Kayak Sonar Discussion

[Orca Winfrey]

Great info. Thanks. I'm still a noob when it comes to reading an FF.

[chris138]

Originally Posted by Orca Winfrey

Great info. Thanks. I'm still a noob when it comes to reading an FF.

Feel free to ask whatever you want. Even if you feel like a noob, I'm sure many others have the same questions and will appreciate you asking.

[summers in kuwait]

Chris,

First off, thanks. This type of input and support has made this forum a wealth of knowledge for many.

I can't speak for others, but I have no problem saying that using a fish finder has been one of the more challenging aspects in my fishing, as I spent my entire life fishing without one, until the last couple years.

I know many may like to know more info about this question:

"So I've gotten a ff and hooked it up, now how do I optimize the settings for fishing Inshore Saltwater?"

Cheers,

Todd

[chris138]

Originally Posted by summers in kuwait

Chris,

First off, thanks. This type of input and support has made this forum a wealth of knowledge for many.

I can't speak for others, but I have no problem saying that using a fish finder has been one of the more challenging aspects in my fishing, as I spent my entire life fishing without one, until the last couple years.

I know many may like to know more info about this question:

"So I've gotten a ff and hooked it up, now how do I optimize the settings for fishing Inshore Saltwater?"

Cheers,

Todd

60' or less: you can play around with all different frequencies and see all kinds of cool structure and fish. low frequencies, you will see tons of huge boomerangs, and get a lot of non-sense returns of grass and smelt and ribbon kelp and all kinds of noise and weird stuff. use 200 kHz plus for shallow waters, and use downscan if you have it.

~60' deep or more: you want to be using your lowest frequency mainly. if you have a big enough screen, you can run dual frequency on one screen. But still the lower kHz the better. If you are just getting started, use only your low frequency. lower kHz has better penetration of depth, and seeing beneath hard marks like macks or crabs. it also typically will have a wider beam, which means you can see out to the side around you more. higher frequencies see better resolution of smaller or softer objects. so if you want to look at individual greenbacks, higher kHz is better. Low frequencies will give you the boomerangs and worms of big fish. turn up your sensitivity or gain until the bottom looks like a very "hot" or "hard" color (ie, the bottom looks like my pics above, in whatever color spectum you have)

Oh yea, did I mention that having color is pretty important?

EDIT: I should also add that you want to use the highest ping speed possible for fishing the deeper waters of LJ and inshore socal.

If you get that far, then take some screen shots and post them here. I will give you some feedback from there.

[Fishing619]

What is the difference on FF and sonar?
Or why do we need the two of them.

[chris138]

Originally Posted by Fishing619

What is the difference on FF and sonar?
Or why do we need the two of them.

FF is a type of sonar. I use the two words interchangeably so as not to be so repetitive. I will also call it a "meter" or "sounder" sometimes... but its all the same essentially.

[King Saba]

Originally Posted by Orca Winfrey

Great info. Thanks. I'm still a noob when it comes to reading an FF.

You never ask me questions! Relying on me to interpret my FF all the time. Sheesh!

[Orca Winfrey]

Originally Posted by King Saba

You never ask me questions! Relying on me to interpret my FF all the time. Sheesh!

Lol! I'm working smarter, not harder.

[GTboosted]

Can you see fish in REALLY thick kelp the extends from the bottom to surface?

I normally have to adjust the sensitivity to where it almost shows nothing in thick kelp. Then I am not sure if I see fist or not. Lol

[chris138]

Originally Posted by GTboosted

Can you see fish in REALLY thick kelp the extends from the bottom to surface?

I normally have to adjust the sensitivity to where it almost shows nothing in thick kelp. Then I am not sure if I see fist or not. Lol

Yes for sure you can. Sometimes the key with that is the color line. Play around with colorline until you get the kelp to mark really soft, then the fish or bait will stand out more. I also like downscan 455 kHz for this application, because you can see the individual kelp strands and a fish really sticks out.

If you can get the DS dialed in, then you can overlay it on top of your mid/high chirp... for a more advanced configuration.

[TJones]

Originally Posted by chris138

Yes for sure you can. Sometimes the key with that is the color line. Play around with colorline until you get the kelp to mark really soft, then the fish or bait will stand out more. I also like downscan 455 kHz for this application, because you can see the individual kelp strands and a fish really sticks out.

If you can get the DS dialed in, then you can overlay it on top of your mid/high chirp... for a more advanced configuration.

.

[summers in kuwait]

Thanks for the details Chris!
This is going to be a great thread for info... and fish finder porn!