Question about fish finder?

DarthVader

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jan 28, 2016
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88
Hello everyone,I have a Humminbird Helix 5 DI GPS and I can not figure out how to set it up so it identifies the fish on the screen..The fish finder came with the boat I bought this past January and being this is the 1st time using or owning a fish finder I can not figure out what setting I need to set it on so I can start seeing the little fish on the screen,

I know there is fish as my landlord and my self where catching them all around the whole boat today,everything else on the fish finder seems to be working correctly I am just not seeing the imagine of the fish on the screen..

So I like to know if anyone here who has a Humminbird Helix 5 DI GPS can tell me step by step on how to go about setting up my fish finder so I can start seeing the imagine of the fish on my screen..

I going to try and read the manual again to see if it can help me out but if anyone here can help me that would be great,

Thank You for any help you can give me it will be greatly
appreciated..
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
It's all in the manual, but you don't want to see the little fish symbols on the screen, that's not how it should be used for the best results.
 

Mark_VTfisherman

Lieutenant
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Nov 29, 2008
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I agree. The fish symbol on the display takes the sonar returns (accurate) and runs them through a software filter and pops a fish symbol on the screen based on its fitting the criteria of the filter (inaccurate). The filter can read leaves, sticks, whatever, as a fish, while the actual sonar returns will likely just show a speck- telling you there is something there but not having the mass of a fish that would show as an arch.

You are probably seeing fish on the screen (should display as arches) but you need to go to one of the how-to sites (Doctor Sonar or something like that comes to mind) and learn how to read what the screen is telling you. Fish symbols are for video game players not people who catch a lot of fish.
 

WIMUSKY

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In agree about using arches to display fish. You may have to turn up the sensitivity to see the fish on the screen. Maybe around 60 - 75%. If you go too high then everything will show up as fish.
 

DarthVader

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Sorry for the late reply back to everyone,I have been getting up early 4:30am to get on the lake by 5 am to go fishing everyday and by the time I get back which is close to 8 pm which by then I am so darn dead tired..

Ok let me say I am sorry if I not making sense when I say I am not seeing any fish on my screen,I am not seeing anything at all on the screen the only thing I do see is the bottom of the Lake showing,depth,temp,every now and then I would see a bunch of very little dots there very small..but I think like was mentioned I will have to check out the sensitivity to see what it is set at..I am not even seeing any type of under water obstacles such as weeds,branches,logs..

Ok this might be stupid question and I am a little confused but why would you buy a fish finder if your unable to see any fish on the screen when I know there are fish around me?

Ok let say I do not want to see the little fish symbol and I was to start using the arch to start seeing fish this is where my problem is,I am not seeing anything in the form of arch or fish on my screen..

If you all need to know the depth that I been fishing in it ranges between 18 ft to 10 feet,I am fishing for perch..
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
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In 10-18' feet of water you aren't viewing a very large area, so don't expect to see something unless its directly under the boat.

And once you get it dialed in you should easily see perch of any size. Read the manual front to back a couple of times and watch some online videos, then go play on the water and you'll get the hang of it.
 

DarthVader

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Jan 28, 2016
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In 10-18' feet of water you aren't viewing a very large area, so don't expect to see something unless its directly under the boat.

And once you get it dialed in you should easily see perch of any size. Read the manual front to back a couple of times and watch some online videos, then go play on the water and you'll get the hang of it.
Thank You for the info it is greatly appreciated..
 

88evinrude

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Nov 9, 2015
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im one of the folks that does not want any thing on the screen other than the bottom, depth and temp but my granddad on my moms side got that started in me.i can remember looking at the depth finder when i was little and thinking we were over a lot of fish that's when he told me the depth finder will show just about anything as a fish. i know that probably hasn't helped but it is something to think about.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 20, 2001
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i can remember looking at the depth finder when i was little and thinking we were over a lot of fish that's when he told me the depth finder will show just about anything as a fish.
Fish finders don't show fish. They show sonar returns of objects positioned in the sonar beam. Its up to the angler to learn how to interrupt the returns on the screen. With experience, you'll be able to identify objects, determine species, orientation of an object in the beam, locate thermoclines, etc.

IMHO, leaving the dock without a fully functional soar and GPS plotter isn't an option.
 

