Humminbird Helix sounders are well known for their amazing side imaging technology that estuary anglers swear by in shallow waters. Operated correctly Humminbird sounders are also a powerful tool in offshore waters, we regularly fish in waters up to 100 metres and find clear bottom definition and both schooled and individual fish.
To get the best out of your Humminbird Helix you will need to be constantly adjusting the settings to suit the water depth. In this article I will teach you how to easily adjust the depth ranges on the Helix range whether you are in down imaging or the traditional 2D sonar screens; below are the necessary steps to do this.
Start by pressing the Menu key twice then using the arrow key go across to the Setup tab. A list of options will appear going down the screen. Using the arrow key again go down to User Mode and change it to Custom. Push the Exit key to take you back to sonar screen. Now you are able to manually adjust the depth range displayed on the screen.
Push the Menu key once and you will now see an option to select Lower Range or Upper Range. Adjust the lower range first and using the right arrow key change the depth to suit the water depth you are fishing. If I am in 60 metres of water I will change the lower range to 65 metres. Then push menu again and follow the same process to adjust the upper range on the Humminbird Helix. I would normally change the upper range to 45 metres so I only have 20 metres showing over the screen. If you don’t adjust the lower and upper ranges in this scenario you would normally have 80 metres displaying over the screens vertical pixels making it hard to identify small rises or separate fish from the bottom.
The benefits of manually adjusting lower and upper ranges is that any structure on the bottom will now stand out even if only 1 metre and fish sitting close to the bottom will show better whether in a school or individual big arches as more pixels will define the image. If I am looking for small subtle rises I will even change the ranges and have only 5 metres over the screen.
Following the above steps with your Humminbird Helix will enhance your whole fishing experience especially in offshore waters; you will see more fish and find far more small rises holding fish at different times.
If you wish for us to demonstrate these manual adjustments please visit our dealership located in Brisbane at 117 Old Cleveland Road Stones Corner.