Hummingbird fish ID

[riverbasser]

Can anyone explain exactly how this works? I find it easier than the traditional arches but what makes the FF determine if its a fish or not? Also curious about the sensitivity setting, the factory setting is 5 and I never really picked up any fish but now on 7 I see a lot more. Can anyone shed some light on this and what setting to run? (helix 5) Thanks

[A-Jay]

Here's some info ~

http://www.fishfinder-store.com/howfifiwo.html

A-Jay

[Wayne P.]

Humminbird's FishID is not like other brands. The size of a fish's air bladder determines if the fish qualifies for a symbol. 

The approx. bass size that gets the symbols is about a 1- 1 1/2# bass gets the smallest of the symbols, about a pound more gets the medium size symbol, and 3+ # gets the largest symbol with the Freshwater setting. If you see a FishID symbol for crappie, they are NICE ones.

If you set the unit to Saltwater, the criteria for the symbols are much larger.

There are two colors of symbols, the older units have symbols shaped like Goldfish crackers and they are gold for fish within the 200 kHz coverage and blue for fish within the 83 kHz coverage.

Helix models have symbols that look like walleyes and they are gold for 200 kHz coverage and green for 83 kHz coverage.

The ONIX has symbols that look like tuna. The function does not work as it should, needs a software update to fix it.

I do not adjust the FishID Sensitivity from the default of 5 since it shows what I want to see. These screenshots are at the same lake.

Older models:

Helix:

ONIX:

Bottom line is you have to be where large enough fish are to get FishID symbols.

[riverbasser]

OK that makes sense. Do all freshwater fish have air bladders? I know catfish do. Also what am I changing by increasing the sensitivity then, am I picking up air bubbles or something when it's increased?

[Wayne P.]

Air/gas bubbles do get FishID symbols. If you notice the line of ID symbols at the surface of the above screenshots, those are from air bubbles created by the hull. You get less of those if you don't turn on 83 kHz, but then you won't get both coverages.

When you change the FishID Sensitivity setting, you can reduce the size of the fish being detected or increase the size of the fish being detected within the parameters of the size ranges. A high setting will display all three symbols and a low setting will only display the largest symbol.

I have posted these before, but here it is again. I use FishID to see if there are fish within cover that I want to try to catch.

I scan this laydown each time I am at this lake. If I don't see any symbols, I don't stop to fish it. These screenshots are a few days apart. When I saw the symbols, I fished it and caught all three of them and some smaller ones that did not qualify for the symbols.

 

 

If is a fishing tool that is available with Humminbirds if you want to use it, I do.

 

[riverbasser]

OK cool thanks for the detailed reply. You raised one more question with me tho. What is the difference in the 200 and 83 kHz? And what would dictate which one I use?

[Wayne P.]

200 kHz and 83 kHz are typical sonar frequencies for most brands. The difference between the two is the coverage they have and the depth capabilities they have. The lower the frequency, the deeper the depth capabililty you get.

A typical spec coverage for 200 kHz is a 20 degree somewhat inverted cone shaped sonar pulse which covers about 1/3 the depth at the bottom.

Coverage for 83 kHz is spec 60 degrees or equal to the depth.

Sonar is sound that is measured in decibels.

The spec coverage is rated at a sound strength (loudness) that is less than the strength directly below the transducer. For Humminbirds, that spec coverage is 10 decibels less than the center of the pulse or -10db to the edge of the cone angle. The actual usable coverage is a lot more at lesser strengths, but the spec coverage is for comparing with other units.

To get both of the FishID coverages, you set the unit to broadcast 83 and 200 kHz.

[riverbasser]

27 minutes ago, Wayne P. said:

To get both of the FishID coverages, you set the unit to broadcast 83 and 200 kHz.

thanks again for the great explanation, Is my hummingbird unit capable of broadcasting both those frequencies at the same time? Helix 5 SI,GPS

[Turtle135]

Great information Wayne!

Any insight on this situation. I have a Humminbird 346c DI and a Humminbird 778C HD. Both are set at 5 on the FishID. The 346c DI always sees a lot more fish than the 778C HD ever does. Any reason the two should have such wildly different results? The 346 does have the DI puck and the 778 has the old XNT 9 20 T transducer. The bottom interpretation between the two is similar.

[Wayne P.]

58 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

thanks again for the great explanation, Is my hummingbird unit capable of broadcasting both those frequencies at the same time? Helix 5 SI,GPS

No they do not broadcast at the same time, they alternate since they use the same pizeo/crystal/speaker.

Set the frequency to 83/200

54 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

Great information Wayne!

Any insight on this situation. I have a Humminbird 346c DI and a Humminbird 778C HD. Both are set at 5 on the FishID. The 346c DI always sees a lot more fish than the 778C HD ever does. Any reason the two should have such wildly different results? The 346 does have the DI puck and the 778 has the old XNT 9 20 T transducer. The bottom interpretation between the two is similar.

The DI unit has a wider 200 kHz pulse like 28 degrees