Vinegar for cleaning transducer too?

THANKS EVERYBODY;;  THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION HERE ON BBG SITE ; IS AWSOME;; NOT TO MENTION;; EVERYBODYS GENEROUS HELP !

Dick... exactly... i keep the cloth and cleaner out on the boat also!

David... it seems to be a common denominator of vinegar as part of the solution... given vinegar has that reputation of dissolving the minerals... it works! i was hesitant to use it at first because Lowrance incorporates a coating on top of the glass that reduces glare... the vinegar i believe works just fine on the Lowrance products.

Yeah David wall paper remover too

VINEGAR IS ONE OF THE OLDEST ; DATES BACK TO ANCHIENT EGYTIANS !

DICKY;; I JUST USED THE ADVISE FROM YOU; AND IT WORKED GREAT !  DEPTH FINDER SCREEN LOOKS AS GOOD AS BRAND NEW !  DIDNT TAKE BUT A VERY FEW MINUTES TO CLEAN;  I HAD THOUGHT;; SINCE I DIDNT CLEAN THE SCREEN FOR MONTHS; THE HARD WATER SPOTS WOULD BE TUFF TO GET OFF;;;  NOPE !   THANKS FOR THE INFO BUDDY !

Glad it worked for you Carl.

Who has temp gauges built into their electronics ? I dont have temp gauges in my Hummingbird Ice 35 Flasher or my open water Eagle Fish ID

John if you did that the water on the upper depth may big a big difference from the lower depths where the fish are usually caught.

i only use the fish finder for temp and depth.i have fished lakes where the temp varies 8 degrees or more in different parts of the lake.especially important early in the year.

later in the year you can also find the thermocline.but playing with the sensitivity.

David-I always just measured surface temp with a floating thermometer out the back of the boat or at my feet from shore .I had a depth therm that was cheap and broke immediately.I want to find a good price on the Vexilar depth therm which i assume is better made than that Danielson that broke .Any suggestions on a good Probe Thermometer ?  Also I wonder if some of those units read more than surface temps .I wont be getting a nexpensive sonar unit anyway however and havent paid more than 300 bucks for units. I simply ask Dave because I want to find te best temp for fish to be active .

  Jim finding the thermocline is something I need to learn to do with my units,thanks!

Yes that $150 price on the Fish hawk discouraged me.Keep me up on your long wired probe experiment!

i have what i thought was a stream thermometer ,a pretty big glass mercury thermometer that is inside a brass tube to protect it  with a screw on top with a heavy duty hinged ring on top.found out it is for use on farm animals.yuk.still could be dropped into the depths to get a temp reading.where i live surface temp is really all that is needed as the fish seek the warmest water early on.once the water warms and layers they really cant go below the thermocline.

I usually only use a thermometer in spring and fall cold water periods too but was thinking I should expand .But I need to read up on finding the Thermocline on the sonar unit I use in the boat.

I would guess that would change like when fish are bedding then the fish know for what ever reason to go shallow to the warmer waters. Feeding has lots to do with it and most of the oxygen will be above the thermocline there is so much that goes into it I guess only the fish can tell.. 

Early/Late open water is when surface temp is important.  Water temp in a stream is important for Trout fishermen, especially in the summer.

Finding the Thermocline with a graph-style sonar is usually pretty easy.  Just start turning the Sensitivity up until you see a fuzzy band in the water while over deep water.  Back in Oklahoma, that was easy, and usually showed up somewhere between 15 and 20' deep.  Once I moved to Michigan, I have not been able to find a Thermocline on a lake.

Allen-,Dave- 15-20 ' was a good zone this year for me in two of the lakes I caught the best fish in .May through September particularly .Shallower than that as the sun got lower in the sky or if it was overcast .

David, thanks for that.  I hadn't thought about lower sun angles.  Although, the wind here is nowhere near as strong as down in OK.  Yes, it gets breezy sometimes, but not constantly like it does in OK.  I would have to plan my kayaking paddles by keeping wind in mind, and sticking to sheltered coves.

Another factor is ground water.  The bedrock around here is mostly limestone, so I'm sure we have A LOT of natural spings in the lakes.  That would disrupt the formation of a thermocline as well.

