Why does the depth change on the finder?

[klam]

Sometimes and in some places the depth on the finder changes up to a half a foot and the transducer is in the same hole same spot the whole time. Any ideas?
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[RockyRaab]

It's either waves in the ice -- or fish.
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[Fowl-Hook]

Fish hugging the bottom.
Unless the bottom is perfectly flat the cone will pick up the shallowest point of the bottom and indicate that as the bottom even tho deeper water resides in the cone, when fish move into this grey zone of deeper water that is below the bottom indicated the bottom indication will change. Sometimes only momentarily making a blip on what seems like a flat bottom.
When your graph is indication bottom changes it is usually fish. Notice also when you change gain or sensitivity from min to max the bottom indicated will change slightly as well.
Bottom changes are usually fish.
Flat line bottom never changing is usually not a good sign..
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[klam]

Thanks for the reply. Next time the bottom is changing I will be dropping my jig to the bottom.
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[Sirfilletalot]

Klam,
I agree with RR, it was more than likely fish. I was fishing Pineview in the fall, the Crappie schools were so dense that the depth on my Lowrance would change as much as 10 ft. when they came through. I could drop my jig and watch the school rise to it. When the fish weren't there, the bottom looked pretty flat.
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[Baitfish55]

That's most likely fish. That's the sort of thing I look for while perch fishing. As they hug the bottom. Sometimes watching the depth is the best indicator that the perch are moving through. When I notice the depth change I start jigging just off bottom related to the graph. Sometimes they come up. When they don't I drop to the bottom of the lake and work the jig where I can't see it on the graph (fishing blind). I haven't seen a scanner or flasher that sees a lure 6in.or less off the true bottom. Try this watching for slack in your line notice when your lure drops out of sight on the scanner as apposed to when the lure actually hits the bottom.
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