Structure Scan - do you use/tips?

[hutch4113]

Hi Everyone,

Finally got Structure Scan installed on my boat. Really excited to try it out at the Family Cottage this year (Bob's Lake - towards Kingston). Since I have never fished this lake (we rent cottages every year) I really wanted to get the LSS unit installed and working.

 

Now that it is - what can I expect? Do you like it? And tips I should watch for?

 

I will have a map of the lake on my Chip (I hope anyway) so will have the contours and depths. That will give me places to look.

 

I am really interested in using it later in August as well, when I go Muskie fishing (thanks to all the replies, but looks like Balsam will win out again).

 

Tupelo.

[BillM]

I use the side scan on my HB all the time to find rock piles, weed lines, etc.. Love it! I'm sure the Lowrance version is similar.

[AKRISONER]

I use the side scan on my HB all the time to find rock piles, weed lines, etc.. Love it! I'm sure the Lowrance version is similar.

 

 

I need to start using it more on my pop's boat. Only thing ive ever used it for was to find a sunken tree and sure enough it was loaded with smallies and crappies.

[Fang]

like Bill said, When I first got my HB, I used the SS to the point of distraction. Several trips I spent more time running my areas mapping out what was down there and boy did I find a ton of stuff. you can see mud to gravel transitions, rocks, debris, even marked a shopping cart pretty clear at the mouth of 16 mile creek on lake ontario.

 

It's so cool to drag and drop a weigh point on the side scan even though you've past the object too.

 

My best find was a very large pile of big timber logs that had submerged into the bottom mud. Clearly I could see the logs lying on the bottom with SS. Away from the shoreline with nothing around it so you'd have to stumble onto it trolling. That night was incredible with walleye on almost every cast

[aplumma]

The down scan feature is the easiest to decipher showing excellent bottom contour as well as fish swimming bladders. Pay attention to what it is telling you ignore the fishing rods for a little bit and watch a few videos to show you what to set the controls on before you go. The sidescan is an excellent tool it takes a little learning to wrap your head around of what it is displaying. I found that if you drive by a dock or other items that go from above to below the water it will help you visualize what it is showing you. I have spent days prescouting for catfish and found that tuned correctly you can see bladders on the fish in downscan mode. The sidescan mode will show you fish and if you look carefully you can actually see the sonar shadow which differentiates from floating weed clumps and other debris.

 

Enjoy

 

Art

[grimsbylander]

if you're using it on lake with normal amounts of weeds, a tip to find rock piles, logs, and brush piles is to go out shortly after ice out and scan. Don't wait until fishing season and the weeds to grow. That clean bottom with give up all the lake bed structure which you can waypoint easily. I've done it and it's neat going back to a thick summer time weed bed and know there's rock rubble under all that green.

[captpierre]

Crap.

So now I have to buy another toy?