What are the reasons you like your Lowrance?

I checked and I can’t find any.

We need to fix that.

I use both Lowrance and Humminbird units and I don’t think there is any difference in ease of use unless you’re the caveman type and can’t adapt to a different interface in which case you should just not buy anything new.

That said, eventually I’m going to reoutfit my boat with one or the other in new units, if Lowrance was the same price as comprable Humminbirds, I would probably choose Lowrance but the price difference is significant.

HEY BK DO YOU STILL HAVE THOSE UNITS FOR SALE AND WHAT ARE YOU ASKING FOR THEM?

Hey! Welcome to Ido!!

Which units are you referring too?

Yo Doc!

Going back to Photo#2, how can a person tell those humps are bait fish?

I know that the yellow is a hard bottom, but understanding why the humps are fish and not some other type of soft material eludes me.

When you see “bumps” of bait it is easy when they are suspended because fish are what suspend. It is easier with the DownScan as the “bumps” become clouds of dots. I did not have DownScan when I saw the bait I posted above but I have this example of suspended bait from last fall.

Now have patients with me Doc. (funny huh?)

Let’s forget about the imaging piece to help keep this simple.

How would I make the humps turn into clouds as your second photo shows? If I saw the photo in my post, I would say it’s that’s structure or something…certainly not bait fish. Not that I’m doubting you.

It can be confusing when bait are close the bottom which makes them look like weeds. Usually bait are suspended which makes it easy. I have looked at lots of weeds and they look more uniform than bait. If I am wondering if it is bait or weeds, the lure will quickly tell me if it is weeds.
The bait in my example can also look like other structure but the echo strength of the bait is much weaker (red vs. yellow) than the bottom. It is easier with the Broadband sonar because it discriminates between echo strength better than the analog sonar. That is why the large fish show up even if there is lots of bait below the transducer in my bait picture.

It isn’t easy to interpret sonar and I have had many struggles with interpreting the display.

I added an example of weeds with analog sonar (LCX) that look like boulders if the sensitivity is set too high. I took these off my Advanced Sonar DVD. The sensitivity was too high for the depth of water in these photos so the weeds are displayed in yellow. I turned down the sensitivity to show the weeds correctly. These weeds were very thick.
You can see the difference between Broadband and analog sonar echo strength difference by comparing the photos. The photos I added to this post are analog.

Thick weeds are a problem for sonar and digital depth. The digital depth is the depth below the transducer (DPT). The DPT is the strongest echo return which is usually the bottom but in thick weeds the strongest echo may be the weeds and the digital depth can read the depth of the weeds! The sonar display will show the weeds and the bottom correctly while the digital depth is wrong.

I run an LCX38cHD at the console and a 520 built in to the bow on my 2008 Ranger 620. The LCX38 decided it would work every other day ! No kidding. One day it would work, next day no, the very next day it would be working again. It was making me nutso. The 520 never has given me a lick of trouble. The Lowrance units are pretty easy to use IF you have all the firmware up to date. I ordered my 38 with my new boat. When delivered, I could not get a split screen (Graph and GPS). I had to buy a blank chip, then download firmware, then install it. Worked ok after that.
Lowrance gets a C+ so far from this fisherman.

I had an X27c and X28c on my last boat. No problems. X110c and X27c on the boat before that. I have always felt that Lowrance has a little better bottom reading and a crispier image. I know the new HB are supposed to be better, but I still went with an HDS 8 and HDS 7 on my new boat. The HDS is a little more complicated to operate, but if you have some computer knowledge you should be able to navigate through it. It’s tough to get me to switch if I’ve had good luck with something in the past. I am definitely a creature of habit. Case in point, I am going on my third Skeeter WX1880.

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I run an LCX38cHD at the console and a 520 built in to the bow on my 2008 Ranger 620. The LCX38 decided it would work every other day ! No kidding. One day it would work, next day no, the very next day it would be working again. It was making me nutso. The 520 never has given me a lick of trouble. The Lowrance units are pretty easy to use IF you have all the firmware up to date. I ordered my 38 with my new boat. When delivered, I could not get a split screen (Graph and GPS). I had to buy a blank chip, then download firmware, then install it. Worked ok after that.
Lowrance gets a C+ so far from this fisherman.

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OK….a follow up.

Since Lowrance was taking months (3+) to get me back a new replacement unit, they have upgraded me for FREE to the HDS8 Insight unit. That’s right….I have to say this is VERY good. Now I just pray that this one works OK, bcause it looks pretty sweet.