Help Me "See" The Fish (sounder issues)

[Rain City]

I think it's the mount style. I have a stock transom mount.
My elite 5 can see salmon, bait, my jig going up and down in 100 ft, weeds sliding down my cable etc... 83 seems to show more for trolling, 200 for running and seeing bottom. Yes, I'd rather have chirp and something better.
General use, Auto sensitivity (adjusted to +2), manual depth is what I've been using mostly.

That's what it seems to be. Up to 100' i can see SOMETHING at times. Any deeper and its just blank.

 

[casper5280]

Never seen that before on a Lowrance unit. Maybe give Harbour Chandler a call. Wondering if a software update would help bring up a menu for it.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Ok. I've been fishing on this boat now for four years and I'm always posting like I'm hot ****. The reality is though that, other than for depth, I've never had a working sounder. I have a Lowrance Elite 5 and one of the first repairs I did on the boat was to replace the transducer that ripped off the back of the boat. I installed it in the bilge with a **** ton of epoxy and used the water bag trick to make sure it was reading properly where I placed it. I have no idea what type it is I just went to some store in Granville island and told him I needed to see the bottom. Now I can see bottom up to about 400' but I don't really get any detail at all. I've never seen an arch. The best I get is a black line or a blob when there's bait but I'm always having to adjust the range and sensitivity to get anything at all. I did read a thread about setting your depth at a range to avoid surface debris but that got annoying.

Please help.

I have a p66 tranrsducer on a simrad and have similar issues. Can see the fish in the harbour okay Ish and bait. Out by QA, 300 feet north arm no luck.

In port Hardy this year it worked great even down to 300 could see the lings everything.
Bait schools perfectly ect...

Back to Vancouver and not working so great...

 

[Trophy]

I had a lowrance elite 5 for several years. The stock 83/200 transducer would pick up bait and the fish were small dots. You could pick up cannon balls higher up at times. Upgraded to the P66 (50/200) transducer which made a world of difference. Bait balls would actually be identified by size/species and not just colored blobs. Fish marks were now bigger dots or small arches. I could also pick up images/bottom while ziping from spot to spot, never possible before. Tweaking also helps as mentioned above but with this model of lowrance thats about as good as it gets. Have since upgraded to a lowrance with chirp and downscan capabilities, difference is night and day!
Tips for elite 5
- use 200 khz not 83 or 50 for most of our salmon fishing. Note: elite 5 does not allow you to choose a transducer, defaults to 83/200 but the P66 50/200 will work.
- tweak sensitivity manually as previously mentioned.
- low or no surface clarity
- set a depth range say 50 to 250 if thats where you usually fish that way all pings will be focused where you fish not higher or lower.
- fishing mode option : set to “freshwater” yes freshwater even though your fishing in the ocean. Times of high algae or salinity you can play with this setting.
- save up for a newer technology unit.

 

[Rain City]

I had a lowrance elite 5 for several years. The stock 83/200 transducer would pick up bait and the fish were small dots. You could pick up cannon balls higher up at times. Upgraded to the P66 (50/200) transducer which made a world of difference. Bait balls would actually be identified by size/species and not just colored blobs. Fish marks were now bigger dots or small arches. I could also pick up images/bottom while ziping from spot to spot, never possible before. Tweaking also helps as mentioned above but with this model of lowrance thats about as good as it gets. Have since upgraded to a lowrance with chirp and downscan capabilities, difference is night and day!
Tips for elite 5
- use 200 khz not 83 or 50 for most of our salmon fishing. Note: elite 5 does not allow you to choose a transducer, defaults to 83/200 but the P66 50/200 will work.
- tweak sensitivity manually as previously mentioned.
- low or no surface clarity
- set a depth range say 50 to 250 if thats where you usually fish that way all pings will be focused where you fish not higher or lower.
- fishing mode option : set to “freshwater” yes freshwater even though your fishing in the ocean. Times of high algae or salinity you can play with this setting.
- save up for a newer technology unit.

Beauty.

 

[kingblazer84]

I find just like trophy said manual ranging your finder to the depth you actually fishing makes a huge difference! I had that issue with my humminbird couldnt see S*** half the time didnt know what was what, once I changed the range and also my transducer settings it made those arches you see all the time in the demo mode! lol

 

[Rain City]

I find just like trophy said manual ranging your finder to the depth you actually fishing makes a huge difference! I had that issue with my humminbird couldnt see S*** half the time didnt know what was what, once I changed the range and also my transducer settings it made those arches you see all the time in the demo mode! lol

Don't even get me started with the demo mode lol

 

[Steve95]

I had a lowrance elite 5 for several years. The stock 83/200 transducer would pick up bait and the fish were small dots. You could pick up cannon balls higher up at times. Upgraded to the P66 (50/200) transducer which made a world of difference. Bait balls would actually be identified by size/species and not just colored blobs. Fish marks were now bigger dots or small arches. I could also pick up images/bottom while ziping from spot to spot, never possible before. Tweaking also helps as mentioned above but with this model of lowrance thats about as good as it gets. Have since upgraded to a lowrance with chirp and downscan capabilities, difference is night and day!
Tips for elite 5
- use 200 khz not 83 or 50 for most of our salmon fishing. Note: elite 5 does not allow you to choose a transducer, defaults to 83/200 but the P66 50/200 will work.
- tweak sensitivity manually as previously mentioned.
- low or no surface clarity
- set a depth range say 50 to 250 if thats where you usually fish that way all pings will be focused where you fish not higher or lower.
- fishing mode option : set to “freshwater” yes freshwater even though your fishing in the ocean. Times of high algae or salinity you can play with this setting.
- save up for a newer technology unit.

