I have seen that a lot of people prefer narrow-beam transducers (9-10 degree) to wider-beam transducers for ice fishing. I understand that you would only tend to see fish closer to your bait, but it seems like the narrow beam would be most useful when fishing pretty deep (where it will detect fish within "range" of a deeply fished jig rather than fish over a wider range). In shallower water, it seems a wider beam would give you a better chance of seeing fish in "range" of your jig.
Here's roughly how the two angles compare:
At 10 feet deep:
10o = ~ 2 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 3.5 ft circle
At 20 feet:
10o = ~ 4 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 7 ft circle
At 30 feet:
10o = ~ 6 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 10.5 ft circle
At 40 feet:
10o = ~ 8 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 14 ft circle
etc...
So, what is really within "range" of your jig? The deeper the jig, the narrower the range, I would think, because the harder it is for fish to see the jig (maybe a glow jig would help?).
The shallower the jig, the wider the range, because there's more light, and easier for fish to see your jig from a greater distance.
Certainly, if you're jig is attracting fish up from the bottom in 20-30 feet of water (and on my last fishing trip I had fish coming up 10 or more feet to my jig from the bottom), the fish don't have to be right under your jig to see it, so a wider range is probably good, if you want to see the fish, and try to get it's attention with a big jigging motion.
I'm not as experienced with a fishfinder as many others here, so what does your experience tell you?
Here's roughly how the two angles compare:
At 10 feet deep:
10o = ~ 2 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 3.5 ft circle
At 20 feet:
10o = ~ 4 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 7 ft circle
At 30 feet:
10o = ~ 6 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 10.5 ft circle
At 40 feet:
10o = ~ 8 ft circle around your jig
20o = ~ 14 ft circle
etc...
So, what is really within "range" of your jig? The deeper the jig, the narrower the range, I would think, because the harder it is for fish to see the jig (maybe a glow jig would help?).
The shallower the jig, the wider the range, because there's more light, and easier for fish to see your jig from a greater distance.
Certainly, if you're jig is attracting fish up from the bottom in 20-30 feet of water (and on my last fishing trip I had fish coming up 10 or more feet to my jig from the bottom), the fish don't have to be right under your jig to see it, so a wider range is probably good, if you want to see the fish, and try to get it's attention with a big jigging motion.
I'm not as experienced with a fishfinder as many others here, so what does your experience tell you?
