Topic: 898c HD SI Muddy Water Reservoir

[Stubbleduck]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. This weekend I purchased and mounted a new 898c HD SI unit.  The lake I was fishing was a muddy water canal system lake in Nebraska. 

The feedback from the sonar extend from the bottom to the top (bed of lake to sonar surface). I adjusted the sensitivity and work the unit in clear mode to reduce the feedback and viewing.

Does anyone have experience in muddy water and understand what settings appear to be the best.

I was able to set the DI to the narrow cone which provided better feedback but for the sonar producing fish feedback I did not feel very confident.

Thank you for any responses and I will also try to review previous postings too.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Welcome to the Side Imaging Forums Stubbleduck.

In a lake with a lot of suspended particles (muddy water) you will have to balance turning down the sensitivity in the unit so as not to show the suspended dirt on the water versus turning it up to show the fish.  There is no one set of menu settings that will work best for all.  You may want to grab several screen snapshots and post them back here for us to look at and offer menu change suggestions.

[Stubbleduck]

Thanks Greg,

I'm still learning about the unit and wondered if it was the suspended solids/sediment in the water.

I noticed a few  things during operation that I'll still need to figure out. 

During  high speeds the unit did show the depth but the return was not solid.  I'm going to be one of those guys with more questions than answers for awhile and then I'll hopefully be able to contribute to others.

thanks, scott

[Humminbird_Greg]

That bottom return not being solid could be partially due to the suspended solids in the water or it could just be the transducer position.  Try lowering the backend of the transducer downwards by only a few degrees and/or lower it just a little.  The installation is close here so you don’t want to make any big adjustments.  Adjust a small amount and test, then adjust again.

[PaulB]

We don't get many problems with mud but our May/June plankton bloom is something to behold, visibility can get down to a few inches all the way from the surface to 50 feet down.  I've always ran my 798 in max mode and although this time of year it is tricky getting the right balance it's still possible to identify the stronger returns of target fish against the more general clutter.  Finding shoals of baitfish like Sandeels is a totally different matter.  Generally speaking I get rid of surface clutter, put the noise filter on medium and then adjust sensitivity so that I don't have a solid screen of returns - about 11-12 usually does me but that's salt water use in up to 60-70 feet of water.  Either way I've never had a problem picking out fish 1-2lb+ against the general clutter.  I'll post some pics up when I get a minute.

All the best,
Paul