I figured out my C-80 depth finder

C

chewyjackson

New member
For any of you that use your C-80 for fishing the salt, you probably already know this, but I didn't until I just figured it out today (one year after ownership).

When fishing the salt, turn your auto gain to high. What a difference!!!! Now I love this thing.

I've always found bait balls with no problem, but when you turn up the gain, you can see individual fish. Yes, you'll get clutter, but when downrigger fishing its crucial to see where you're at, and turning up the gain picks up your downrigger balls and shows individual fish not just real strong readings (like bait balls).

About five times today, I actually saw the fish ping up right above or below my downrigger line just before they bit. It was downright awesome to look back and say "get ready there's a fish close" and actually mean it.
 
I have had my C-80 depth/fishfinder with DSM 300 for about a year, but it does not mark fish with arches as shown in the manual. I have played with the gain, and tried other adjustments, but it still does not work. I fish primarily in 15-100 feet of fresh water, for trout. It does occasionally show large schools of what must be bait fish, but they appear as a blob. Any suggestions for the steps I should follow? Is there a sequence to follow for setting up?
 
The arch is caused by the relative movement between the target and the transducer. If you are going too slow (as in slow troll for trout) you will get a dot. When I'm trout fishing I rarely see an arch... salmon fishing, always!! Butof course YMMV.

Dusty
 
oh heres another help full hint. if you split your screen to show both 50 mhz and 200 mhz. one will show your balls and all the bait fish, the other will only show large strong fish arch's. that way you do not get a lot of clutter as you do upping your gain.
 
I have noticed dots, beyond normal clutter. I will try speeding up when I see them to see if I then get the arch shape, and will also split the screen. Thanks for the information and advice.
 
you can also change the screen speed ( I have to get in the boat to remeber how) this will cause the screen to show less bottom at one time. How do I describe this, if the screen shows 200 feet of bottom in two inches then all the 2ft long fish look like dots. If the two inches of screen are changed to only show 20 ft of bottom then the 2 ft fish looks more like a long arch, but the screen moves faster as you move. I did it last year and it was great but I reset teh screen over the winter and forgot how so I will have to get it done next time out.
 
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