How to Read Sonar Fish Finders

Anglers who can accurately read their sonar fish finders will catch more fish than anglers who cannot. You can use a sonar fish finder to read the size of the fish, the size of a school of fish and the proximity of fish to your boat. This prevents anglers from spending time in areas that do not have many fish. Interpreting sonar fish finding readers is simple and an effective way of increasing the number of fish you catch.

Instructions

    • 1

      Set your fish finder to show "arches" not "fish icons." Arches will show actual fish, whereas leaves, other underwater creatures and even bubbles will appear on the fish finder as a fish icon.

    • 2

      Look at the size of the arches on the screen. The thicker an arch, the larger the fish.

    • 3

      Look at the number of arches on the screen. Multiple arches means there is a school of fish. The more arches there are, the bigger the school. If the screen is filled with arches, that means that fish are feeding directly under the boat.

    • 4

      Use the zoom function to see fish on the bottom. This feature will allow you to read fish close to the bottom of the lake rather than all the fish the sonar can track. This is particularly useful if you are fishing for bottom dwellers.

    • 5

      Differentiate between the strong and weak signals. Depending on the type of sonar you have, weak signals might show up on the screen as "B" and strong signals for fish that are closer might show up as "A."