I never see fish on my fishfinder. 2024

billmac reply :

To be fair, I've only used the Hook 7 about 4 times, but I've never seen anything that looks like fish on it. I see depth, contours, and weeds, but no fish so far. The unit is on factory default setting and I'm a newbie. Am I just being unrealistic?

WRB reply :

Who installed the unit?

What do you see on the sonar unit display? Yo said depth changes or just a map?

Tom

cookieman reply :

in settings there is a mode setting. take off auto and a screen comes up to manual setting and will have a fish id setting.click what you want

Sam reply :

Bill, the truth is that they see you first and the go into hiding while they laugh.

Actually, do what Cookie Man says above. You have to activate the fish icons for the unit to pick up those little green monsters.

Good luck and have fun.

billmac reply :

The unit came with the boat, already installed. I'm seeing the lake bottom (and the maps when I wish), but no fish. I will check out the fish icons. Thanks.

WRB reply :

Icons are just that icons in lieu of standard sonar return targets, no target returns no icons. If the transducer in shooting through the hull the signal returns may be too weak to display and you will need to increase the default sensitivity setting manually.

Tom

billmac reply :

The transducer is mounted on the transom.

TnRiver46 reply :

I would take someone fishing that knows how to read one, or maybe go fishing somewhere else. I've never been anywhere in the world that I didn't mark fish and I have a $200 depth finder . Maybe 300, I can't remember

Jig Man reply :

It might be worth your time to look at some you tube videos and become more familiar with what they look like on a sonar screen.

cyclops2 reply :

Factory default SHOULD show some fish with weeds.

How deep are you reading in ?

Idid a quick read...…………. It does not show the fish symbols...……… It is a CHIRP unit. I garbaged my first CHIRP unit. Did not like a 4 th of July Sparkler as a fish symbol. Bought a true fish symbol finder. I am happier.

billmac reply :

I'm looking for the kind of nike swoosh images.

MN Fisher reply :

I've got the 'Fish ID' turned on for my Hook2-4 and it shows them as little fish graphics instead of the upside-down checkmark...larger fish have larger images.

Tennessee Boy reply :

On 8/1/2019 at 1:08 AM, billmac said:

I'm looking for the kind of nike swoosh images.

You will only see an arch (an upside down swoosh) on 2D sonar. That’s the multi color graph. On down imagining, fish will appear as dots.

TnRiver46 reply :

Here's what a big school of fish looks like. I have dozens more pics if you like

billmac reply :

Good info.

cyclops2 reply :

I use the cheaper Garmins. the fish hits look like fat Crappies in several sizes. works well

WRB reply :

The ^ image is displayed by 2D down looking sonar, the - image by HD sonar and neither are necessarily fish. The fish icon is simply ^ displayed doesn't mean it's fish, it's simply a sonar return that could be anything like a air bubble or suspended debris, big icon is a stronger or higher density signal return. If icons are your thing use icons.

I think you should reboot your unit back to factory settings and start over since your TD isn't shooting though the hull and should be displaying strong enough signal return to display suspended fish.

Tom

papajoe222 reply :

My first question is: How deep is the water you are in? The second: What angle is the transducer operating at? If you're in 10ft. of water and you have a 16 or 20 degree transducer, you'll likely never see fish images unless you're possibly wind drifting over an area. You'll be looking at a bottom area smaller than a pizza. I know because I fished a shallow sand pit for years and never saw arches with my sonar.

billmac reply :

I'm in all kinds of depths. The transducer seems level to me, but of course it varies with the weight in the back of the boat and how fast you are going.

It could be as simple as I just haven't used it enough.

senile1 reply :

I hope this video helps if you are still struggling with this.

dickenscpa reply :

I have a 17.5' Bumble Bee from 1992 that runs like a champ first start. Had an old 1973 Ensign 14' before that. I've had too many to count Eagles and then Lowrance and one Hummingbird. Never seen a fish arch in my life.

Bought a cheaper Garmin Striker 4 for the bow almost a week ago and put the 'ducer on the TM and actually saw arches and even caught a few. I took the circa 2005 Lowrance off the console and removed the ducer off the stern and put a Striker 7 and couldn't be happier.

I left everything from both units as factory default. I'm not saying the Garmin is better than Lowrance or Hummingbird but they did dumb it down enough so even I could use it somewhat correctly.

billmac reply :

When I can swing it I'm looking at a Striker 4 for the bow.

gnappi reply :

I have the opposite problem, I see LOTS of "fish" but have never caught one in deeper water so I go back to the shallows where I know can catch a few species a day.

TnRiver46 reply :

The best way I found to learn electronics is go to a spot that holds a good bit of panfish and mark them. I can see my jig and fish on a $150 Lowrance 2d 4 inch depth finder. Right now in my area there are thick blankets of shad just about anywhere so driving through them is another good way to observe fish on the graph. Fish Arches will only appear if the boat is moving faster than maybe 1 mph. When you are sitting still fish will appear as horizontal lines. If you want to See some pics of this I’ve got them, just let me know.

Ratherbfishing reply :

I see dead people

(I think I've got my sensitivity set too high)

WRB reply :

I will try to define what a sonar return is regarding fish.

What it isn't is a sonar return of the fish flesh and bones.

What it is a sonar return of the gas in the fishes airbladder.

Why it looks like a arch; the sonars transducer is moving towards the fish, the very outer edge of the conical coverage area picks up a weak signal as a thin line, as the TD moves closer the signal gets stronger the arch starts to get longer and thickens, as the TD passes over the fish moving away the signal weakens until it out of the coverage area leaving the history of a fully formed arch on the display using traditional 2D sonar.

If the TD isn't moving and the fish isn't moving the sonar return is displayed as a line because the display is moving. If you put a pencil tip on paper then pull the paper out from under the mark it draws a line, that is exactly what is happening as the display moves, the signal (pencil point) isn't moving.

HD signals or scanning signal the sonar sweeps the fish displaying a dot for the airbladder. Bigger airbladders display as bigger darker returns. Tightly schooled baitfish are displayed a cloud of airbladders.

Hope this helps,

Tom

Titan reply :

Never knew that WRB. Thanks.

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I never see fish on my fishfinder. 2024

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