Re: Transducer Placement
If it's the only one on the boat, don't put it on the trolling motor, it'll be useless while under way.
How viewing works on a fish finder:
first thing to remember is, only the extreme right hand column of pixels is under you right now...everything else is history.
next, a lit pixel represents an object some where inside a circle centered directly under the 'ducer, with a diameter about 1/3 of its depth (assuming the standard 20? cone angle). that's a general rule of thumb...it could be more than 1/3 with the sensitivity turned up.
other words, something showing up at 15 feet is somewhere within 2? feet of the 'ducer, but you can't tell exactly where...could be fore, aft, starboard, port or straight down, you won't know.
third, your graph will show the shallowest bottom that the 'ducer can see. So if the bottom under your boat is sloped from, say, 20 to 25 feet, you'll see the depth as 20, and fish holding at 23 feet won't show up on your graph. That's how come you can slay 'em with a spoon bounced off the bottom, even though you don't see any fish on the screen.
The sonar isn't actually indicating the depth of suspended objects - just distance from the transducer. objects can appear slanted because of the movement of the boat, closer & closer, or farther & farther. same reason fish appear as arches.
Don't be tempted by the "Fish ID" feature (unless you have small children on board who need to be entertained). It'll give you a picture of a fish for any sonar return. Learn to interpret the echos on your own - it's way better.
