Sounder Reading Of A School Of Kingies

[ORES]

Just wondering if some one could help.

Ive got a Humingbird 343c. colour sonar

Is this an ok unit?

Has anyone put their sonar reading of a school of kings on a PC and can post a pic of what a tipical school looks like on the sounder?

I get a lot of noise from the sounder unless Im going 10 knots and under, is that normal?

Ive got dvd on reading sonars but some how the settings dont correspond with my setting options such as the grey line.

If any one has one of these units could you give me some of your preffered settings and a brief explanation on why you preffer it that way.

Some times I get frustrated, I search what feels like the whole harbour and find nothing but flat bottoms and no sighn of readings.

Is it me just looking in the wrong places or is my sounder playing tricks on me (not set up properly)

Seems all the fish I catch are assed cause I didnt find them on the sounder

Help would be appreciated.

[Phar Cue]

Stucatz

I run a 383c and love it. Screen is a bit small but otherwise good. It works for me on everything from chasing Beak to chasing bream.

If your getting noise from your sounder it might be that your transducer is sitting too high or too close to your prop. In the event of either of these the prop wash and bubbles will disturb the sounder and create a mess on your screen or will not pick up at all. Have another look at the set up requirements to see if your out here. You may even have to mount it in the hull asuming its transome mounted.

As far as settings go I initially set up the sounder to read a certain level. If I am trolling for kings along headlands I set it up to read from top to about 5m or so below the bottom. If I am chasing game fish off shore I will generally have i read top to about 50m down only. This way your sounder limits it's readings to the area you want and does not waste power trying all depths.

As for sensetivity I adjust this depending on the conditions and how clean the water is. More crap in the water and I have it on a lighter setting, cleaner water a higher setting. You need to play around with it until you stop picking up every particle and just pick up solid stuff.

If you have the manual read it then read it again. I have owned my 383 for over 2 years and I still refer to the manual. Its a small unit but got all the bells and whistles.

Sorry no sonunding kings photo's.

Cheers

Phar Cue

Just wondering if some one could help.

Ive got a Humingbird 343c. colour sonar

Is this an ok unit?

Has anyone put their sonar reading of a school of kings on a PC and can post a pic of what a tipical school looks like on the sounder?

I get a lot of noise from the sounder unless Im going 10 knots and under, is that normal?

Ive got dvd on reading sonars but some how the settings dont correspond with my setting options such as the grey line.

If any one has one of these units could you give me some of your preffered settings and a brief explanation on why you preffer it that way.

Some times I get frustrated, I search what feels like the whole harbour and find nothing but flat bottoms and no sighn of readings.

Is it me just looking in the wrong places or is my sounder playing tricks on me (not set up properly)

Seems all the fish I catch are assed cause I didnt find them on the sounder

Help would be appreciated.

[Guest Ben75]

Gday STUCATZ

Here is a pic of my sounder when I caught my first kingie last year from my kayak . Maybe the pro's could explain the screen shot. I caught my kingie on the surface but the screen was going nuts with this on the screen I don't know if it was the bait fish they were after plus kingies mixed in. I might have to change my finder to the arches instead of the fish shapes.

Cheers Ben

Edited September 23, 2008 by Ben75

[Phar Cue]

The larger fish are likely the kings with baitfish the thick dark areas.

Generally on a sounder a thick dark patch is tightly packed bait.

Looks like the kings were surrounding the bait ball. NICE

Edited September 23, 2008 by Phar Cue

[ORES]

Gday STUCATZ

Here is a pic of my sounder when I caught my first kingie last year from my kayak . Maybe the pro's could explain the screen shot. I caught my kingie on the surface but the screen was going nuts with this on the screen I don't know if it was the bait fish they were after plus kingies mixed in. I might have to change my finder to the arches instead of the fish shapes.

Cheers Ben

Thanks ben, looks good and yes you should turn off the fish ID.

go the dragons.

[brickman]

you realy need to work out the cone diameter at the depth your sounding

loose the fish id and look for arcs around bait balls or dropoffs or any formation

you also need to be able to zoom in on the bottom to realy cheak it out

kingys are not always in big schools and may be in 2or 3 so any arc is a good arc

there is a realy good book called depth sounder secrets by rick huckstepp a must read

cherrs gary

[Guest Ben75]

Gday STUCATZ

I am keen to learn more about using my sounder .First thing I will do is change the fish sybols to arches

Thanks for your post up on the subject Dragon's

Cheers Ben

[copafisher]

there is a realy good book called depth sounder secrets by rick huckstepp a must read

Get a copy of the book, costs about $15. Really clear and easy to read but I still have to experiment with settings etc while reading my manual to get a clearer understanding of what I am seeing.

When swapping between fish symbols & arches I dont seem to get arches, mind you I am not sure the symbols are real fish anyway. Will have to find some real fish & vary the settings/readings, takes a bit of understanding.

Good luck

Steve

[johnno]

I third the advice of brickman and copafisher

That book is a great read and very helpful

[ORES]

Cheers Johnno and brickman,

Ive got his dvd, its the one I talked about on the first post.

Is the book better with more info?

Cheers