Flasher readings

[AllenW]

I was in a friends boat out of Loon's Foot Superior Wisc two days ago and we were trying for Lakers and whatever else we could find.

Day was fairly bright and moderately windy and we ran from about 80 foot out to maybe 175 or so.

We did pick up one small Laker in about a 100 fow suspended, but could't catch another bite no matter what we threw at them, had two riggers going, leadcore and an snap line with spoons, spin and glo's, and hardbaits.

I'm not familiar with his Lowrance HDS9, but I'd think the screen shouldn't be any difference basically than my 1198 HB unit.

This is what we were seeing, I'm assuming trout and probably fairly large ones at that. ???

We were told later the shrimp (?) were either hatching or bugs/larva/? was in full bloom so along with wondering if the flasher was showing trout, were they just not feeding??

Talk about frustrating.

TIA

Al

[SeaCatMich]

A lot depends on the settings on the Lowrance but from what I see on your pics of the screens, I don't think that many of the marks are salmon or trout. My guess would be whitefish -- especially those near bottom. Salmon and trout will generally have thicker marks in the middle with black on top and yellow or red in the "body" of the arch. The uniformity of the arches indicate that the fish are not very active either -- moving/active fish usually will have arches that are more skewed to one side with partial arches. The suspended marks in the upper right side of picture 2 are probably salmon or trout. The other uniform "upside down V or U" ones are more typical of stationary or slow moving fish that are passing fully through the beam of the fishfinder.

[AllenW]

Here's another picture, I think he was using the 83 htz setting.

Thanks much.

Al

[iwannagofishin]

I commercial fished trolling for salmon for years and it is possible to distinguish with some certainty what species you are seeing on the screen. A mark will change it's characteristics greatly depending on your speed and the speed and direction of the fish. Basically, how long it stays in the cone of the transducer signal. Thermoclines, fish air bladders, and a few other factors may also have an effect on signal returns. I used to be able to watch schools of sockeye and pink salmon swimming with and following my flashers and hoochies by slowing my troll speed and letting the fish briefly swim ahead of my tackle or by cranking the gain high. You would be amazed at how large a school of fish would follow a boat, especially when the right range of voltage field was present. I would see this sometimes when passing over the trail of a troller 100 feet or so behind it.

[SeaCatMich]

I would say that the three big red marks in the middle are likely salmon or trout. The rest are probably not game fish.

On the Lowrance there are many settings that will affect how what is being detected is displayed. Gain, frequency, noise rejection, color pallet, screen speed, boat speed, ping rate... Putting the unit on "auto" will show the data on the screen but it does not optimize what you will see. In the case of what is shown, I would say that the red marks are fish if the color pallet selected is one with red being the most dense returns BUT since the bottom readings are showing yellow then orange and then red, I would say that the pallet selected has yellow for the hardest returns. The "red" fish could still be salmon/trout since the other fish returns don't have any (all black) and are not thick at all but if the color in the fish returns was yellow, I would be more inclined to say that they were game fish for certain.

Here's another picture, I think he was using the 83 htz setting.

Thanks much.

Al

[AllenW]

Thanks, more time on the water I see.

I'm finding what works on the smaller MN lakes doesn't always read well on the deeper waters of Superior, been a learning process for me.

Al

[SeaCatMich]

I would suggest taking a look at a video that Lance Valentine has put out on YouTube. Lance is founder of the Walleye101 company and his expertise is on fishing electronics. While his emphasis is on walleye, he is a good multi specie fisherman and his tips on HDS setup apply to all fishing situations with the units.

Here is a link to the video: https://youtu.be/fqL6wyz2sww

https://youtu.be/fqL6wyz2sww