Eagle Cuda 168... first use

[KRS]

I purchased the unit several months ago upon my own research and a few suggestions on this forum.

I installed it and went fishing this week.

I caught three inland lake stripers while trolling.

This is my first ever fishfinder that I have used on a lake like this.

My thoughts:

Instal was easy.... most instal the same way.

Battery drain appeared to be low. I didn't measure it, but the battery lasted for hours even with the backlight on.

The backlight was a dissapointment. I was hoping for an LCD type luminescent backlight. Instead, this unit's backlight consists of a two (or was it three?) small incandescent bulbs at the bottom of the display that shine up on the screen. The buttons were adequately lit and the backlight was adjustable, so the brightness was enough to see the screen when turned up.

I couldn't make sense of the regular sonar setting... so I set it to "Fish ID" and it shows me little icon fish instead of the "arches". The arches never showed fish and had lots of clutter. It read okay even while motoring at almost planing speed, but once on plane it scrammed.

Anyway, for the $64 I paid on sale, it was worth it.

Just thought I'd pass this along.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Eagle Cuda 168... first use

When you turn fish ID off the sensitivity goes to max. You need to kick the sensitivity down till you see a little clutter then fine tune it from there.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Eagle Cuda 168... first use

Fish arches take a little bit of understanding to interpret. When the boat moves over a fish that is stationary for example, the arch will be short and pronounced -- sort of like an upside down "U". Thats because you pass over the fish quickly, the arch rises and falls quickly, and again, the fish enters and leaves the cone quickly. If you are spot fishing and a slow moving fish passes through the cone, the arch meay be close to a straight line. Mix that up with the clutter and its a little tough to distinguish. The more pixels available to draw the picture, the better the resolution will be. In the grand scheme of things, the Eagle Cuda 168 is sort of an Etch-a-Sketch. It works - its just not as sophisticated as the higher resolution units.

 

[KRS]

Re: Eagle Cuda 168... first use

Thank you guys.

I need to spend a little quality time with it... not a bad excuse to go fishing !

I will adjust the sensitivity with the ID off and work on my skill with the unit.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Eagle Cuda 168... first use

You may want to think about relocating the transducer, if possible.
If you can install it in a better location, you should be able to keep it working at speeds of 25-30 mph.

Of course this depends on your hull, how rough the water is, and how much room you have on the transom.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Eagle Cuda 168... first use

Mine gives me solid bottom readings at my max speed (52 mph). Lots of clutter, but at that speed all I want to know is how far down to the bottom.

I use mine in shallow water (under 25') and find the sensitivity has to be reduced significantly to reduce the returns from things of no interest. I like the bottom condition feature (soft-hard).

Mark

 

[KRS]

Re: Eagle Cuda 168... first use

I'll get mine back out on the water (hopefully) in the next month or so and spend more time learning the features and settings.

Thanks all.