Not wanting to hijack but would the P66 be a better option than the standard HST/WSBL that comes with the HDS9 Gen3 ? I have been struggling with my year old boat since I got it a few months ago. Loses bottom all the time, especially if I use the freshwater setting, have to use general setting. Thanks

 

[bpsuls]

As others have mentioned 83 is usually more so for lakes than ocean. Personally i have both a 50/200 and a 83/200 on my boat. The 83/200 is not connected to my main boat network (Lowrance) and is a stand alone fishfinder (Garmin). I like it though and i find that 83 sees very similar to 50. The lower frequencies have a wider cone angle than the 200, but the resolution is not as high. When i use mine, i split screen so i am running both the 83 and 200 simultaneously. I do need to shut down my 50/200 when i use it though as the crosstalk messes up the 83/200 fishfinder because they are not networked. I find that the 83 sometimes arches fish that the 200 doesn't see, and vice versa. Its nice to have both, and since its a standalone unit, it sits beside my chartplotter which can then be dedicated to the GPS screen. I already had the fishfinder so it was no extra cost to install, but if i had only one, it would be the 50/200 approach.

 

[Rain City]

Does anyone think that getting a newer model screen and using my old through hull transducer will improve things? I don't want to invest the time mostly in pulling the boat and running a new transducer cable. I don't have a trailer so it's not easy for me to just pull it out. I'm just looking for something that works a little in 400-500 feet. Not sure what the difference would be in an older elite 5 and say a new hook model or something.

 

[noluck]

Does anyone think that getting a newer model screen and using my old through hull transducer will improve things? I don't want to invest the time mostly in pulling the boat and running a new transducer cable. I don't have a trailer so it's not easy for me to just pull it out. I'm just looking for something that works a little in 400-500 feet. Not sure what the difference would be in an older elite 5 and say a new hook model or something.

try with just the head unit change, then the transducer if it still lacks performance

 

[Trophy]

Does anyone think that getting a newer model screen and using my old through hull transducer will improve things? I don't want to invest the time mostly in pulling the boat and running a new transducer cable. I don't have a trailer so it's not easy for me to just pull it out. I'm just looking for something that works a little in 400-500 feet. Not sure what the difference would be in an older elite 5 and say a new hook model or something.

A newer model sounder with “chirp” technology would be a great improvement providing your old transducer is compatible.

 

[Unreel]

Does anyone think that getting a newer model screen and using my old through hull transducer will improve things? I don't want to invest the time mostly in pulling the boat and running a new transducer cable. I don't have a trailer so it's not easy for me to just pull it out. I'm just looking for something that works a little in 400-500 feet. Not sure what the difference would be in an older elite 5 and say a new hook model or something.

A newer model hds will have a higher output sounder module than whatever you are using now. I would be on the lookout for some end of season sales from cabelas and other retailers for a old stock hds gen3 or carbon. To get the most out of the head units tho you would need a solid transducer to match. Is there a tag on the cable of the transducer? Usually they have tag on the plug end as well as the transducer end that have the model # on it.

 

[Rain City]

A newer model hds will have a higher output sounder module than whatever you are using now. I would be on the lookout for some end of season sales from cabelas and other retailers for a old stock hds gen3 or carbon. To get the most out of the head units tho you would need a solid transducer to match. Is there a tag on the cable of the transducer? Usually they have tag on the plug end as well as the transducer end that have the model # on it.

Oh good call I'll check that out.

 

[Aces]

Ok. I've been fishing on this boat now for four years and I'm always posting like I'm hot ****. The reality is though that, other than for depth, I've never had a working sounder. I have a Lowrance Elite 5 and one of the first repairs I did on the boat was to replace the transducer that ripped off the back of the boat. I installed it in the bilge with a **** ton of epoxy and used the water bag trick to make sure it was reading properly where I placed it. I have no idea what type it is I just went to some store in Granville island and told him I needed to see the bottom. Now I can see bottom up to about 400' but I don't really get any detail at all. I've never seen an arch. The best I get is a black line or a blob when there's bait but I'm always having to adjust the range and sensitivity to get anything at all. I did read a thread about setting your depth at a range to avoid surface debris but that got annoying.

Please help.

Maybe your blue flashers are throwing the transducer off ?

 

[Rain City]

Maybe your blue flashers are throwing the transducer off ?

LOL

 

[Rain City]

A newer model hds will have a higher output sounder module than whatever you are using now. I would be on the lookout for some end of season sales from cabelas and other retailers for a old stock hds gen3 or carbon. To get the most out of the head units tho you would need a solid transducer to match. Is there a tag on the cable of the transducer? Usually they have tag on the plug end as well as the transducer end that have the model # on it.

This is what I have.

https://picclick.ca/Lowrance-XDCR-ASY-PDRT-WSU-Black-200-KHZ-Boat-141855342124.html