hello!

[Blue_Runner]

Jeff, I have the same fishfinder - Garmin 250DF - great unit.

Unless you had the "fish ID" feature activated for a reason, I'd would suggest you turn it off. That way you will be able to tell what is a fish vs. a bait school vs. floating debri, etc. With the fish ID on, everything gets the little goldfish symbol. With it off the bait schools show up as dark clouds and fish are like Mickey D's arches.

Nice V by the way!!

[jeffmo]

bill,i've been a member @ OGF since they opened up the new site.the old went to a pay site and that's when it went downhill.last fall after the winds in early October we traveled 17 miles out around the bouy and got zipped on the perch.that was the 1st time i had ever taken 2 weeks off to fish and it ended up being basically a bust.same old story......they were on fire for a month after we left! we'll get them this year.if i find drop-in replacements i'll give you a shout.
cool part about this site is the amount of information and ideas.last night i stayed up way too late looking through the "modifications and repairs" forums and several ideas i'm going to use.i need to repair/replace my rod boxes and had a way i was going to do it but now i'm considering a couple of other ways.same thing w/ painting the floor to hide the stress cracks,now i know what i'm going to do!
blue runner,thanks! i'm still learning this unit.i had a hummingbird on my monark and this unit didn't come w/ any literature.

[Blue_Runner]

No problem Jeff. You've no doubt found the very best website in the world for V20 owners!

[Blue_Runner]

Here is more info regarding the "Fish Symbol" (I called it Fish ID, which was wrong - sorry). I copy/pasted this from Wikipdeia. Here is the full link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishfinder

Fish symbols in the screen of the fishfinder

Fishfinders usually have a "Fish Symbol" feature, which will display a FISH symbol for almost any echo not connected to the bottom or the surface. More specialized units use a detection of a special fingerprint in echosignals. With those you can find living fish and fish that have recently died. With these units also in some cases fish spawn will be shown as a large fish. Some kinds of seafish will be not marked as fish, but you will see an echo.

Fish ArchesWith the Fish Symbol feature disabled, an angler can learn to distinguish between fish, vegetation, schools of baitfish or forage fish, debris, etc. Fish will usually appear on the screen as an arch. This is because the distance between the fish and the transducer changes as the boat passes over the fish (or the fish swims under the boat). When the fish enters the leading edge of the sonar beam, a display pixel is turned on. As the fish swims toward the center of the beam, the distance to the fish decreases, turning on pixels at shallower depths. When the fish swims directly under the transducer, it is closer to the boat so the stronger signal shows a thicker line. As the fish swims away from the transducer, the distance increases, which shows as progressively deeper pixels.

When threatened, baitfish form a tightly packed school, as the individuals seek safety in the center of the school. This typically looks like an irregularly shaped ball or thumbprint on the fishfinder screen. When no predators are nearby, a school of baitfish frequently appears as a thin horizontal line across the screen, at the depth where the temperature and oxygen levels are optimal.

[buckleyjr]

Welcome to the site! You'll find plenty of ideas and help here. I can spend hours in the gallery. Nice pics. The first time I have seen a ladder from the cabin to the bow.

[jeffmo]

Originally Posted by buckleyjr

Welcome to the site! You'll find plenty of ideas and help here. I can spend hours in the gallery. Nice pics. The first time I have seen a ladder from the cabin to the bow.

that ladder is very handy!
when i get a chance(and the usb ports on the computer fixed)i'll make some pics w/ measurements.looks really easy to make and makes crawling to the bow very easy.

[Destroyer]

Some pics of the ladder both in and out of the boat would be very helpful. I also have never seen one in a V before, but I like the idea enough that I'm seriously thinking of making one. Usually all I use the cuddy for is storage and potty, so it wouldn't be in the way.