Humminbird Switchfire

Humminbird just made a good thing better.  If you haven't read about Switchfire it is worth taking a little time to look into this new feature on Humminbird Sonar units. Switchfire gives you two unique modes that all you complete control to adjust your sonar to fit the fishing conditions you are up against.

The first mode, MAX MODE gives you the ultimate detail with maximum return.  Max mode is great when fishing lakes without a lot of suspended particles and in non-turbulent water. If you want to see the thermocline, changes in current or everything under you, MAX MODE is your choice of modes.

The second mode, CLEAR MODE uses TVG or Time Variable Gain software to sift through sonar returns to display only fish, structure and larger sonar returns.  This mode is great when fishing shallow, in rivers, rough water or whenever you want reduced clutter in the water column.

Personally, I can think of hundreds of applications where I would have loved to have this option.  Last year while fishing the final day in the FLW Championship the stretch of the Oahe River I was fishing became very turbulent and the algae on the bottom was getting stirred up.  As the water became more turbulent it became harder and harder to distinguish fish from the bottom because of the algae layer being picked up by my Humminbird 1197C SI. You can't fault a sonar for being ultra-sensitive, after all that is what makes Humminbird the best.  However, it will be nice to have the ability to adjust the sonar now to the conditions!