There is a log sonar button in your sonar menu. Press that then go fishing. Only thing is if you have long trips. Stop the log date that one and start another log. For a different area or spot you fish that day. All u need a 8 gig sd card. One day of recording is about 2 gigs.


make a different log for each spot you go to. Vs 1 long log.

2015-03-30 pass to gulf 2 track 1.

Keep in mind the slower you are moving on the traditional sonar the longer the marks will be. So if you are holding still on top of a school of fish the returns will be elongated a good bit and might not even resemble a fish anymore.

Also download lowrance sonar viewer to view them on a computer

Would that mean then that at higher speeds the fish returns will be like spots then elongated arches? I've been trying to utilize my garmin 498 sonar more and it seems like the returns are more like spots then arches. How does everyone have their scrolling setup?

Speeds higher than 5 mph, You screen will clutter up and you really can see anything but lines on the screen.

High ping speed all the time. And I think speeds btw 0 to 3 mph give a good fish arch return picture. That's what I gathered by looking at my sonar logs.

Yes, at high speeds the depth will still be pretty accurate but the screen will be cluttered with the traditional sonar. If you are still getting a lot of clutter at idle speeds, trolling, or sitting still you probably have the sensitivity setting on auto or just too high. You can take it off auto and manually increase/decrease the sensitivity to give you a better picture to your liking. As far as the side scanning goes I think it's recommended at 4 mph. Not sure about the garmins though, this is for Lowrance.

Ya I took my unit off of auto last trip and adjusted sensitivity as needed to get returns without to much noise. Fishing BL i've never paid to much attention to the sonar as the shallow water doesn't lend itself to giving much more then a bottom type. Trying to use it more though.

I mean it can't hurt lol. I would imagine the side imaging would be the bees knees for finding oyster beds or whatever.

Take a picture of the screen with your fancy phone while it's happening.

Ive watched\studied all 37 sonar logs very closely that i have of vermilion bay and this is what I've noticed. Vermilion Bay is a very flat and muddy place to fish and what i noticed on by watching these sonar logs is these fish will hold on the SLIGHTEST CHANGE IN BOTTOM CONTOUR!

i have a lowrance hds 7 gen 2 touch. i have not been able to find a lot of help with how to use the structure scan properly. looking to use it obviously to find oyster reefs, structure or anything that might hold fish and obviously fish and schools of bait. hard bottom vs soft bottoms. if anyone has any advice i would appreciate it. would really like to use this tool more effectively. i typically fish in the marsh but will also fish in some areas that range from 10 to 30 feet this summer for trout. thanks

just sent you a pm.

At higher speeds fish will show up as vertical red lines instead of arches. but to id that you have to compare to, say you side or down scan. the down scan will show white dots or snow flakes.

My side scan is the rotation of my neck left or right and the deep glare I give possible fish returns while eyeing them with my Costa BY GOD del mars!!!

no seriously my 498 is old.

Here is a comparison picture of what I mentioned earlier. Vertical lines in sonar and white dots in down scan images. Bigger the white dot/snow flake, bigger the fish. The speed in this pic is 11mph

Attachment 84935

Hell yea!! lol

Crab traps 20 ft out and 45 ft out the left

interesting markings