When you see a hard bottom like gravel, chunk rock or shell beds, that bottom will be thick and yellow. Whereas when you pass over a softer muddier bottom, the bottom will seem more translucent or darker red or blue.

What does hard bottom look like on 2D Sonar?

On a typical sonar, the thicker the return on the bottom, the more dense the bottom is. Take a Lowrance HDS 10 for example. When you see a hard bottom like gravel, chunk rock or shell beds, that bottom will be thick and yellow.

What do shrimp look like on sonar?

Small bait (shrimp, sand eels, etc.) will appear as clouds either suspended in the water column or just off the bottom. Larger bait and fish will appears as arcs either suspended or just off the bottom (where they can be confused with rocks and structure).

What does hard bottom mean?

Hard bottom means any living natural or artificial reef (including coral reefs, oyster reefs, and worm reefs) or varying biological assemblages of marine organisms attached to hard substrate.

Why do fish like hard bottom?

A transition of hard to soft bottom can also attract fish because it attracts bait. Many times these transitions also intersect with another piece of structure allowing you to drill down to the spot-on-the-spot.

How to Identify Hard and Soft Bottoms with Lowrance Sonar

What does seaweed look like on a sounder?

These fishers spot them by looking for what look like patches of black seaweed with a slight tinge of blue. This colour is created by the fishes pink body color and the sprinkling of iridescent blue spots on their backs. Snapper are known to form hotspots, in both shallow and deep water locations.

What do salmon look like on a fish finder?

So, mostly you can't see salmon on fishfinders, but sometimes you can. Here's how it works: Salmon gulp air from the water, so sometimes they can have some air in them, but usually not much. A salmon will show up about like a herring or something, one small dot on the screen that looks like a bit of static.

Can you tell what kind of fish on a fish finder?

Identifying fish size on sonar is very difficult since you can change the size with sensitivity adjustments or depth range. Fish look larger on a depth range of 20 foot than 100 foot. The size of a fish is determined by the color of the fish arch. For example if you have palette colors yellow, blue and red.

What do prawns look like on a depth sounder?

If you have a sounder then you are at a distinct advantage as prawn aggregations show up really well on modern sounders. Depending on how you set up your colour preferences, assuming a colour sounder is being used, prawns will show up as blue or green mists or blobs close to or on the bottom.

Where can I find deep hole shrimp?

Pinpoint the deepest hole

You can find the general area by looking for places that a smaller creek or river empties into the main channel. But a depth finder allows you to pinpoint the deepest hole. If you're a foot off in one direction or the other, you might not catch any shrimp at all.