Structure eats tackle!

what i use my side scan for is finding the structure. When i find that structure I will make a way point and Market with rocks or brush or something like that then I go back over it and see if fish are on it if I find fish then I start fishing it if I catch good fish I will then make a waypoint on it with a fish sign

I believe Down scan has been most helpful in catching fish. Locating areas to fish the SI is excellent. Humminbird SI is better in my opinion. Ive had both before. I now have HDSGen3's. DS and 2D is one most of the time.

Few years ago I went with a buddy to Falcon, he has SI at the console. He was told to beat the banks, fish were real shallow. We caught some fish on the bank but nothing great. I set his SI up so I could read it from the back seat. Found rock piles in 15-20' of water beside the boat. I caught two 9's and a 10 off those rock piles. We targeted those piles and had a great trip. The SI was sure worth it that trip.

As an extremely limited weekender most of the year, SI has been great for scouting. The potential for what it can do for you is limited to your time and dedication to it. Going out with an electronics guru is a must for the basics. I have found many new places on my lake that most not many knew was down there


and I haven't even begin to learn how to analyze the images yet. Definitely get HD transducer to get the most from your unit. I only have a 899 and the upgrade made a lot of difference. Here's a Slade tuned and after his words, upgrade the transducer. Many of you may recognize the pre HD, the other one is a reef put out in the early 80's on my home lake.

THIS is what is spot on.......
The "worth it" depends on how much off-shore fishing you want to/are willing to do.
if you are fishing the bank to 12ft of water I would say it is not worth it.
if you are looking for off-shore humps, bridges and rock piles the definitely invest.

if you buy one,,,, immediately get the help to tune it and to know what you are looking at or you confidence in it and not use the SI.
this is of course is just MHO.

Opinion....but true.

I have all of the capabilities with my graphs....I guess I don't really know how to set it up and use it for what it is.
I wind up looking at it and scrolling over to "stuff" and saving it .....then not fishing the waypoint I saved. Haha

Like the above comments, SI isnt worth it if you are gonna keep your boat in water 10 foot or less. It really does not help me unless I am in water deeper than 10 foot. That being said, its more about finding habitat rather than the actual fish themselves. I like to idle around and mark stuff(sometimes 60-100 foot from the boat) and then come back with DI or 2d to actually see what may be living down there. Learning to read the "shades" of color to determine depth, the speed of the boat relative to the chart, and getting the distance you are scanning correct are all keys in making sure you are getting the most out of your SI. One rule of thumb I have always used is don't go faster than 4 mph and you should never be looking out any further than 4X to 5X the depth of water you are in. In other words, if you are in 15 foot of water, you should have the image distance set no further than 75-8o feet. You can go further, but remember, everything gets SMALLER and harder to locate. Hope this helps ya out.

I disagree with most of what you stated. I use Humminbird Side Imaging and it is one of the best tools for shallow water since you can see "over there" without being over there and scaring the fish. It will show what is away from under the boat for hundreds of feet as long as the transducer is not buried in the bottom and the bottom is flat enough to "see" over there.
Best thing you can use during the spawn when the water is so muddy that there is just an inch or so visibility.
These are with a trolling motor mounted SI transducer.

This is 100' of coverage in less than 2' with a creek channel on the right that I was checking for bass that may have moved to cooler summer storm run-off. There were some just starting to be recorded at the top of the screen shot and I caught several. There is a school of small shad in the creek channel about 1/2 down the image:



This is 200' of coverage in less than 4' where I was checking a large flat looking for possible shallow bass with a fast warm up in late Winter. There was one (lower left side) and I caught that one:



Caught both of these bass that were hanging around a bluegill spawning area:




You can get the same results from just above zero mph to about 12 mph with the proper adjustments. That is why Humminbird Side Imaging is a fishing tool and a search tool.

I have Lowrance equipment and I TOTALLY agree with Wayne P. SI is a very useful tool in all depths of water if you want to become a better fisherman and not just blind cast all the time. Learn how to use your equipment to the best of its capability and it will help you catch more fish. If you don't want to take the time to learn everything it can show you then you don't need it. Just run the bank and fish blind. I think all of it is a very useful tool. Alot of the time I am a 4 screen split mode on my Lowrance touch screen 12 with Sonar, map, SI, and DI so you can see everything down there.

Wayne,

Those are some great images. Obviously you are using a bird as I am as well. I never said you could not see fish in shallow water, it is simply harder for me. The images you posted are awesome. I simply cannot get those type images to show in shallow water with SI like the ones you posted. Maybe I need to revisit my way of thinking. Do you change any of the settings when that shallow because mine simply will not do that.

I change settings to match the conditions. Use the Sensitivity Setting as a screen brightness control. To see fish, you have to have a dark enough background so the bottom does not wash out the light fish returns.
That applies to shallow and deep.

This is one of the first upgrades I want to do to my boat this year. Went on a guided trip with Carey (Tarponfly) and he killed it with his humminbird SI. Changed how I thought about my electronics forever. Used to figure just DI was good enough but the flexibility SI gives you is uncanny. Agreed that if it is your hobby it shouldn't be super hard to justify getting the right equipment so you can enjoy it more fully... there are certainly more expensive hobbies out there!

Also "get the biggest screen you can afford" is something I hear every time I think about upgrading my electronics and I figure that is absolutely correct!

Cheers

Good advice. With the side looking imaging, the size of displayed subjects is based on the adjustable Range setting, not the depth like 2D and DI are.

If you are displaying 100', a 12" bass is not going to be very large on the display so the bigger the display is, the bigger the stuff is displayed.

So....if I have a 7" screen and catch a bass and it's 2 pounds, then the same bass caught using a 12" screen would be 4 pounds.


Just kidding. I get it.

So.....who wants to fish with me and show me how to use my screens?