Fish finder question

[GreasyLuck]

Is there a reason my fish finder doesn’t pick up my down rigger ball? Anything I can do to make them read on the screen?

 

 

GreasyLuck

[Decoy Hound]

If you have a thru-hull transducer sometimes they are mounted too far forward to see the ball with blowback. If you have a transom mounted transducer you can tilt it back a little so it can see the ball easier but it could prevent you from marking fish at running speeds.

[Sk8man]

In addition to the above check your sensitivity/gain setting on your display and if your transducer has been set up correctly on your particular hull. It also depends on the cone angle of your transducer and according to the depth the rigger is set at. For example if the cone angle is say 6 degrees (very narrow) and your downrigger is set just a few feet below the water surface it will not appear on the finder because the weight may be outside the cone angle.Even with a wider angle transducer with increased speed your rigger wire angle may push the weight outside the cone Generally he wider the cone angle the better you should see your rigger weight (s).Usually the higher the kilihertz of the transducer e.g. 200khz vs. 50 khz) the narrower the cone angle and the 200khz is best for 100 ft or less water. For everything to coincide properly to mark the rigger weight at trolling speeds, you have to have a completely intact transducer positioned properly on your particular transom or hull, have the sensitivity adjusted correctly, and  perhaps the proper water type selected on some units). A 50 khz or 83 khz will usually mark the weights throughout deeper ranges better than a 200 khz at depths approaching  or deeper than 100 ft of water. Sometimes the combination of boat speed and underwater current can also push the weight outside the range of the cone angle of the transducer. just a few things to think about

 

P.S. Sometimes when a transducer craps out you can still mark hard bottom but fish or riggers don't appear.

Edited May 13, 2019 by Sk8man

[GreasyLuck]

Thanks guys!


GreasyLuck

[FishingFool34]

On 5/12/2019 at 8:55 PM, GreasyLuck said:

 

Is there a reason my fish finder doesn’t pick up my down rigger ball? Anything I can do to make them read on the screen?

 

 

GreasyLuck

 

use heavier downrigger weights... had same problem a few years ago, couldn't see them on my sonar past 50ft. I was running 10lb pancakes then, I switched to 14lb torpedoes and now can see them down past 100ft.

Edited May 14, 2019 by FishingFool34

[stinger]

All good info above. One more easy thing to try is stop your boat and let one rigger ball down, say 30'. If you can't see it then either your gain is to low or your 'ducer is not angled in the right direction or both. If you do see the ball send it down deep ( 80') and watch it. Then do the same thing for each of the other riggers to be sure that they all are in the cone. Once you have that then start moving the boat forward and gradually increase speed up to say 2 mph gps. If you loose the balls on the screen before you get to your trolling speed then the 'ducer needs to angle back more.  You'll need a wide angle cone for the deep water.

[TyeeTanic]

adjust sensitivity up you should see them. Other thing to do is to angle the 'ducer back a bit, although you don't want it too far angled, otherwise you end up with a false reading of the depth (will say you are deeper than what you really are).  By the way, the sonar will not tell you how deep your ball is. It will tell you how far the ball is from the 'ducer ... which is not the same thing due to blowback.

[Yankee Troller]

Don't tilt your transom mount ducer back. It should work just fine pointed straight down. If you have the right unit/transducer your low frequency should be about 45* cone angle. Without knowing what you have for a set up It's hard to diagnose your problem.

[garrymny]

Once you do get it working, and you see the ball, be aware that if the ball disappears you may have a small fish on.

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Yankee Troller]

31 minutes ago, garrymny said:

Once you do get it working, and you see the ball, be aware that if the ball disappears you may have a small fish on.

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

 

Yup