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Random Quote: A bad day Fishin, is better than a good day at work.
I'm new to this forum although I have lurked and learned for quite a while. Fish mainly freshwater and have a 16 foot boat.
I recently purchased a new Garmin 240. My problem is I can track the bottom without a problem but I can't see my downrigger balls and have never marked a fish or bait. I mounted the transducer as per the instructions and even used the template that was enclosed. Everything looks staight and even. Friends in other boats tell me how many fish they mark. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
How deep is the water, how deep are your downrigger weights running? Here's why I ask.
Your fishfinder has a single frequency capability, its a 200 kHz unit. The cone angle on it is 20 degrees. If you're running those balls down around 15 feet the cone angle is only covering about 5 feet of water, two and a half feet to each side. It is quite possible that the balls are outside of the cone, dpending on where they are mounted and how much blowback you are getting from them - quite possible indeed.
Now I hated to post that, and I'll tell you why. It gives the impression that the only things that a fish finder can see are those which pass within its "cone angle". That is simply not true. You fish finder can see things outside of the cone and it can miss things inside of the cone. But in general the cone angle does provide some indication on the limits of coverage, so you gotta pay some attention to it.
Of course if you're dropping those balls of yours to great depth, as a man should from time to time, then if its not blowback you might want to take a look at your gain setting.
Thom
"I command thee, O fish of the ocean, rise to my bait"
Actually, this time of year I'm running the downriggers between 30-40 feet in 60-100 feet of water. Cranked the gain all the way up and nothing. I though about blowback and the like but I've never had a problem marking my balls with other units. I also have never had problems marking schools of smelt and individual fish. Only thing that I changed was the unit.
have you tried dropping something large enough to see, something like about a 6 oz trolling weight or a big weighted lure or similar, down on a line right beside the transducer? It would be nice to know if it was working at anything better than just able to hit the bottom. Maybe you should try, and I'm not kidding about this, dropping an aluminum pie pan down on a line (heavily weighted) right beside the transducer and see if it shows up all the way down, as it should. If you have any trouble at all seeing something of a reasonable size get Garmin on the phone and get them to make it right - something they are well known for doing.
Thom
"I command thee, O fish of the ocean, rise to my bait"
FWIW, I too have a Garmin 240FF. I don't mark alot of fish or bait, BUT I can pick up an 8oz weight when I drift fish and it's under the boat.(~50 ' of water) I can see the marking go up and down on the FF and sometimes I can see it come up in a diagonal line when I reel up.
Not sure if I'll be the butt of a joke but I tried the pie plate with a sinker and didn't mark the plate. So, I emailed Garmin's tech support. This was their reply
"Dear Sir,
Try this: With the unit off, press and hold the Setup button in. While holding the setup button in, turn the unit on. Let the unit sit undisturbed for about 3 minutes. The turn the Fish ID off and the Noise Reduction off. Turn the unit off, then back on. Take the unit out and try it. It should be working for you. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us."
IT WORKED. I'm marking my downrigger balls, bait and fish now.
I was wondering when reading posts like yours, "I don't mark alot of fish or bait, BUT I can pick up an 8oz weight when I drift fish...", should we blame the fishfinder OR is it just simply you are not going where there's any fish around. Of course if you catch fish and they still don't show up, the fishfinder probably deserves a WHACK!
Garmin 240 
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