Recommended Settings For Lowrance Hds With Structurescan And Sidescan

[ArkieHawg]

My fishing partner recently upgraded his electronics to a Lowrance HDS7 with Structure Scan and Side Scan. We have fished probably a dozen times since he had it installed, but I don't think we are really using it to its full potential. I have an HDS5 (No Structure or Side Scan) on my boat, and have somewhat figured out how to adjust the basic sonar, but still have a very small understanding of how to determine what is what on the returns.

We fish mostly clear reservoirs, with high surface clarity unless there has been a good rain. When we set the surface clarity to high, the sonar returns are really weak, almost non-existent. When returns are made, they are hard to decipher. VERY rarely do we see arches representing fish, when fish are present. Some times it displays flat lines which I assume are fish??

My question is this...what settings would you recommend for the Sonar, Structure Scan and Side Scan for Clear Water (Med-High Surface Clarity) with depths of 12' up to around 35'?? What should I set the frequency to? Clarity? Noise? Contrast?

Could the HDS5 graph on the bow interfere with the Structure Scan/Side Scan on the Console unit? Can both independent units be used accurately at the same time?

Thanks alot for your help.

[Jig Man]

The 2d sonar from one to the other can be a problem. I'd set sens at mid 80s and see how it does.

Use the 200 kHz sonar frequency and the highest number 800 I think for SS. I run contrast in lower 60s and normally 100 or less on side scan range. On 2d I use upper and lower limits to take away surface clutter. Ping speed on my console unit is set to 19.

[Todd Driscoll]

General sonar settings to get you started. First, under Sonar Settings, select Shallow Water (for our purposes this is water < 100 feet deep) (the default is General Use) and set scroll speed to normal. Also, under Installation select your appropriate transducer. Under Sonar Menu, I run Ping Speed at 18. Colorline I like at 85. Until you get more experience with sonar, leave depth and sensitivity settings on Auto.

For shallow water, especially around grass, I prefer color palette 1. For deep water or with lakes void of grass, I like palette 13 (bottom color tracking in the older units, helps separate fish from the bottom/cover).

The StructureScan is relatively straightforward and easy to operate. Regarding settings, I recommend running contrast from 65 - 80 and I prefer the default color palette (#6). For shallow water, select 800 kHz. Range can be operated in either Auto or Manual, but given you have an HDS 7, I'd run in Auto since you have no quickkeys at bottom (HDS 8 and 10 have these)and have to go into the menu to adjust if in manual range.

I think you are misinterpreting the surface clarity setting. Surface clarity in the sonar menu is not referring to water clarity, but the clutter (primarily due to air bubbles and suspended particles) often seen in the first 5-6 feet on your sonar returns on the screen. Yes, when you set this to high, this clutter is reduced but so are beneficial returns. I would keep surface clarity and noise rejection settings on either low or off.

As JigMan said, running two transducers of the same freq at the same time will generate some level of crosstalk. Your 2D sonar is 200 kHz and your StructureScan is 800 kHz, so no interference between those. But running either two 2d sonar ducers or two StructureScan ducers at the same time will have crosstalk.