That's like a Ford Chevy Argument. I like Humminbird but many like Lowrance

https://www.thedigitaloasis.com/mobile/H...CFebtMgodtnsA6g

https://www.thedigitaloasis.com/mobile/H...er_p_29058.html

Side Scan is a must have for me, even if you had to buy a used unit.
HB and Lowrance are both great units, IMO HB is more user friendly for someone starting out.

Tiny, TxMedic, one thing to consider when using Sonar to determine fish size with a HB unit.
There is a difference in the way fish are displayed in Clear mode vs Max mode due to TVG (Time Variable Gain)
In clear mode which is normally used in 12 FOW and less or turbid water, but can also be used in deeper water if Sensitivity is dialed up, to show only hard returns, fish returns of a 5 lb fish will look the same at 5' as they do at 20' whereas in Max mode the return size of that same 5 lb fish will diminish as depth increases.
Your thoughts please.

pelican, I addressed that particular deal when I stated that a person should drop fish down of different sizes to see what they look like. The fish will look smaller on the screen as you put more information on screen ... like 20 ft vs 60 ft ... when you're putting more information on the screen via auto adjustment you have to take that into account as the same size fish will be a lot smaller but you can tell still yet by looking at the hash marks on the side and figuring up how many of those fish will fit between those hash marks and then do a little algebra in your head so if you got a mark of 5 ft then 10 ft and in 5 ft increments on the screen which it's better to have one ft increments so that you can tell how big the arches are for certain then that would be a whole lot better .. so say two fish arches will fit between one ft or 10 between 5 ft then that fish is the same size no matter how deep or near the same size and you gotta learn how thick each sized fish is and the only way to do that is to drop them down with a weight and see for certain. it takes a little work on your part but you'll be a lot better at reading a fish finder for it.

Let's see some more - I was hoping to have a screen shot or 2 to post from GVine yesterday but nooooo

bigpoppa .. I'd strongly suggest that you hold onto your money and save a little more to get side imaging because side imaging is a must for catfishermen .. especially since most of the year catfish are shallow and those fish finders you're looking at are virtually useless in shallow water except for the gps ... the sonar won't do squat for you in the shallows. Or even in 10 ft depths they dont help much at all because they only cover about 6 ft of the bottom when you're in 10 ft deep water where the humminbird side image covers a full 180 degrees which is what you actually need about 3/4 of the year. I say this because the majority of the fish feed in the shallows and that's what they're up there to do. When you find fish in 2 ft of water they're always feeding .. even under adverse conditions ... like when you get a strong northern come through in the spring and the following day the wind shifts out of the east ... you can still catch fish and lots of them if you go shallow. Even the lowrance side imaging is limited in this shallow of water because they won't give you the full 180. They will if you have your transducer cocked a little bit but no one is going to want to have their transducer mounted sideways a little because that'll throw everything off. that's where the humminbird side imaging has it's main advantage over the lowrance units because they've only got about 160 degrees coverage according to their info they have posted and I've went out with one and set it to a static 40 ft on both sides but it didn't work well in 2 ft of water because it won't reach out across the surface like the humminbird does. Anyhow, I hope you can get the side imaging because you won't be happy or as happy since you'll be very limited on where you can use the 2d and down imaging units because down imaging isn't much better than 2d but can show you the difference between shad schools and schrubs or underwater trees.

Tiny I just want to say thanks for being a great teacher . Over the years I have paid attention to your articles on reading sonar for size and species drop um down and look at image colors in arch , size , etc . I stopped using newbie fish symbols about 10-11 years ago a forced myself to interpret raw sonar , best thing since fresh bread . After enough years I can now tell species and size and seldom get fooled for that I say thanks . During those years I did it with Lowrance color units but because of their non existent repair policy we are all going with Hummingbird units and have our first side scan going on one of our boats this spring . I enjoy these type of posts because it helps speed up the learning process . By the way good to see you back posting

+1 on the Humminbird side imaging!

Not to get off tract from side imaging but I had a question about di. I have a lowrance elite 5dsi and was doing some youtube search and found where someone was saying keep the sensitivity around 90%... I thought that was to high but what do yall think. I am running it a lot lower than that. And a sidenote I am to saving up and going to purchase a SI. I am going to sell my 18' falcon here soon to purchase one. lol

Thanks for any input

Here is a good example of how side imaging marks larger blue catfish. Twinkie bigguns in tha right and biggun on left. Looked 25 minutes for these fish cross cutting the River channel...5 minutes in doubled on these 2:

might I comment on this and give an opinion but this is exactly what I look for when looking for active fish ... there are lots more fish there than than the big ones and plenty of busted up shad with lots more fish in the channel and outside the channel harassing the shad. You can see that the shad are in somewhat of a disarray but trying to hold it together as there's not just hundreds of fish in the area but lots of active fish. it's hard for me to give an accurate prediction of how big the fish are on salsa's latest screenshot as he has his set 35 ft further out than I keep mine but you can see several big fish .. a couple on the start and stop or original fish locating which is the bottom side and then when he starts it up again when moving to a different spot or moving to look for more fish. you can see that the fish are all scattered out which seems to mean up here in my area that the fish are feeding ... lots of times when they're tightened up or compacted they're not as active like could have been the case in salsa's previous screenshot of the 2D view. Now this side imaging view gets me torqued up as I get all excited when I see something like this up here in okie land. I never see anything quite this good though as no one understands cpr or if you try to promote it they look at you like you've lost your mind. So, I get all weirdified when I see a screenshot like that as there's active fish all over that screen ... lots of busted up shad ... Ain't even fair ya'll got that kind of fishing down in Tejas. I said that when I went to those tournaments ya'll had on tawakoni and ray hubbard back in the summer of 07 .... I couldn't believe how many fish was in ya'lls lakes and that screenshot just makes me wanna move to texas. hahaha ... that and the tater juice and percacet I've been chewin on just now after tweekin my back outside while ago. I think a lot of you know what tater juice is but those that don't it's vodka ... the 100 pf. But, what got me riled up with Salsa's screenshot ... looks like they left the biggest fish there cause when the screen started again that one on the left side looks to be a little bigger than the others when the screen stopped. now it coulda been moving to make it look bigger but you can see the one on the very top left of the screen and the shadow it produced ... that looks like some of these big ole spoonbill we got in keystone. Or around that big. Anyhow ... nice screenshot Salsa ... you da man. Everyone notice the busted up shad and the scattered fish other than the big blips on the screen ... you can see lots of nice sized scattered fish around the log and all throughout the channel and on the upper bank of the channel as well... This is what you look for when you're fishing

Thanks for the tips Salsa and tiny, very helpful!

This is a great thread! So much information and knowledge. Thanks!

Somebody is gonna have to circle the fish on that sidescan for me and any other Dummies........