Does anyone have an opinion either in favor of or against Hummingbird Electronics? I installed a combination GPS/Fishfinder with the Switchfire Technology a few months ago. I went with the non DSI version due to the depth of water that I normally fish. I am by no means capable of rocket science, but I am generally able to comprehend general instructions, but this thing is killing me. I understand the whole premise of sonar and how it relates to bottom contour, structure etc? but there are so many settings on this thing it is hard for me to determine what I am actually looking at. I was in a nice school of fish last night while using the Fish ID. I changed the Switchfire setting and turned the Fish ID setting off? went back to the screen and nothing! Is there an advantage/disadvantage to the Fish ID setting? I see that most of the guys that use the Hummingbirds, or even others with that function, leave the fish ID feature off and just go with the straight sonar view. Is it that much more accurate? How about the fish sensitivity feature?anyone have a preferred setting for that?
Fish ID needs to be OFF OFF OFF… a small air bubble in the water will throw a return with the fish id on. Learn to use the normal sonar. I am a lowrwnce guy so I cant help with HB settings. If u were marking fish with id on then they went away when u turned it off, that would tell me they were never there unless u where already catching them and knew for sure they were there.
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
I have had nothing but trouble with hummingbird over the years. I use Lowrance. Fish ID should be off and look for fully defined arches.
I totally agree. Turn Fish ID off. It is wrong more often than it is right!
Rick
Murraymaker is right on. I use a lowrance hds gen 2 it is a nice unit. The fish ID on any unit I have ever had is a NO NO. I set mine using the manual settings. The depth I set depends on the max depth I expect to find fish such as 0 to 60 feet. Then if there is something i want to see in detail I zoom on that area of water say From 40 to 60 foot. I adjust the sensitivity manually also. I find using as many settings that I can adjust to my liking helps me alot.
Angler 22
200 Yammie
I have had my humminbird 787 C2 for 5 years and it works great for me. Only thing I don’t like is the GPS speed bounces a lot at slow speeds(less than 1mph) I adjust the sensitivity all the way up unless I have interference (muddy water or hydroglow) I set the ping speed on max and I usually just leave the depth on Auto unless I am over water way deeper than I need to read. It seems to me that the Lowrance units have better features, but it seems like they break shortly after warranty and they usually won’t fix them. Kind of like ford vs Chevy, everyone has an opinion.
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
I have never had a Lowrance unit break. I have 2 boats both have a Lowrance and one unit has been on for 4 years the other for 5. I have never had a hummingbird last over 18 months so I stop buying them. It’s a matter of opinion I guess.
On the flip side, sometimes the fish will move very quickly especially if they are relatively shallow chasing bait. You may have had fish under you that moved out of the cone.
I do agree with all of the above guys. Turn the fish ID off and learn to interpret what you are seeing as well as how best to adjust the manual settings. In the long run you’ll be glad you did. Read the manual for good basic guidelines and also there are some good tutorials on the web that might help. I’m currently using a color Garmin. I’m sure it’s not the best unit available, but I can watch my spoons traveling up and down in the water column and see individual fish moving up or down to inspect the spoons.
Fish id is simply a ploy to get the casual angler to believe what we do is easy, requiring no experience or special skills! I can drop an egg sinker overboard, and it will become a fish on the screen with the id feature on. I’ve had several Humminbirds over the years. They work just fine! In fact my dream unit, would be the Humminbird 360. I just happen to be running Lowrance for the past several years, and am well satisfied until my ship comes in:smiley: Give me a few minutes with even the cheapest sonar out there, and I’ll have you marking real fish. It’s not bragging. It just takes a simple understanding of how sonar works.
A good many folks rely on the automatic settings. Learn to go manual and adjust for the conditions you’re fishing. You’ll increase your catch rate several times over. It takes experimentation and patience, but can be accomplished with a little effort.
Xpress HB-22
175 Yammy Jammer