I've been looking for a video on how to read the type of bottom with a sonar and can't find anything.
I know a solid red line means bottom, but I'm pretty sure you can interpret muddy/gravel/rocky bottom based on the thickness of the red line. Has anyone got a link to a vid about that ? Or have suggestions on reading the bottom structure ?
gofish33
First question: what locator you runnin'? Most are similar but some may have some unique quirks.
For the most part red means bottom. I've been in weeds so thick I get red from that too.
Back to the bottom. The thicker the line the harder the bottom is
if gain (signal strength) is equal. If the bottom is really hard and you turn up the gain a little you will get a mark at double the actual depth. It helps if you have half an idea where you are so if you see that it will be information instead of a curiosity.
I ran flashers for years on my boat, didn't have fancy colors then either. All you had was bottom and in-between. Everything was relative to the width of the return. I sure do like my graph. Flasher is great for open water but oin thick weeds I can still see fishies coming quite easily.
Or maybe I'm just lazy...