Garmin question?

[Troutbeck]

I got a Garmin fishfinder 240 last fall. It seems like a good unit but I can't figure out how to get it to display fish as "arcs." The icons are in the shape of fish (big ones, small ones). Cute--but I feel I'm missing something. I just read a book on walleye fishing and one section talks about how to distinguish different items on the screen. It shows how to tell the difference between smaller fish (perch) and bigger fish (walleyes). All I get is the fishy icons.

Any advice would be appreciated. You guys are the experts and I really appreciate all the advice on this board.

Trout.

[RickyP]

I don't have a Garmin, but I believe you need to find the fish id selection in the menu and turn it off.

[retire55]

Troutbeck:

Recommend you take a look at the Lowrance sonar tutorial (I use Lowrance because I don't think Garmin has such a tutorial on line) available on their web site at:

http://www.lowrance.com/Tutorials/sonar/sonar_tutorial_01.asp

The recommendation provided by RickyP is also correct. However, even with fish ID turned off, you may not be able to see fish arches because certain conditions are necessary. But if you read the Lowrance tutorial, you will understand those conditions.

[Troutbeck]

Awesome, 55!

That explains a lot. I believe the Lowrance and Garmins are similar enough that the explanation works well for both.

Thanks for the tip,

Trout

[OldOneEye]

>I got a Garmin fishfinder 240 last fall. It seems like a
>good unit but I can't figure out how to get it to display
>fish as "arcs."

Trout,

Yes, turn that fish-id off. Most units are programmed to display anything they cannot identify as a fish. I cannot tell you how much empty water I fished until a pro buddy of mine told me that.

Once you do turn it off, you will find that you don't see classic "arcs" often. What you WILL see are solid lines above the bottom. The way a locator works is to take a reading and then plug that reading into the right most column of your locator. Then a split-second later it takes another reading and plugs the result of THAT into that right most column of your locator AFTER it has moved each of the existing columns one column to the left. Anything you see other than that right most column is the HISTORY of immediately prior readings. The further left you go on your screen the older the reading.

Your locator is trying to cope with fish that swim into its cone, fish that swim out of its cone, fish that swim under your boat in the same direction as you are going (shown as one long straight line on your locator), etc. All these things occur in one pulse and get jammed into that right most column.

It takes a while to understand what you are looking at. But turn that darn fish-id off and turn the sensitivity up to about 85% or 90% or so.

[Jack]

The Fish ID needs to be turned off.This fish Id is a joke it looks good on the screen but it will draw anything as a fish,sediment etc
The fish ID is a gimick to make you think you are seeing fish all the time.I have several Garmin units anf the lowrance x15 MT.I use them in mapping lakes.

[Troutbeck]

Good info. Thanks, guys.

Trout