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Well Guys and Gals, I need a little help. I have an Eagle sonar (gray scale), and although I've had it for a couple of years, I still don't understand everything on the display. I've done a couple of searches looking for instructional dvds, but haven't found much. So I'd like members to post just a few features, and maybe we can compile a little library. I'll start. The diagonals seen on the display that reach from the bottom to the top are usually bubble streams coming up from the bottom...thanks, Carl

Carl, well where do I start, there is so much that I have learned over the last three years it's not even funny.. Lets start with the basic and I will also post some pictures for you guy's to look at from a graph taken in deep water of Table Rock Lake..

1) First leave your sonar in manual mode. Manual mode for sensitivity, Manual mode for sensitivity, leave your graph at 50% to start then move up and down as needed, I usually set mine at 80%.

2) Depth Mode, I also leave manual so I can set the graph to what ever depth I really want to see such as If I'm fishing 35 - 50 feet I will set the graph at 50 feet even if it is over 100 feet.

3) Fish Icons, Those little fish icons can really mess you up, half of the time you are looking at trees or something else in the water, so I would leave them off.

4)Fish rarely show up as the little curved lines or fish hooks. You will only see these if you are moving in a straight line at slow speeds and move right over the top of the fish, I have uploaded some picture out of my deep water presentation that will show you what fish really look like in deep water. You can see my bait and the fish moving up or down on it.

5) What is the bottom made of? By reading your graph you can tell if the bottom is hard like rock or soft like mud. A hard bottom echo will show you a dark black bottom, if you have black and gray screen, a soft bottom echo will show you a light gray color.
the same goes for looking at trees, brush piles, rock piles and also large pods of shad. Those shaded colors of gray and black do make a difference, remember the lighter the color is the softer it is, darker the color the harder it is. Simple!

6) Also have you seen that fuzzy looking line across your screen in the heat of the summer, the one what always seems to be a the same depth? That line is the Thermocline, were the cold water and warm meets. Always watch for this, because the fish will not be far away. I have learned that the bigger fish are right below and the smaller fish are right above. So look for structure in that range and fish right below it.

Anyway that some things for now, I will let other post some information please take a look at these picture I snapped from my graphs they are pretty neat.. Any Questions on them please just ask.. I have alot more but only allowed three per post.. The last one is my favorite that is one of the largest school of Spotted Bass I have ever ran into, it was a feast on spoons..

Enjoy everyone!!

Capt. Don



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What a great post, Don. It's true, I don't often see the classical fish arches. The dark, horizontal bands seen a couple of feet off the bottom--I wasn't sure about them. The "soft clouds" off the bottom are bait fish, but can you tell the difference between bait fish and soft structure when on the bottom?

When crossing over a ditch or creek channel is there any way of detecting which way it's running, without crisscrossing, and dropping bouys?

Tip: If you see a "christmas tree" then you have found crappie in their winter formation.