First Fish Finder how to read???

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donk18

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I know this sounds really stupid, but with the boat i just bought it has a humminbird D3 120 fish finder on it, and i've never owned a fish finder and i don't have a clue on how to read it, i get the whole depth part of it, but i see the lil fish on the screen but where are they really in the water....yeah i know how this sounds, very unfimiliar with fish finders.


thanks,

donk
 

Boatist

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

I do not know your depth finder at all but if it is a standard depth finder them the fish you see
in the right most pixel is straight down under the transducer.
Everything to the left of the right most pixel is history or what has been under the transducer.

First thing you need to do is turn off the fish symbols so you can see the raw returns.
That fish symbol may not be a fish at all.
It could be a branch a bush, a air bubble, some algie.
When you first turn the unit on the units send out a sound signal and waits for the echos to come back.
When they do it fills in the right row of pixels.
It then moves the row one pixel to the left and sends out another Ping or sound signal
and again waits for returns.
Again as the echo come back it fill in the right row of pixel.
Moves the pixels one row to the left and repeats the same thing over and over.

So You can see the only thing that is under the transducer is the right most row of pixels.
Everything to the left of that is history, or what was under the transducer before.

So if the boat is not moving and a fish swims under the boats transducer and stops in the shade
of the boat what you will see a straight line at the depth of the fish.
If the boat goes over a fish at low speed you will see a slight arch.
The length of the arch is just and indication of how long the fish was under the tansducer
or how fast you passed over the fish.
If your stopped and see the arch it means the fish swam under the transducer.

The thickness of the arch from top to bottom is a indication of how big the fish it.
 
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donk18

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

Thank you both, thanks for the manuel search and thanks for the quick lesson, i kinda wondered if that's how they worked.

thanks again,

donk
 

Silvertip

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

There is a vertical bar at the side of the screen that indicates depth. Look at the fish symbol or arch and then draw an imaginary line to the side of the screen -- that's the depth at which the fish is located. You can check the menu system for options. Sometimes the fish symbol can be set so the depth is indicated by each symbol. But best performance and accuracy is by using the fish arch feature (turn off fish ID).
 

tim22

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

good info, but lets have more. how do you distinguish a brush pile from a school of bait fish from a stump etc., etc., etc. do all fish finders let you turn off the fish i.d. feature. the humminbird ads always seem to show lots of fish on screen...neat-o. thanks for the info.
 

John_S

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

Could you post the exact model number? If this is one of the 3D (D3 typo?) units, the display is considerably different than "normal" 2D, that is being discussed, but they do have a 2D display mode. If it is a Platinum ID 120, than it is and old 2D sonar.
 

dingbat

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

Here is a picture of a pile of bait sitting on the bottom in roughly 80' of water surrounded by larger fish. Notice the the light blue returns of a less dense cluster of bait sitting right over the main bait ball.




furuno585screenshots0013.jpg
 

tim22

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

this helps. thanks. i am looking at purchasing a finder. 100-150 dollars? have been looking at the pirahna series by humminbird. due to $ will probably be b&w. any suggestions would be appreciated! also does anyone make one that can be easly moved from one spot in the boat to another (price range?)? how do you feel about the speed-o set up for use in trolling & durability? thanks again, tim
 

sportsmanphil

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

Not sure if yours is like mine but on my fishfinder the solid fish are under the boat and the hollow fish are off the side. If the hollow fish is facing right, its picked up off the right side of the boat. If the hollow fish are facing left then its off the left side of the boat.

You also need to know the angle of the sonar and consider it to the depth of water you are in. Mine is a 60deg sonar. So if I am in 10 feet of water vs 80 feet, the beam on the 80foot depth will be wider and cover more ground.
 

ohhenrygsr

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Aug 24, 2008
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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

I have a Lowrance Color unit and was wondering how can you tell if it's a soft bottom to a hard bottom.
 

road.ripper

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

hi all
i have an old eagle z-7000 but no manual ..
i never had one before and not sure how to read it .
 

Silvertip

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

Stumps, rocks, and other debris will be on the bottom of the lake/river. A large rock may show as a smooth rounded hump. Stumps and brush piles would appear as a jagged pattern on the bottom.
 

scipper77

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

Many low end "fish" finders are really only useful as depth finders. I have a humminbird pirahna (sp) low end unit and it is horrible for anything other than depth and temp. What you want to look for is the power of the transducer and the resolution of the screen (in my opinion). You can compensate for poor resolution a little bit by using the fastest plotting speed but it's just a band aid.
 

Chamelian

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

hi all
i have an old eagle z-7000 but no manual ..
i never had one before and not sure how to read it .


I also purchased a boat that came with a eagle z-7000 fishfinder and it does not have a manual. I would really love to get my hands on a manual for it. I looked on eagles website but it does not list my model on their site.
Can anyone help? :(
 

road.ripper

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

I also purchased a boat that came with a eagle z-7000 fishfinder and it does not have a manual. I would really love to get my hands on a manual for it. I looked on eagles website but it does not list my model on their site.
Can anyone help? :(

I had to phone the hummingbird company 1800 # (45min on hold) had the rep, e-mail me a spec / manual , didnt do me much good they didnt send 36 pages of a 47 page manual lmao go figure .... its a great temp gauge and depth finder as posted ......
 

John_S

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Re: First Fish Finder how to read???

I had to phone the hummingbird company 1800 # (45min on hold) had the rep, e-mail me a spec / manual , didnt do me much good they didnt send 36 pages of a 47 page manual lmao go figure .... its a great temp gauge and depth finder as posted ......

Well, if Humminbird sent you a manual for an Eagle product, that would be something! I assume you meant Eagle Customer support. ;)
 
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