[EZM]

Originally Posted by Mudslide

I have to say I was a little surprised to see the fish ID on myself. Usually the number one thing an experienced sonar user does is turn that off because they know what a fish return looks like and because using it is a little like having someone translate Italian into English for you. There is often something lost in the translation. That said: the HDS is probably the best of the best as far as sonar goes and in a situation where you are marking single large fish perhaps it would be fine. My experience is that in many cases, fish ID lies, but hey, a fish in the boat says otherwise.

I hear what you are saying regarding reading the arches versus the fish id feature. There are a number of problems the "old fish ID technology" created such as misrepresentation of fish vs debris; time it took in ping return and conversion; target seperation etc.. etc... Lowrance has admitted it and taken some corrective action in thier finders a few years ago.

BUT .... According to the manufacturer alot of that has changed with the new sonars - it will convert your arches - realtime and allow you to "clean up" alot of noise. The issue I had (have) with the HDS unit is when I start out at a high sensitivity setting I get arches; my prop wash; my cable and ball and any fish fart and clutter showing up. I ussually set up this way to see what going on; where my ball is tracking; where the bait fish are; where the temp is changing etc.... then - in order to eliminate distraction - turn the Fish ID on to signal only on strong returns that are definitely (most likely) fish.

Simply turning down the sensitivity (in arch mode) does not clean it up enough. It seems (to me) that turning this on further turns down the noise ....???

On another note - they have a new side scan image that does not look like a line down the middle of the screen allowing a better "interpretation" of the structure up to 500 feet to each side of the boat. This too, will be a benefit for people like me who get easily distracted trying to desiminate the information on thier screen. It's not that unusual to have me put my rod down and spend an hour fidling with the sonar ..... perfect for A.D.D. people like me.

I also pay way more attention, more prominently when in shallower lakes, to structure, weeds, etc... and less to fish on the sonar.

Thanks for your thoughts - Maybe someone has lived thru this as well (getting a new sexy sonar/gps) and trying to "optimize" all the "data overload" to turn it into "useful information". That's my issue.

Now - I am a 6 time thread de-railer - so my sixth vote goes to SCOTTY. lol.