DarthVader

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Jan 28, 2016
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Thanks everyone for there help.maybe I am saying this all wrong when I say I am not seeing fish on my screen,I should have said that I am not seeing anything on my screen,the only really thing I do see is the bottom and contour of bottom of the Lake,every once in awhile while going down the Lake I see all sorts of little dots and the screen some times shows what I think you call thermocline..

It is going to take me some time to figure how my Humminbird Helix 5 works but I figure it out eventually.

I am still a little confused that everyone says they do not want to see anything on there screen except the bottom of the Lake,Maybe someone can tell me the reason behind this?
..
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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I am still a little confused that everyone says they do not want to see anything on there screen except the bottom of the Lake,Maybe someone can tell me the reason behind this?
..

While there are times when you may not care if you can see fish on the screen, it would not be when you are actually fishing. Most people really don't know much about how to set up or adjust a fish finder and this results in a lot of misuse and frustration.

The only way to learn how to use it read the manual (sometimes they're of little value), watch videos, and go out and play with it. You will eventually understand how to adjust it and interpret what you see on the screen.
 

WIMUSKY

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My Humminbird had a test mode, or the like, where I could sit on the couch and set up the finder to my liking. I could set the sensitivity, grey scale(I set that on the lower end 40s? to show the bottom hardness) etc. That worked out great. Then it was all set up when I hit the lake....
 

TerryMSU

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Jul 31, 2007
Messages
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Agree with ondarvr. DI gives a great picture of what is directly under the boat. Good for deep water, not so much for finding fish in shallow water. I had a 597di unit that worked fairly well. In about 5 years of fishing with it, I picked up only one fish that I caught under the boat. Like you, I am in shallow water. Just this year, I upgraded to a helix 7 si unit. It does seem to do better, even in the di mode, but have not had any real fishing time on it. Based on that experience, your helix 5 may beat my 597di experience. It is all in the adjust,net and in the transducer placement, plus getting the experience in using the fish finder intelligently. I sent you a pm about a site that has some great support for the Humminbird lineup.

Good luck,
TerryMSU
 

DarthVader

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jan 28, 2016
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Agree with ondarvr. DI gives a great picture of what is directly under the boat. Good for deep water, not so much for finding fish in shallow water. I had a 597di unit that worked fairly well. In about 5 years of fishing with it, I picked up only one fish that I caught under the boat. Like you, I am in shallow water. Just this year, I upgraded to a helix 7 si unit. It does seem to do better, even in the di mode, but have not had any real fishing time on it. Based on that experience, your helix 5 may beat my 597di experience. It is all in the adjust,net and in the transducer placement, plus getting the experience in using the fish finder intelligently. I sent you a pm about a site that has some great support for the Humminbird lineup.

Good luck,
TerryMSU


Thank You Terry,I will surely check out the site you sent me..
 

Old Ironmaker

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Dec 28, 2015
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The next time you go out Darth take the manual with you and play with settings. You can't break it and can always go back to factory settings like your PC. In the meantime turn up the sensitivity, you should see something between the surface and bottom. Depending on depth and where your transducer is mounted it is very possible you won't see the fish that you are catching. But like others have said down imaging won't show you much between the surface and bottom until you learn to read what you are seeing. In no time you will be able to tell mud from sand and rock from fish. I'm still using a 21 year old black and white Garmin and use my colour 597 for GPS and then once in a while verify the accuracy of the old girl with the Bird. I use the Hummingbird in split screen when deep water trolling sometimes to find the baitballs. I can actually see the downrigger ball dropping on it. You will get it, it's just a tool.
 

TerryMSU

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Old Ironmaker,
unfortunately Humminbird has quit doing paper manuals. They now supply a CD rom. My computers no longer have cd drives and even if they did, I am not taking them on my boat. I have nothing in my hi-tech house that does take cd-roms. Other than that, I agree with what you say.
 

dingbat

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Nov 20, 2001
Messages
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But like others have said down imaging won't show you much between the surface and bottom until you learn to read what you are seeing. In no time you will be able to tell mud from sand and rock from fish.
Even then, the information obtained from down imagining is lacking to say the least.

IMHO, DI is a gimmick to sell units to the inexperienced. Sure, a black and white picture of someone's arm is easily recognizable You can even see some cuts and bruising, but an MRI provides an unmatched level of detail to an experienced technician. Suddenly you can see that chipped bone. You can see that blood clot moving down the arm. No comparison in information provided

I’d take a good quality, conventional color sonar over DI in a heartbeat.
 
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