Garmin stricker 4 plus issues

[KJM]

Hi, does anyone use this fish finder? I am new to it and still learning how to use it. I'm having trouble getting it to "see" fish. I can see bait with it and have it set to show fish symbols instead of arches. The problem is it very rarely shows any fish symbols eventhough I know there is fish beneath the boat because I'm catching them! It seems to pick up bait good but not larger fish?

 

[dingbat]

Hi, does anyone use this fish finder? I am new to it and still learning how to use it. I'm having trouble getting it to "see" fish. I can see bait with it and have it set to show fish symbols instead of arches. The problem is it very rarely shows any fish symbols eventhough I know there is fish beneath the boat because I'm catching them! It seems to pick up bait good but not larger fish?

What transducer are you running?
How deep?

Bear in mind that depending on what transducer and depth of water, the cone of detection could be very small.

Also suggest you turn off fish symbols and learn how to read returns yourself using “arches” instead of fish symbols.

 

[KJM]

Its the dual beam transducer that came with it. depth is roughly from 70 to 130 ft.

 

[dingbat]

First bear in mind that the detection zone is an inverted cone with the point in the center of the transducer.

Your “dual beam” transducer shoots 77/200 kHz with beamwidths of 45/15 degrees. A 15 degree beam angle give bottom coverage (diameter) of roughly a 1/3 of the depth. 70/3= 23’ . From there you can concluded that your viewing cone is only 8’ in diameter at 25’.

The 45 degree bandwidth covers 3 times are much area but is also 3 times less sensitive. Garmin is playing games with the dual beam so I’m not sure how they are “blending” the returns on the screen.

When you say “large” fish what constitutes large?

Display scaling is proportional the the depth. In 70’ of water a 30” will look rather small.

Unfortunately things are not anywhere close black and white when it come to interpreting sonar returns. It take hours and hours of experience tone able to build a detailed picture in your head as to what is going on below.

 

[KJM]

First bear in mind that the detection zone is an inverted cone with the point in the center of the transducer.

Your “dual beam” transducer shoots 77/200 kHz with beamwidths of 45/15 degrees. A 15 degree beam angle give bottom coverage (diameter) of roughly a 1/3 of the depth. 70/3= 23’ . From there you can concluded that your viewing cone is only 8’ in diameter at 25’.

The 45 degree bandwidth covers 3 times are much area but is also 3 times less sensitive. Garmin is playing games with the dual beam so I’m not sure how they are “blending” the returns on the screen.

When you say “large” fish what constitutes large?

Display scaling is proportional the the depth. In 70’ of water a 30” will look rather small.

Unfortunately things are not anywhere close black and white when it come to interpreting sonar returns. It take hours and hours of experience tone able to build a detailed picture in your head as to what is going on below.

You can use a split screen where you can see the return from both freq. Still nothing. Large fish would be about 1 1/2 to 3 ft. I'll probably have to keep playing with it and get use to all the features. The old Humminbird finder I replaced seemed a lot easier to use, I still have it if need be. I bought the new one as it has a "quick draw" mapping feature for the ocean floor (or lake) that I like.

 

[dingbat]

You can use a split screen where you can see the return from both freq. Still nothing. Large fish would be about 1 1/2 to 3 ft.

Not sure what to tell you. Unless the fish have some sort of magic stealth mode, they are down there and you just don't recognize them.

From your manual:
When using the unit with the fish symbols off, set the gain up to approximately +2 and use the split screen zoom. This will make it easier to see the fish. However, the unit still may not display perfect arches. There are units on the market that will show a perfect arch on the screen for anything which breaks the cone. Garmin Marine Devices do not and will only show the true echo

My experience with a Garmin CHIRP finder is a large fish suspended in the water column typically shows up as straight (red) lines or small roundish (red to black) blobs. Any "arches" are typical smaller bait fish.

 

[KJM]

Yeah, I'll keep playing with it. Thanks.