Lowrance Hds And Spoon'n

[TeamKingTuckey]

I finally was able to get a buddy of mine to take me friday and show me how to spoon and catch fish watching the graph, after the storms passed through the K.C area we killed the fish in 60' over 30 fish 10 -15 keepers. Now the fun part was being able to watch the fish come off the bottom and come up to the spoon and watch it on the screen and get the bite at the same time. Needless to say Ill never mouth him anymore when he says he went out fishing and caught fish every drop for hrs at a time, because now I know its true. Well heres my question for anyone that has a Lowrance HDS unit and is willing to help. I went out yesterday in my boat to the exact spots as we did on friday since I knew there were fish in the area. I played with my graph for hours.. my final set up was like this. I turn it onto a grayscale instead of color and I have my Sensitivity level on 90, my Ping on 15 ( or 3/4) and scroll speed on a x2 normal.. its a pretty good scroll speed. Problem is with my sensitivity 85 or higher , its almost like its too sensitive and the bottom half of my graph screen on full and I cant see fish arcs or my spoon once it gets down to that dark layer. I was able to find a spot in the cove that didnt show anything on the bottom and I was able to watch a fish come off the bottom and eat my spoon. Now I do know what a brush pile or trees look like down there on my graph but this black mass was so thick on my screen from 40 to 60 ft ( the bottom) could it really be that full of shad? This massive black on my screen goes away if I turn my sensitivity down, but then I cant see my spoon.Oh and if I hit my trolling motor a little to stay in place it cast a thick black line vertically across my graph screen. If anyone has any tips Id appreciate it thanks.

[Dutch]

Which unit are you using? What type tmotor do you have? Is this the first time your tmotor interferred with your unit?

[TeamKingTuckey]

I HAVE THE HDS 5, A MINKOTA TM, AND NO IT HASNT EVER INTERFERRED, BUT AGAIN IT SEEMED LIKE THE HIGHER THE SENSITIVITY THE LARGER THE INTERFERANCE BAR.

[Dutch]

I'm no electronics tech but it sounds like a transducer problem to me. That unit should be basically a plug and play with some minor tweeks to get a bit better performance.

Have you changed upper and lower limits to see if that helps.

If you can lay hands on a Lowrance transducer, take it with you and hook it up. Put it over the side and see what happens. Put it on a stick if you must but don't hook it up to the trolling motor. That will give you a starting point.

If all is well that way then you have a trolling motor and or transducer problem.

[edwin]

are you certain the transducer was aligned correctly? I've found that they're pretty sensitive to the direction they're shooting...ie, you need to ensure that your spoon is in the same place the transducer is shooting. I would also lighten up the sensitivity...no need for it to be that high IMHO when it's set up right (at least with my LCX 37c)

[TeamKingTuckey]

IM PRETTY SURE ITS ALIGNED RIGHT, IVE NEVER HAD ANY OTHER PROBLEMS, WITH MY SENSITIVITY AT 90 I CAN SEE A GOOD DARK SPOT ON THE RIGHT OF THE GRAPH AS IT FALLS AND SEE THE BOUNCING LINES AND I JIG THE SPOON, AS I TURN IT LOWER THAN 85 THE DARK SPOT ( SPOON) GETS SMALLER AND SMALLER AND HARDER FOR MY UNIT TO PICK IT UP.....THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP SO FAR GUYS...

[Hogfan]

I have a Minnkota TM and Lowrance 520C and was told that Minnkota's where bad about causing interference on graphs after about a year. Some days the black lines show up and sometimes they don't. I've had 4 different transducers on the boat and nothing changes. I even tried putting foam or padding between the TM and transducer.

I know this isn't much help but wanted to let you know it's common. I know of other guys who have this same issue. I'm kind of curious if anyone has a fix myself.

[TeamKingTuckey]

IF I REMEMBER RIGHT IT SEEMS LIKE THIS INTERFERANCE BAR DOESNT HAPPEN IF THE SENSITIVITY IS SET VERY HIGH.

[Bill Babler]

Know a couple of folks that have trouble with the HD10 when they are moving or using the trolling motor. Would for sure check with Marine Repair Center for their thoughts.

I will tell you this, I am running a Lowrance 37 LCG it is the predessor to the HD8. Current sensitivity is set at 68% and i can see my spoon and swivel at any depth. And yes, there has been huge clouds of shad back in those types of locations, that sometimes can black you out from 70ft. to 30 ft.

Don't believe the shad are the problem however.

[Gone Fishing]

You might try to set your upper and lower limits to only show the depth range you are fishing. This way you can lighten up your sensitivity and still see your bait just fine.