John, I had most of my luck fishing in 10 - 15 FOW, using a slipfloat, and presenting a tipped micro jig just above the submerged weeds.  One of the lakes I fished frequently, I would see decent gills suspended just a couple feet below the surface, over the same weeds.  I would also contact aggressive 'gills by trolling a small minnowbait, and hookup with a 'gill on a break into deeper water.

sprigs play into it for sure allan.many lakes i have fished in michigan and wisconsin are flowages as the lake is really just a large pool of a river or drainage system.not dammed just a natural feature.being farther nort the turnover happens earlier too.i usually try to determine where the wind has been pushing surface water to for an extended period also as it pushes the zoo plankton,minnows and everything that follows.the thermocline does exist and as David said can be a formula as certain depths can be eliminates even if there is structure,we always fish from shore in lake michigan in summer when the wind is west as it brings tthe cooler water into the shallows as the warmer upper layer is pushed across the lake to michigan.

20180315- anybody break into side imaging for b.gills recently? i need to upgrade soon... looking for some input

It would definitely be a great way to scout out the spawning beds.  I can see that as being a method used to rape that resource.

I just upgraded my sonar this year.  Doesn't have side-scan, but it does have a downscan mode, as well as traditional 2D and a flasher mode, with GPS.  Gotta figure out how I'm going to mount it to my kayak.

Hey that’s great news Allen… what model did you get?

I used a 1.5” ball ram mount… pricey… but it worked out

time to retire the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI!

Man I haven't even got to use mine  yet.

20180317-I cant believe it’s been almost 5 years with this unit Dick… what a great learning experience through this time with this model! So many trophy fish I can account and attribute with the use of this unit… just amazing! Time to move up with CHIRP and Side Imaging

Not familiar with "Side" imaging. I'll have to look for some info. I don't have a boat but I have access to a few.

I just researched it and it sure looks handy.

I got a Garmin Striker 4, the "Portable" version.  Looks like an ice-fishing flasher, complete with plastic frame and a zippered bag to go over it, plus the battery and charger, all for about $200.  It's got CHIRP, GPS, and a Flasher mode, although I'll probably stick to the graph display.  Even has down-scan, which I might end up using more than the graph.  Time will tell.

My old sonar died on me last year, and I figured if I'm going to buy a new sonar for my yak, I might as well get something I can use for both yak-fishing and ice-fishing.  The really nice thing is I can paddle around in my yak, marking way-points for the launch site, weeds, drop-offs, etc., and still be able to use those in the next hard-water season.

20180317-what I really like about the side scan imaging is the ability to cover larger areas of BOW quicker.  

20180317-looks like a good unit Allen … perfect size for the kayak. You will really appreciate those waypoints for the record.  

It lives!

...nice... i didnt know they had an ice pack available... did you get a chance to try it out on some ice?

No, I didn't.  Buy the time I bought it, the ice was already gone.  No biggie.  I currently have the suction cup mounted onto the transducer arm, so I'm planning on just sticking that to the side and keeping the unit between my knees for now.

I should be able to order an extra bracket for the mount that came with the unit, and mount that bracket to my kayak.  Then I just need to figure out where to keep the battery (it's a big SLA 12VDC deer-feeder-type).  Probably going to have to extend the battery leads if I do that as well.  Ideally, I want to mount the transducer inside the hull of my yak and shoot through the hull, which would also necessitate my purchasing the ice 'ducer for ice-fishing use.  That may have to wait until next year.  I really don't like anything attached to the exterior of yak below the waterline; as I tend to plow some some weeds and don't want to get hung up.  That said, it's a suction cup mount, I can remove that if needed.

Hey Dick Tabbert , or anyone for that matter . Got a pic of what the thermocline looks like on a Helix unit ?How about Bait cloud image? I use a Helix 5.

found this on the helix web site.https://www.humminbird.com/support/faqs/Thermocline

Thanks very much Dick ! Been searching for something like this and been coming up empty!

Iv'e been out a couple of times with mine and still confused. These things do so much I guess it may be best to do a little at a time.

Gotta say Dick, the Helix 5  has been an invaluable tool for finding productive drop offs outside the weed line that holds Crappie and Pickerel . The Unit is well designed, affordable  and a pleasure to use .

The electronics of today is far superior to yesterdays. Haven't got a clue of what all it does but we get accustomed to what we use and seem to forget about the rest. So far I love mine but know I will love it more as I learn more.

I still love my ICE 35 flasher unit too  Dick !