Lowrance HDS 7 setting for deep water

[jfeist]

I have just started using the Lowrance HDS 7 and also just started fishing for fresh water salmon in water up to 150' deep. My problem is showing fish when I'm trolling 2 to 3mph in this depth of water. When I'm drifting slow I show a lot of marks but as soon as I start trolling I show very few if any marks. I have tried the slow troll, shallow water, and general settings and none seem to make a big difference. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try when fishing this deep of water and trolling 2 to 3 mph? Any help will be appreciated.

[hondo]

Have you tried manually bumping up the sensitivity a few notches, that should show more info on your display

[yarcraft91]

You say you see a difference in depthfinder performance between drifting and trolling. Is an internal combustion engine running when you troll, but not when you drift? If so, read on...

The engine you run when trolling may be broadcasting enough noise that it is either masking the sonar signals or causing the sonar to reject more of the sonar signals as noise. Things to check:
- Does the trolling motor engine have resistor plugs? If not, these are a prime source of electrical noise- replace with resistor versions. Been there, done that.
- Consider replacing HV ignition wires if they are old.
- Does the transducer cable or sonar power wiring run close and parallel to the trolling motor wiring, including charging circuitry, remote controls, ignition switches, dash wiring, etc.? If so, another possible source of noise- run the sonar wiring somewhere at least 1' away from the engine wiring (mine is in the bilge, while engine wiring is under the gunnel).

These steps improved both sonar and marine band radio performance on my boat.

[Wall@y@]

Both previous posts are good advice. You are working deep water so the unit needs a boost to receive the "pings" at that depth. Increasing sensitivity will give your unit the advantage to pick up the weaker signals because of the water depth. Increasing the ping speed will also give the unit the ability to mark fish arches at the greater depth.

[krenkey]

When i fish deep i set my sensitivity to 98 % ill attach a couple screen shots for you

[Pezman38]

The above posts are the best places to start, ping speed and sensitivity. If you get a lot of surface clutter then bump that up to high when you increase the sensetivity. If you still have a problem turn your noise cancellation to high if your engine is running as well.
Other ideas, If you have a dual beam transducer then your new HDS unit allows you to turn one or the other on. Normally in fresh water with depths around 60 and up the 200 works best. If the ideas above don't work and you are fishing in 200ft or below you can try the 50mhz transducer which should help you out.

Don't quote the depths above as gospel as I was just guessing, but I do know for a fact that the 50 will work better in deep water situations.

[K Gonefishin]

I was salmon fishing on my buddy's boat he took his HDS-10 off his Ranger and put it on his Rampage to salmon fish out of on Ontario and we set the ping at 100% and sensativity was almost at 100% we marked hooks and bait awesome in 485 FOW with ease just zoomed into the range of where we wanted to see (top 80ft), we even marked our sliders on our riggers around 30-40 down that's pretty sweet, the broadband sounder is amazing, both rigger balls, fish screaming into our spread, all shown perfectly, first time fishing with a HDS and it out performed my 38 easy. I want one.