side imaging

milehi · Post by **milehi** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:02 pm

going to replace my old old finders and one of many questions I have is side imaging. do I need it.The lake I fish is wall to wall docks and I spend pretty much all my time flipping, pitching, skipping them, so I'm usually fairly close. Does it work that way, being not more than 20' away? Looking at a 7 of some kind. thanks

MT · Post by MT » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:33 pm

I only have down imaging and I love it. I run two screens and the DI really confirms what's down there especially in trees and brush. The fish show up as bright ghostly blobs and really stand out from the rest of the cover. In your situation it would be great to have SI at the console. You could idle past the docks and it would show you which ones have fish on them.

MT · Post by MT » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:37 pm

To clarify, by two screens I mean Di and regular 2d sonar. The DI really helps you see what really down there in cover.
If you can, get units with 2d, DI, SI, and of course GPS/mapping. Lots of good options these days and some are pretty affordable.

milehi · Post by **milehi** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:23 pm

MT, thanks. My though is to have it up front so I can see all the fish I'm missing! The way my lake is set up you can drop the trolling motor & do docks for an hour or so & never start the big motor. Not overly tech savy, gonna be asking more questions here.

jrl9436 · Post by **jrl9436** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 4:08 pm

I believe the new generation 3 hsd units have side scan built-in the unit and all you need is the lss2 transducer no need to buy the extra box for side scan. I believe you can get both for around 900 on Amazon.

medfish · Post by **medfish** » Sun Feb 19, 2017 1:29 pm

I think he is asking is about spotlight scan for lowrance units. Not sure about what it's called for other makers. Videos out there talk about looking under docks as he describes. Any body out there using it. They giving away the transducers with gen 3 units last year. I can't decide if it's worth buying the additional box needed just to run the spotlight scan part

milehi · Post by **milehi** » Sun Feb 19, 2017 2:53 pm

Thanks guys. I'm very low tech, trying to go as simple as I can. Want one unit with side scan, gps, other with gps, down scan. must have chrip. Boat only is on a private lake so mapping & such not needed. Thinking hummingbird cause they seem to be a little less expensive, which I need as a retired guy, sort of. Thinking of a 7 on the counsel, maybe a 5 up front. Fish out of an old 18' champ so not spacious up front

Wolfeman · Post by **Wolfeman** » Sun Feb 19, 2017 5:27 pm

I put a Humminbird Helix 7si at the console of my 18ft Ranger. I haven't played with it a lot, and the few times I used it it was on the Delta--I'm told the SI isn't made for the Delta because of the abundance of vegetation--but it seemed to be pretty cool and I'm looking forward to checking it out on the lakes. I wanted it in the console for just what one of the previous guys said, sit at the console and slowly cruise by the docks to see what's under them. BTW, side imaging only works at speeds less than 6 mph. The other reason I put it in the console was that I was new to this cool new technology that the new units have, so I wanted to be able to sit comfortably in my driver's seat and learn how to use my new toy.
I plan to put another Helix 7 at the bow and that one will only be DownImaging.
The new units have CHIRP and, from what I've heard that stuff is very cool.
- Wolfeman

Whoopbass · Post by **Whoopbass** » Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:05 pm

I have two 7" garmin graphs. The unit at the helm has SI and the one at the bow has DI and Chirp. I think I paid $900 for both units. I'm not tech savvy either. So far the best use i've gotten out of the SI unit was idling large flats that were around 10' deep. I haven't see much difference in clarity with the unit having CHIRP but then i'm not tech savvy and haven't messed with it a whole bunch. You can get a SI unit for $500 so you might as well spend the extra $100 and get it just to have. Personally I don't think you will get much use out of it on a private lake fishing mainly docks especially if there are weeds present.

milehi · Post by **milehi** » Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:43 pm

amglad I posted this. so SI doesn't work in weeds? We got them, pond, milfoil, elodea, not emergent on a whole cause they control it some. Thanks for all the great info, glad to see not everyone is tech savy, must be a bunch old people out there. I am

MT · Post by MT » Sun Feb 19, 2017 7:29 pm

It does work around weeds. If there are fish in or around the weeds they will show up on the screen(as bright little orbs) if the transducer is aimed their way. Just get a unit and go out on your lake and pay attention to what you see as you're fishing. You will definitely start to understand what you are seeing and your fishing and catching will improve.

Whoopbass · Post by **Whoopbass** » Sun Feb 19, 2017 8:08 pm

I mainly fish shallow and in this situation I wouldn't even bother using a graph let alone idling by weedy docks looking for fish on Si. Sounds like the lake might be on the smaller side so if he has fished it a bunch he should know the areas that hold the most fish. I could very well be missing something here but in this situation i'm on the trolling motor working my way down the bank and not spending 15+ minutes picking a dock apart. Now in a deeper lake with docks I would for sure have my graph on and if I was good with Si then I would probably give that a shot. Everybody fishes different but this is probably what I would do.

milehi · Post by **milehi** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:01 am

Whoopbas hits it about right. 760 acres, wall to wall docks, fishing here 30+ years. Always been curious what I leave behind. Never cruise the docks with the big motor, you'd lose half your time. Docks range from shallow to deep so I think it's worth it for me to side scan. What about using a 5, screen to small? Thanks so much you guys, been a big help

Whoopbass · Post by **Whoopbass** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:23 am

5" is too small. Bass Pro has the echomap 73sv on sale for $500. That's what I have and it's very simple to operate. Cabela's has that unit with CHIRP for $638. I had a Lowrance HDS7 Touch that had a 7" screen but the screen size was noticeably smaller then my 7" Garmin. The Lowrance units have a ton of features but there is a learning curve that might take a while. Humminbird units are affordable and easy to operate.