Vexilar FL-8 - Manual (Page 13)

13
SEEING FISH
The FL-8 sees a fish as a target, much like the bottom. It has a
leading edge, a width, and color content. Refer, again, to figure J. If
the range setting is S x2 then the fish is just over 22 feet above the bot-
tom. It is a fairly wide target and is made up of all three colors. This
should be recognized as a significant fish, something you may want to
catch. The targets that appear just above this fish are smaller and
there is no red. Here is where target identification gets a bit more
tricky. Since we do not know the position of the targets in the cone of
sound we cannot readily identify them. For example, the green target
at 16 feet could be a small piece of floating debris or a single small bait
fish in the center of the cone or it could be a large game fish at the very
edge of the cone.
In the weeds spotting fish is more difficult. Figure K shows a bot-
tom at 17 feet (S1). The weeds extend from the bottom up to about 12
feet. Notice the red target at 15 feet is marked "possible fish". We can-
not say that it is a definite fish because the weeds around it are dense
enough to give a red signal themselves. Again, keep the gain as low
as you can for reading in the weeds. If you can't turn the gain down
far enough you may want to get an S-Cable to cut down the power of
your unit.
CLUTTER VS. NOISE
Clutter is acoustical noise created by very small targets in the
water. It is usually displayed as thin green or orange lines. Clutter
can include bait fish, plankton, floating debris, or air bubbles.
Although clutter is not fish, it can be useful in finding fish.
Noise is, usually, electrical noise which is in the engine ignition,
radios, or trolling motors. It can be displayed as red, orange, or green
lights that flash as the interfering equipment is operated.