see anything that I feel are fish where they should be and I certainly never see big stacks of arcuate signals.

Could it be a setting on the unit that I have wrong thats keeping me from ever seeing arcs? I know the arc depends on the angle, depth, speed, angle under the boat etc. and can vary a lot but I keep thinking I should see something sometime. Could I be moving too slow, too fast? I feel like I can cruise at about 8 MPH and have good resolution on both the vertical and side scan so I am covering a lot of water and should see something. I've heard you need to adjust the scroll speed to match the boat speed. Not sure how to make sure that is correct.

Still pretty much baffled. Any ideas? Thanks.

PS I'm usually looking in water 10-25 feet deep

If you want to see arches, you need to have time and distance for the unit to draw them.

The widest coverage for 2D sonar is 83 kHz or Chirped 83 kHz=60 degree spec coverage. That gives you the time within the sonar pulses. The distance is what creates the arch shape, bottom of the arch on both ends is when a fish is farthest from the transducer and the peak of the arch is when the fish is closest to the transducer.

Experiment with boat speed and chart speed to vary the time so an arch can be recorded.
At 8 mph, you don't have the time unless you make up for it with a faster chart speed.

This is a combo view with the two frequency ranges so you can see how each frequency has the time to draw arches:



I think I was using a chart speed of 5 with that screen shot.

Sounds like a little too fast on looking speed, try setting screen advance speed at 4 and 4 mph speed on boat to search, slower to get a fine tuned picture. At 8 mph I don't think any sidescan will perform well. Try scanning only 40-50' either side to enlarge fish readout, 7" screen makes for small markings on fish, your readings interpreted as shad are probably fish, and your cloud readings are the shad.I used to have a 997 and I did the same thing by trying to see too big an area. If you want to get a big jump on the learning curve book a trip with Bruce N. If not, when you think you have found fish on si, freeze frame picture by hitting cursor, then adjust contrast,brightness etc till the fish readings pop out at you. Make note of the settings, they are good for similar depths, and if you change depth by more than a few feet, settings may need to be adjusted again. Sounds like you may be looking a little to deep for Somerville fish, I fish there often(live in Brenham)and I have rarely caught whites or hybrids deeper than 17-18'at any time of year, most often 8'-15' will be best. I have an 1199 Humminbird, and so happy with it am in process of upgrading to 12". Here's picture of one of many tire reefs on Somerville.

Side Imaging works as well at 1 mph as it does at 10 mph. The unit is adjustable for the boat speed.
Actually works very well from near zero to about 12 mph.

The Simulator recording for the ONIX was done between 19 and 22 mph:

First and foremost make sure your transducer is leveled appropriately. Here is a video from Chad Ferguson of Catfishedge demonstrating how to level the tranducer.


Next try to match your boat speed with chart speed for the most accurate picture meaning if you are driving 5 mph, set chart speed to 5 or so. These two things should help display fish as arcs. Sensitivity is something to play with as well but in 10-25 feet I typically have my sensitivity around 6-8.

When I'm looking for fish I usually am only going about 5 mph.

Respect the fish, thanks for video link, will have to see how far off from level I am next trip out.
Wayne P, will try speeding up screen and see just how fast I can go and maintain clear images, honestly have not tried faster screen speed to see if it keeps up. It is no bueno, on my unit with 7-8 mph or more if screen speed is left at 4.
Could also be picking up turbulence and distorting pic. Thanks for the tips guys.
Ollie, lots of great help on youtube , just search Humminbird

It is not necessary for the graph to show arches to catch fish. My graph is a piece cr-- & rarely can I see arches. I look for just bumps on the bottom this time of the year. Stop & dead stick & thump & you should get bit. The fish get excited when you land one & the rest of them will come off the bottom & possibly will display arches. I really have more luck with the slab spoons than with the soft plastics. The slab is heavier & it keeps the line tight. A soft bite is easier to detect.

I have a helix and at takes while to get used to the side scan after having gotten used to looking at arches on a down scan. I thought I was looking at schools of shad when I was actually looking at schools of white bass. Look at the screen shot above with the tires and you can get an idea of what the the size of the white bass marks would be. It's definitely a learning curve.

RespectTheFish, thanks for sharing that video! I have never put that much time into leveling my transducer, but I will definitely do it that way from now on..

Awesome! I hope it helps increase the performance of your unit. It's crazy what level is when you are going two or three mph! It's not flush and level with the bottom of your boat like most ppl seem to do!

Hybridfisher:
I had the same problem learning to use my expensive sonar. I never could understand what to really look for. Thanks to one of the members on this forum for recommending a guide to do sonar training. Nothing like being on his boat (could have also been on my boat) and getting to ask questions on what you're seeing and how to tell different fish.

It was the best money spent. I posted a video, and have been applying his techniques for sonar. Although he's on Lake Belton, you may find a similar service on your local lake.

[url=Sonar Training]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8HRJJTr1RI&t=44s[/url]

Skunked ,thank's ,very good info.

yes I appreciate everyone's input. I am trying to go to Bass Pro this afternoon and attempt to compare. i watched the video Sunken posted, good video. that guy has huge fish finders, well that is what he does for work. I have a guy that is trying to sell me an hook 7 the first model band new in the box unopened for 250$. i looked online and can get the hook2 7 same model but newer for 329$. so i am tore on what i might do. I was reading up on the hook2 supposedly it was a complete new software from what i read.

Thank you for the vid. Good info

Thanks for the link to the video Skunked, very interesting

Thanks for the link to the video Skunked, very interesting

OllieC - Check out the Crappie Section - First Post is: Post Crappie Graph pictures.- Go to the last page . see post from Thumpy - he shrunk the width from 120 to 60. Check out the screen shot from a Helix 5. I have a Helix 7 I am going to try this next time out.

RespectTheFish, I took my boat out today and did the leveling process, when I got home and checked my transducer is was way off level!!!! I tweaked the angle to level and am hoping for great results next time I go.
Thanks again for the info.