GETTING STARTED > UNDERSTANDING THE FISHFINDER AND SONAR

The bottom of the water is always going to be the strongest signal, and therefore the bottom is the continuous, intense red line running across the bottom of the screen. The Fishfinder 160C includes the latest technology in interpreting bottom signals; it can see through fish, structures, and thermoclines (see page 3). Even so, large schools of fish or dense structures close to the bottom can affect water depth return readings.

Along the top of the screen, you might see a grouping of intense colors. This area is surface clutter, which can be caused by waves or any other sonar interference at the surface of the water. Too much surface clutter can obscure your view of fish. You can turn down the Gain setting to reduce this surface clutter.

Between the bottom and the surface clutter, you may see suspended targets. By default, the targets appear as arches.

NOTE: Suspended target returns might not always appear as perfect arches, due to the speed, fish orientation, or other conditions.

You can turn on the Fish Symbols setting if you want to see suspended targets indicated by fish shapes instead of arches.

Using Dual Beam

A dual beam transducer can transmit a narrow or a wide beam. The water area covered by the transmitted sound waves is determined by the transducer beam width and the water depth. The narrow beam provides crisp detail of what is under your boat, and is very helpful if you are fishing in deeper water where the beam covers more area (for example, at a depth of 30 feet, the narrow beam covers the area of about a 7-foot circle).

Narrow Wide

BeamBeam

The wide beam is more helpful in shallow water, because it gives you a much wider view of objects in the water, including areas beyond the sides of your boat. At a depth of 30 feet, the wide beam covers the area of approximately a 20-foot circle.

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Fishfinder 160C Owner’s Manual