I ponied up the $$$ and bought a 360 unit for my boat.
Used it the first time this weekend.
It was less than useless.
I had expected to be able to see fish around me when I was setting over brush piles, Heck I couldn't even see the brush piles

You may want to learn how to tune it and use it before you knock it!


You should be able to move your boat directly over the fish that are in brush, or holding to structure. Tboxfish here on the forum should be able to give you some pointers. Worth the money to me!

Google "Hummingbird 360 image", then click on "images".

Once tuned properly, you should be able to get GREAT bottom detail.

I guess I expected it to be like side imaging and look like the video on Hummingbirds site.
The picture above is about what I had and not anywhere close to what I had expected.

I see the fish in the water right under the boat but I can make heads nor tails of anything else in that picture.
Can you fellows see a brush pile?

It is exactly like side imaging. The difference that you have to keep in mind is that it is 360 deg around you, not 180 deg. If you are directly over the brush, then it will appear all around the boat (where the water column stops, up into the water column) if the pile is bigger than the boat. In the picture above, if you look closely, you can see the submerged bridge we were fishing. The boat (transducer) was nearly centered on the bridge, which is why it appears on both sides (right and left) and is bending toward center. The fish are clearly schooled above the bridge. Hope this helps.

It took me a bit to get used to it.
Now, I feel NAKED in a boat without it. Give it more time on the water before you give up.
When fishing laydowns, it'll help you fish the entire laydown, besides being able to target the "Sweet" spot.
I can't count the number of times I've been fishing a laydown, brushpile, or standing timber and saw other structure off in the distance, moved to it and caught fish.
It's easier for me to identify fish while slightly away from the structure, but once I see them, I can head directly to them and almost call my bite

Message sent with some info that may help.