Side Imaging on bow finder?

Thinking about replacing my older 958 Humminbird. It's my front/bow finder w/trolling motor mounted transducer. Only have normal sonar and GPS mapping up front. How functional is SI on your front graph? How good are the images for SI on the Humminbirds with a trolling motor mounted transducer at trolling motor speeds? Also, do you have to mount a big SI transducer to the trolling motor like I have mounted to the transom? Thanks, 361v.

I had one on my last boat mounted as you are considering and it sucked because the trolling Motor rotation distorted the view. Down imaging was cool.

I don't think side imaging would be all that practical for a front graph as you typically aren't moving fast enough or in a semi-direct line to fully utilize it. I think down imaging, 360 imaging, and sonar are much more appropriate and effective.

I use side imaging on the front of my boat and I use quit a lot. I get no disturbance from the trolling motor and I am using the transducer that came in the box with it. I use it to find brush piles and I get in the middle of creeks and watch the banks as I troll the creek. I am very satisfied with mine on front. I spend most of the time in my boat up front anyway.

Just my thoughts.

later...don

SI would be a nice option but not a necessity. You're going to use SI mostly when you're at the console going from area to area and making your waypoints in the process. You definitely without a doubt want DI at the bow however. It quickly helps decipher what's below because traditional sonar doesn't easily do that. I mostly use traditional sonar to tell me how big the fish are and what species.

I agree and do the same. I have been using Humminbird Side Imaging at the bow with the SI transducer on the trolling motor since my first SI unit purchase. Anyone that doesn't think it is a good application does not know how to operate a Humminbird Side Imaging unit fully.
If you have one of the other brands copies, you may not be pleased with that application, but the Humminbirds have the adjustments to have a fishing tool and a search tool.

I don't use DI for fishing at all. I prefer the wider coverage of SI. I take some DI screen shots for teaching purposes occasionally though.

This is the HDSI transducer on a Motor Guide Tour:

I dont have one and dont see any reason to have one.
1. I run mine on the front split screen one is sonar off trolling motor and other is SI or DI off back of the boat.
2. Cost affectiveness
3. Running mine in split screen with the back, I can sit on a hump or creek channel and can tell when the front of the boat is on the hump and the back is off for boat positioing or the other way around.
4. 90% of the time the boat is not moving fast enough for SI on the trolling motor.

I like having Side Imaging on the trolling motor. My setup is the same as Wayne's but it is a Fourtrexx. At 30% power it draws a perfect image.

Can't tell you how many times I've been trolling along and noticed a school of bass on the lake side of where I was sitting. It is pretty simple to cast to fish you see because your not moving that fast. Trolling is 2nd nature to me, so I spend most of my time casting & watching the screen.

The only thing to remember is to look at your screen before you change direction of the trolling motor. It is harder to figure out where they were once you have moved off in a different direction.

It's just like using side imagining in general, it takes some getting use too. But once you do you won't go fishing without it

I have used SI on my TM for three years now. I would not go back.
I fish shallow a lot. I can use my SI all the way down to 2ft. By rotating my TM I can scan the bank ahead. I can scan flats with it. A good shallow water tool.
In deeper water I use it to stay on target and look for irregular features I may miss with just DI or 2D. It's a great way to see ledges and stay on them.
SI is about the only way to see under docks.

Oh how I get so sick of people who don't have it say that it isn't useful. I tried doing the split transducer setup where I used the transom SI/DI and troller 2d, it was a pain in the rear having to turn around to make a cast after passing up everything you were missing. So I put a Lowrance LSS ducer on the troller and while I'll agree with Wayne that Hbird can dials theirs in better at slower speeds the Lowrance does just fine at snails pace.

If you can't see the objects in this picture then you are just not right in the head. Notice the speed was 0.2mph, I was drifting. If there had been a bush, tree or big rock then it would have shown just like that little dropoff does.

I have a 998 on the front. Unless you zigzag all the time the side imaging is great.

It distorts when you turn but the benefits outweigh that known issue. I tend not to turn much on the trolling motor.

I had one up front with a transducer shield saver. It was hard as heck to steer the Troller. The thing was like a big skate blade on the bottom of the Troller and was more of a pain than anything. Probably had a lot to do with my stone-age Minn Kota, but I took it off and sold it.

If I'm breaking down water and looking for fish activity I'm doing it from my console and not my TM. If I'm on my TM I've already done my homework and fishing because I saw something I liked.

I can cover a lot more water, mark cover and structure a lot more efficiently at the console than on my TM. I'm doing all this on a nice crisp clean picture right in front of my face and picking up all the little subtleties you wouldn't on a blurred screen that's 5'-6' away from you.

And trust me, just because I don't fish an area doesn't mean I'm not marking everything I see and making notes if necessary. Hey, each to their own but I only have one thing on my mind when I'm on my TM and that's ripping some lips.