How to identify fish in fishfinder Sonar image?

[brianfisher]

I recently had a chance to go fishing with my friend who recently purchased a Vexilar fishfinder. However we find it incredibly difficult to identify fish in the Sonar image. We tried even the fish alarm under settings but it didn't work reliably, going off at times with nothing on the Sonar image that looked like fish.

 

Any tips of what we should be looking for in the Sonar image?

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

brianfisher,

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota!

Using a flasher in open water is way more difficult then using a regular depth finder! It takes a lot of study time to really learn to recognize what it is showing you!

Basically anything marked even slightly off of the bottom is likely a fish unless there is a lot of floating weeds etc. in the water column.

I suggest that you get out on the ice with your friend this winter and use his flasher through the ice. You will very quickly learn to adjust the gain settings and learn to recognize fish under a controlled depth condition!

If possible have someone that is familiar with his flasher model go with you and show you how to operate it.

Once you learn to read a flasher your fish catching rate will go way up!

Cliff

 

 

 

[papadarv]

Vexilar makes many "fish finders" what model do you have. Is it a flasher, a graph, WiFi type. Will help in knowing what your looking at when running your finder.

[ZachD]

I am guessing he is using the vexilar edge or whatever the open water graph is called since he said he has fish alarm

Personally I never use fish alarm or fish id on electronics

 

I am no expert either but here are some images that may help you