Help with new fish finder? What am I looking at?

[Ksam1234]

So I got the new lowrance FS 9 inch display with the side scan and down scan. I have never had anything this clear and accurate and I’m wondering what exactly am I looking at? Are these arches fish? In 6 FOW or are they just weeds? Also if you zoom in a little you can see some reddish orange color. Are those fish ? I was always using a basic hook 4 with horrible quality. Trying to figure out what these are here ? 

[TnRiver46]

First picture looks like a single fish 13 feet down and maybe a few more hugging bottom. second pic looks like a fish bonanza, needing a spoon dropped into 

[WRB]

Top screen shot shows 2 bait balls @ 6’ and a few fish on the bottom. 

Bottom shot shows fast moving school of fish, could be Smallmouth bass depending how the unit is set up.

Tom

[Ksam1234]

16 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

First picture looks like a single fish 13 feet down and maybe a few more hugging bottom. second pic looks like a fish bonanza, needing a spoon dropped into 

Wow I am an idiot. I completely passed this and thought those were just weeds not fish 

10 minutes ago, WRB said:

Top screen shot shows 2 bait balls @ 6’ and a few fish on the bottom. 

Bottom shot shows fast moving school of fish, could be Smallmouth bass depending how the unit is set up.

Tom

This sucks and I passed these having no idea and thought jt was weeds 

[papajoe222]

What you see on the screen as far as the size of the arches and balls of baitfish is dependent on how fast you are going and the chart speed and transducer  cone angle. I'm not familiar with your Lowrance, but your transducer frequency is likely different from your previous unit, or switchable. Good advice I got from a member here when I got my first down/side scan unit was to leave it on factory default setting until you get comfortable with interpreting what you see on the different screens. Then you can start tweeking to your taste.  There are a ton of good videos on the tube about setting up and using the different Lowrance units.

[Tennessee Boy]

Looking at the photos it hard to tell what is being displayed on the unit verse stuff stuck on the screen.  The bait balls that Tom has identified look like fingerprints to me.  I agree that is sure looks like a fish at 13ft on the first photo but it looks like a similar spot at the same location on the second photo which makes me wonder that is something stuck on the screen.  The arches on the second photo definitely look like fish.  You have to remember that at a depth of 5-6 feet,  the size of your sonar cone is probably 2-3 feet across depending on your settings.  So all those fish in the second photo are in a very small area which means they are pretty small. 

[Ksam1234]

43 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Looking at the photos it hard to tell what is being displayed on the unit verse stuff stuck on the screen.  The bait balls that Tom has identified look like fingerprints to me.  I agree that is sure looks like a fish at 13ft on the first photo but it looks like a similar spot at the same location on the second photo which makes me wonder that is something stuck on the screen.  The arches on the second photo definitely look like fish.  You have to remember that at a depth of 5-6 feet,  the size of your sonar cone is probably 2-3 feet across depending on your settings.  So all those fish in the second photo are in a very small area which means they are pretty small. 

Thanks I am going to go out today on a better lake and try and figure it out some more! Read the manual and sit there till I get it I guess 

[Tennessee Boy]

It's important to understand the shape of your sonar beam.  With a cone shaped beam,  a fish will look like an arch.  Your second photo is a great example.   With a wide thin beam,  you get much more detail and fish show up as dots.  I'm assuming your second photo was using this setting.  If so the dots near the bottom are probably fish.  If the setting were the same for both photos,  then there were no fish in the second photo since there are no arches.

 

 

[Ksam1234]

24 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

It's important to understand the shape of your sonar beam.  With a cone shaped beam,  a fish will look like an arch.  Your second photo is a great example.   With a wide thin beam,  you get much more detail and fish show up as dots.  I'm assuming your second photo was using this setting.  If so the dots near the bottom are probably fish.  If the setting were the same for both photos,  then there were no fish in the second photo since there are no arches.

 

 

Yes the settings are the same. I have not touched anything out of factory settings.  So those red dots are nothing then. I’m going on the water now for more testing. 

[Tennessee Boy]

22 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said:

Yes the settings are the same. I have not touched anything out of factory settings.  So those red dots are nothing then. I’m going on the water now for more testing. 

I'm not a Lowrance user so take what I'm saying for what it's worth.  I'm a little confused by the two photos if the settings were the same.  I looked briefly on line at that unit and it shows traditional cone shaped sonar on a multi color graph like on a Humminbird.  That first image looks like traditional cone shaped sonar returns to me.  Maybe someone with Lowrance experience can provide a better explanation.