Lowrance Questions

[CMAC]

I see a lot of folks w/ Hummingbirds, but was wondering how you can tell if your tranducer needs replaced? I have a X17M Lowrance on the front using the skimmer transducer and notice when I am in deep water, say >50ft, the tree limbs are faint and out to 70-80ft are very, very faint, not to mention its hard to see you bait below 40ft at that point. Any suggestions?

Tell me its not new graph time! Although that HDS8 looks awesome.

Thanks.

[Stump bumper]

Are you increasing your sensentivty? If so another "trick" I learned from the owners manual is to clean the transducer. It sounds funny since mine is so beat up from scaping rocks but a little window cleaner and a rag does wonders. Now if I could just keep from beating up the wire on the trolling motor.

[CMAC]

I have my sensitivity up in the 90's w/ very little feedback. I will try the window cleaner also, thanks.

[CaptainJoe]

CMAC,

It was great meeting you last week. When I get a new transducer, I try to make a mental note to myself how well my unit is performing with the new transducer. Over time, when I notice a significant drop off in performance, I know it is time to replace the transducer. I hit alot of stuff.

In the deeper water, you have to make sure that your unit is complete manual mode. Turn off everything, including fish icons, surface clutter, noise, sensitivity, etc. Then, play with your ping, chart speed, and sensitivity to get the right settings. Remember, as the day goes, so does your settings and you need to change them as the water density changes. I usually start in 20 feet of water with a 10" worm on. I play with the settings as I go into deeper water, making sure that I can see the worm.

Hope this helps,

Joe

[CMAC]

Reset my upper and lower limits, that helps a bunch, although doesn't improve catching! LOL.

[Martin]

CMAC, When I'm up front using a Lowrance LCX 25c, if I'm in 70 to 80 feet of water, or more, I'm sure I'd be at 100% on the sensitivity. Like Capt Joe and others have said, go all manual. Don't let the unit do anything "automatically". I normally hit the "stop chart" on the console unit. That clears up any interference between the two units. Then, when you move to the drivers seat to move to a new spot, just uncheck the "stop chart" box and you're back in business. The unit won't have to re-acquire the satellites.

[magicwormman]

I also have experienced the same problem, with my lowrance 102c, especially seeing my lure when dropshotting. I have the settings correct and used to see my lure perfect. I cleaned the the puck and no improvement. I heard that you should replace your transducer every couple of years, so I bought a new one. Still no improvement.......guess I should have bought a new locator. Does anyone have any suggestions for a locator that works great for dropshot.

[CaptainJoe]

You have a good graph. I would still keep working on it. If it worked in the past, it may work again. I would save your settings and waypoints and do a hard reset for your unit. This will restore the unit to factory settings. I would then turn off all automatic settings and manually set everything like you did before. Try this and see if this works.

Good luck,

Joe