I've had a hard time reading my depthfinder. I can't tell if it's fish...plankton...baitfish whatever, but I'm using it in a canoe and can't go too fast. Do I need to be moving faster in order to pick things up better? I can't seem to get the V shaped readings of fish.

Your speeds ought to be ideal for picking up fish arches. Using sonar over 5 mph loses thart kind of information because sound travels too slow to shoot down, hit one end of a fish, bounce back to the transducer, then shoot again to hit the middle of the fish, then shoot and hit the other end before the fish passes out of the center of the sound cone. Going under around 5, depending on make, model, and settings allows plenty of sound bounces while the fish is directly down.

Use manual sensitivity and screen display settings, increase ping rate for water over 30 feet deep (100%) or speeds over 5, decrease sensitivity in shallow water and low speeds. Read the manual to learn all the options you have, then experiment. Turn off Fish ID if you have the option to turn it off. Some old cheap models are only set up for Fish ID. You will read bottom as well with or without ID, and in manual mode you will have far more detail to study on screen.

Jim