What to do with my fishing buddy.

[DKSRenegade]

I use a fishing buddy fish finder when ice fishing but it doesn't seem to do much. I get a lot of fish through the ice with out any indication of fish on the screen. Is the buddy just not good enough to use or are there any tricks to using it? I can't afford a new finder just yet so I hope it can get me by for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks DKSRenegade
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[fishnate]

Your fishing buddy has a very narrow cone (9 degrees) viewing down into the water so you may not see much particularly in shallow water because a fish must swim almost directly under your finder. Another thing is the fishing buddy doesn't have a high pixel count so fish hugging the bottom can be tough to distinguish. I use mine to determine depth and to see my bait. If fish aren't showing up you may have to adjust your gain. I was fishing in 23 ft the other day and had the gain at 3 and could see my bait just fine. But at Porcupine fishing at 100 ft I had the gain turned up to about 10 so I could see my bait. And make sure you have fresh batteries. Any fish that comes into view is responded to by raising or lowering my bait to it. I like to use the sidefinder to determine if the fish are shallow or not.
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[DKSRenegade]

I have a 2250 with side finder. I don't use the side finder much because it only locates fish at the depth that the probe in located in the water 2' to3' deep. I think the fish that show up on the regular screen show size of fish and the depth they are at. The problem is that I catch a lot of fish that never show up on the screen.I don't know to use the filter or range controls. If I learn how they work, then I may like the unit better. I got it used without instructions.If you have any info that will help me better use the unit please let me know. Thanks DKS
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[Bigcat]

Hey DKS I'm in the same boat. Just bought a 2250 model from a friend and still learning how to use it. I too don't have a manual but should be getting one soon. I called bottomline in Idaho and they are going to send me a manual. I can find manuals online for the new 2255 but not the 2250. They can be contacted at www.bottomlinefishfinders.com or by calling 208 887 1000. If you find out more about it please PM me. I was able to learn some things from reading the manual for the 2255 on the bottomline web site under tech support but the buttons are not the same. Good luck!
Bigcat
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[Bigcat]

Fishnate-
What does the gain do and how do you adjust it???
Bigcat
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[fishnate]

Bigcat - Push you menu button until you come to the gain menu then change the power setting. The gain is the power your unit uses to decipher material in the water. A low number sends out a weaker signal, large number a stronger signal. With fresh batteries in water less than 30' you should be able to get by with a gain less than 6 and for deeper water turn it up until you get a good strong bottom reading. Don't turn it up so high that clutter starts showing up on the screen. If you fish a small spoon or a BB shot sized jig it should show up as a nice horizontal line on your screen. Turn up or down your gain until it shows up nicely.

Guest - is that you hashbaz? just a guess by your email. I have the 1200 and you're right it doesn't show depth of the fish but it shows relative depth and I basically turn up the gain so I can see my bait so I can know where I gotta go to the fish. The sidefinder on the other hand does tell the distance to the fish. From this I can determine to a degree how deep fish are. As I turn the finder around I can see fish comming in to view. If I see fish in all ranges then I can theorize them to be within 2' of the surface. If they only show up way out there (40-60' away) then I can theorize them to be about 4-6' deep. With fish being less active in the winter you often need to be within 6" of their level in order to get them to bite. When I see a bunch of fish a given distance away I will punch several holes in their near vacinity, wait ten minutes then point my finder in the direction of the new holes and fish the hole(s) that show fish.

Others know more than I and can give better instruction but I hope that helps get you going.
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