How to Detect a Hard Bottom with a Fish Finder
Fish finders -- also known as depth finders -- do more than merely show you where fish are congregating. These marine electronic devices bounce sonar waves through the water and deliver information about depth, water temperature, hidden obstacles and the type of surface at the bottom of the body of water. Hard surfaces at the lake bottom are displayed via the finder screen; knowledge is required to correctly interpret the unit's legend.
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Instructions
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Turn on the fish finder. Wait for the default display-screen to appear. Check the screen for the depth display, water temperature and a series of striated lines along the bottom of the screen.
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Press the zoom function for your particular fish finder. For example, one maker's fish finder may have a four-arrow cursor control that allows "zoom-in" and "zoom-out" functions. Other devices have specific "zoom" buttons. Center the zoom for the striated lines near the bottom of the display.
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Check the color of the bottom lines if your fish finder is color-screen enabled. Consult the legend of the unit to see what color represents hard bottoms. Some fish-finder models use red as the color indicating hard bottoms. Gray-scale models use dark-black lines to indicate the presence of a hard bottom beneath the boat.
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Print a copy of the fish finder's legend and laminate it. Store it next to the display screen of the fish finder. Consult this copy during the learning porcess.
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Tips & Warnings
Each fish finder brand uses a different screen display and legend for hard bottom displays. Consult the fish finder legend to determine the hard bottom icon and colors.
