Opinion: "White Line" ON or OFF on your color sounder???

[Roccus7]

Learned Colleagues: Let me preface this with my first sounder was the 1st generation Sitex White Line chart recorder circa 1980, just the cat's meow. Back then and a white line paper chart recorder was a necessity. When I returned to boat fishing in 2010, I always turned on my white line function. On my newest machine, my first color sounder, I've routinely used "Low" White Line, but have noticed that most of us don't by virtue of screen shots posted here.

So here are the questions:

1. Are there any advantage or disadvantages to using the white line function?
   
   
2. Have the modern sounders rendered the white line function moot, so is it just old school salts like me who use it as a matter of habit?
   
   
3. Any other thoughts or do I have other, better things to worry about?

Thanks in advance,
Roccus

 

[Capt13]

Thoughts and advice : Time to buy a new machine.

tik tik tik tik tik tik tik tik ........ still remember the smell and rolls of white graph paper!
Side-scan, down scan, auto chart. Hummingbird Solix 15 chirp is on the shelf in my garage awaiting installation.

 

[Roccus7]

Thoughts and advice : Time to buy a new machine.

tik tik tik tik tik tik tik tik ........ still remember the smell and rolls of white graph paper!
Side-scan, down scan, auto chart. Hummingbird Solix 15 chirp is on the shelf in my garage awaiting installation.

What about the sparks at night fishing the Gut?

I’m leaning towards moving forward with white line feature turned off.

 

[Capt13]

What about the sparks at night fishing the Gut?

My first experience was with the Lowrance in the gut in the late seventies. I was 17 and a puller working with a pinhooker. I remember the smell more than the sparks !

 

[Roccus7]

My first experience was with the Lowrance in the gut in the late seventies. I was 17 and a puller working with a pinhooker. I remember the smell more than the sparks !

I could have been there with you!! Floating pinhooker convention on a moon tide back then...

 

[Leprechaun]

So my old Si-Tex paper machine had white-line. It was helpful in seeing fish laying close to the bottom. Great for bass wire lining along the beaches. I graduated to a 6" Si-Tex CRT and then to a 10" CVS-211 Si-Tex - if I recall correctly those machines did offer a white-line feature - which I used.

My "current' machine is an 8" Lowrance Gen-1 HDS - I don't even know if it has the white line feature as part of its firmware. The image is so good, what with the Airmar B164 transducer, I've never needed more discrimination than that combination of machine/'ducer provided. The close-to-the-bottom image was and always has been, gorgeous.

 

[Roccus7]

The close-to-the-bottom image was and always has been, gorgeous.

Agreed, it's really not necessarily, just a force of habit. I can't figure out which I like better, they're both very distinctive showing bottom detail, but it's tough teaching an old dog new tricks. I just can't get used to no white line...

No White Line

"Low White Line" turned on:

 

[Leprechaun]

So I wonder if the white line (as shown) gives a better indication of bottom hardness. On my machine I go by both the thickness of the bottom return, as well as the “tails” dropping down from the bottom return. Ehhh, just thinking out loud.

 

[Roccus7]

So I wonder if the white line (as shown) gives a better indication of bottom hardness. On my machine I go by both the thickness of the bottom return, as well as the “tails” dropping down from the bottom return. Ehhh, just thinking out loud.

Interesting question. I do remember being able to discern that with the old paper chart machines and the "second echo", but the bottom I fish for ground fish is uniformly rock ledge. You should see what my diamond jigs look like after a few hours pounding rocks.

Pictures are from the southern hump of what I call the Bactrian Ledge, you know, the 2 Humped Camel...

Regardless, on my current machine, white line on low or not, does not discriminate bottom from grass or kelp beds. This discuss makes me want to try cranking up the white line intensity to see if that makes a difference in these areas...

 

[CaptFP]

Interesting question. I do remember being able to discern that with the old paper chart machines and the "second echo", but the bottom I fish for ground fish is uniformly rock ledge. You should see what my diamond jigs look like after a few hours pounding rocks.

Pictures are from the southern hump of what I call the Bactrian Ledge, you know, the 2 Humped Camel...

Regardless, on my current machine, white line on low or not, does not discriminate bottom from grass or kelp beds. This discuss makes me want to try cranking up the white line intensity to see if that makes a difference in these areas...

Roccus, I say try turning it up, not like your stuck with it if it doesn't work out turn it back down or turn it off. Personally I don't miss my sites paper machine I had as a teenager 30 years ago. If I remember correctly 1 roll $15 or 2 for $25. Or turning it on and off to save paper or not to change the roll on a rainy day. With the Furuno's I use today I wouldn't look back.

 

[Roccus7]

Roccus, I say try turning it up, not like your stuck with it if it doesn't work out turn it back down or turn it off. Personally I don't miss my sites paper machine I had as a teenager 30 years ago. If I remember correctly 1 roll $15 or 2 for $25. Or turning it on and off to save paper or not to change the roll on a rainy day. With the Furuno's I use today I wouldn't look back.

Oh, I'm not bemoaning the loss of my old paper machine, just feeling nostalgic and that nostalgia is probably the reason I lean towards using the White Line setting on my current machine which obviously is light years ahead of the old Sitex.

I was just curious if anyone out there had a real reason for using the White Line function with the current crop of color machines. Next time I'm over a kelp bed I will crank up the White Line setting to see if that can discriminate the bottom out of the forest. IF that works, I've found a functional reason for using the white line setting, besides the reassurance of an "old friend".

Didn't you use the old "paper" reversal trick to save $$ back in the day, rewinding the paper so the original bottom was up on top the second time around, getting 2 uses out of a single roll?

 

[Leprechaun]

I used to do that occasionally. Completely forgot about that "trick." Hey, money was tight in those days. Anyway, thanks for the look back!

 

[Old Mud]

For me i always used the white line when fishing at night. When you are fishing in 35 to 50 Fathoms and the bait comes up on the bank (Herring or Squid) then you loose the bottom because the bottom is red and the bait is red. While loosing the bottom dosn't seem a bad thing to me it makes a difference. As when you are fishing the edge of a bank and the current slacks up or the wind shifts you may swing off over the mud. Great if you want to fish for Whiting but not the best place to fish Tuna.

Another place i liked the white line is steaming (at any depth) when you rarely look at the sounder you can pick up on any traps, wrecks or man made objects quite easily. Not to many square objects in mother nature. I guess it just catches your eye quicker.

I still use a Sitex CTR. CVS 208.also have a newer North Star but don't think much of that one.

 

[Roccus7]

Well I answered the Grass/Kelp vs. White Line setting, NO HELP!! Look below, left panel is 250 MHz and right is 50 MHz with White Line is set to HIGH. True bottom at this location is ~ 8.5 ft with tall grass growing up from it.

Guess I'll just go with the "Setting du Jour" when fiddling with the sounder...

 

[Leprechaun]

Offfaaaa! That look horrible. Gain too high, maybe?

 

[Roccus7]

Offfaaaa! That look horrible. Gain too high, maybe?

High white line, only have 3 setting, Low, Med, High. Was just checking for grass filtering and nope.

So if I want to be nostalgic, I'll use Low White Line as shown way above. If not, I'll turn off White Line. I've yet to find or hear about a reason that's its useful on newer machine, although the Jedi Master Mud likes to use it...

 

[CaptFP]

Keep playing with it you might get it figured out. Otherwise get I'm sure a 12 year old kid will in 5 min. Talk about nostalgia ….wow forgot about flipping the paper. It was simpler back then with paper graph and a micrologic loran