fish finder question

[jth21usa]

I seem to lose sight of my downrigger balls about 40 feet. Does anyone angle their transducer differently to pick up behind their boat?

[holy mackerel]

Yes, some folks like to see them and some don't.

[Sk8man]

Sometimes you have to play with the tilting of the transducer to get it the way you want it but it may also relate to the particular cone angle of the transducer as well. For example a 50 khz or 83 khz transducer may have a considerably wider cone angle than a 200 khz so once the ball goes down past the outside edge of the narrower cone it disappears from view on the screen.

[Chas0218]

I would rather not have mine on the screen. If you want you could angle the transducer but it wouldn't give good depth readings of fish, bottom, or your balls if you do that, but you could see them.

[Yankee Troller]

Tilting your transducer is the worst thing to do. Your 83 or 50kw beam should have no issues picking your balls up. My ducer is a good 20' forward from my balls and I can mark them after about 20/30' all the way down to 200'+. Tilting your ducer will give you false depths of fish and your balls. Its simple trigonometry. If you have a transom mount ducer you should see them within 10' of the surface. I would look at settings on your FF, and whether the ducer is shot. Tilting it isn't the answer.

[Chas0218]

OP, What Hz tranducer and brand of fishfinder are we talking about here? Some fishfinder brands have narrower cones front to rear than others.

[Sk8man]

What I was referring to (with transom mounts) when I said "tilting" was not made clear...what I meant is that the transducer face should be parallel with the ground on most applications and sometimes if someone installs it flat with the bottom of their boat (angled transom) it needs to be adjusted  (tilted) so that it is flat with the ground surface

Edited May 26, 2015 by Sk8man

[jth21usa]

It's a cheap lowarnce, I probably have it at 200, I'll change the settings tonight and follow up.

[momay4000]

It's a cheap lowarnce, I probably have it at 200, I'll change the settings tonight and follow up.

 

I have a good Lowrance but it will be my last one. I cannot see my riggers past 80-100' unless I turn up the sensitivity to >90 and I have changed the frequency many times only to have the same outcome. However, when i turn up the sensitivity, it muddies up the screen with all kinds of garbage which is probably interference with my motor from the gain being too high.

 

My next FF will be one of the better units that the charter guys use with a much better transducer.

 

Good luck,

 

Chris

[Chas0218]

My cheap lowrance (m68c) could pick up my riggers. How deep are you fishing with what weight ball?

[alex1young]

Use a heavier ball, that's a quick fix.

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