Sonar Question- Down Imaging and Side Scanning

[chris.brock]

My sonar finally died. I've started to shop for a new unit.

 

You people that have down imaging and side scanning already, how useful are these technologies? Any input appreciated.

 

I will likely stick with Humminbird.

[bow slayer]

thanks for asking I am in the same boat,starting to shop for one,just not sure what I want.

[BillM]

Chris, I use the SI and DI on my HB all the time..

[misfish]

I seen this on another site. Did some looking up on it.

 

To me, it takes all the fun out of catching. But it seems to be a positive for tourny anglers.

 

[porkpie]

In use DI all the time to determine what type of weed growth I might be looking at, I also use it to see if that bottom hugging hump is actually fish with their bellys close to bottom, or just some miscellaneous gumbo . Once you get used to it, and run it splitscreen with your 2D, it's very useful. If your budget can support it, I'd go 7 inch screen. I don't have side imaging, but when I can scrape up an extra $600 for the box and transducer, I'm going to get it. I've used it on friends boats, and it's pretty cool. Humminbird makes some pretty solid units, I don't think you can go wrong there.

Edited August 6, 2015 by porkpie

[ecmilley]

You wont realize how useful it is untill u have it. Found a 100ft long sunken logging boat at the bittom of sturgeon lake with side imaging ribs stood out asIf clear as a picture.

Nothing wrong with bird units the newer helix 5 nice unit for right price

[Bondar]

I've never even turned my structure scan on, I have a hds 8 and never think to use the structure scan lol

[chris.brock]

The guy at Sail Burlington seemed to know his crap, tournament guy. I got the impression the technology is decent but not revolutionary and not necessary. The SI image stuff was hard for me to interpret and would likely take some getting used to.

 

Yeah or neah for the $ Billy?

[2 tone z71]

I'm not to fond of my Elite 7 hdi..hard to use ..my next unit for the bow and to run the min Kota will deff be a bird

[JoshS]

Probably depends on what type of fishing you do. I like the SI a lot to find weeds and edges, rocks, stuff to fish. You can see how dense or tall weeds are to the sides, size of rocks, where the edge is. DI is good to determine what the regular sonar is reading, it's a pretty clear picture. For the extra $, if you're cruising around looking for structure, I'd say worth it. It's hard to determine what's a fish on it though (at least for me). Not sure how it would work fishing deep water...

[porkpie]

Nothing more than a black and white sonar is necessary, and will still put fish in the boat every time. It all depends on what you want to do with it, and if you like the latest and greatest. I would sooner have a GPS/2D sonar combo well before I would look for DI or SI. The GPS will definitely help you put more fish in the boat.

[manitoubass2]

If you can afford it get it.

 

Its unreal what it shows you.

 

I myself dont have it yet, but I mentioned yesterday fishing with a pro and looking at his units gave unreal detail and helped us understand why our presentations were working.

 

Im sure it takes alot of getting used too but it sure is awesome IMO

 

And if you fish crappie....

[Paudash]

I purchased a HB 899 this year and love so far

The down imaging I found was a game changer for me, as for the side imaging it is really cool but I have not been able to truly figure it out as of yet

[mike rousseau]

I have DI and for my fishing I don't use it a heck of a lot... But DI was only $100 more and I think it was worth $100...

 

I wish I could afford SI.... Oh baby the possibilities...

[Garnet]

SI you can't fish. You drive around the lake at 4-6 mph doing grids. The stuff you can find is amazing. Just think if you could find out 1 or 2 things about the spots you fish now.

 

Don't dream that you fished this spot and know it. As said if you never turn it on it will never work for you.

 

360 image is a ton more money but you can fish when using it and make cast to areas 75 ft away.

 

The Garmin forward looking I can't wait to use it.

[charlesn]

Saw the Garmin Panoptix demo at Radioworld and it is truly sick. I sat there mesmerized for awhile. Unfortunately the unit is 3.5 g's and the transducer is another 2. That's a little bit out of the price range for me - for what would be just another fancy toy for my expensive hobby.

 

As far as DI and SI, I think alot of the "is it worth it" comes down to personal usage. If you primarily fish pads and reeds and slop - your units are probably not even going to be on most of the time.

 

If you're planning on spending time on vast bodies of water for structure related fish - then it will probably be really helpful.

[jtracc]

I'm not to fond of my Elite 7 hdi..hard to use ..my next unit for the bow and to run the min Kota will deff be a bird

Really??? I have the elite 7 and I can navigate through it with my eyes closed. The thing about lowrance is every unit they make all work somewhat the same way. So my hds 7 functions are very similar to my hdi 7 making it supper easy. I find the humminbirds difficult to use. Was out on a buddies boat fishing Lake Ontario. He had a hb at the wheel (not sure what one but it was like a 10 inch screen) and hds 8 up front. The hds 8 was performing way better, I was picking off fish left and right and the hb was hard to read. My buddy even said he wanted to replace with hds 12.

 

The down scan is a great tool, it doesn't replace the traditional sonar just makes it way more useful. When they on split screen you miss nothing. I would get one that has both features no matter what brand you get. Garmin on the ball to with their new units.

Edited August 7, 2015 by jtracc

[BillM]

The guy at Sail Burlington seemed to know his crap, tournament guy. I got the impression the technology is decent but not revolutionary and not necessary. The SI image stuff was hard for me to interpret and would likely take some getting used to.

 

Yeah or neah for the $ Billy?

 

Best $$$ I've spent on the boat other then my Terrova..

[landry]

I just got one this spring. HB 899 SI.

FOR MUSKIE - not so useful. Although today I precisely marked the edge of a 1 km long weed and rock drop off on St Clair in one pass at 5 mph.

For bass - incredible. U can find weed clumps and boulders quickly on deep flats, Mark them and fish each one. Well worth it IMO.

I have scouted, found and caught catfish and Detroit R walleyes using SI. It is way better than DI as it shows you bottom makeup, structure, bait and larger sized fish as well.

You can find more faster with SI than DI.

Next year I will add ipilot or xi5 pinpoint to hold myself easily on my discovers structure spots.

[Dan668]

I love my si, i mark spots and fish them with my xi5 later. It may not be worth it for if you dont get out often because you use up alot of time exploring, less time to fish!

[manitoubass2]

I love my si, i mark spots and fish them with my xi5 later. It may not be worth it for if you dont get out often because you use up alot of time exploring, less time to fish!

Yep but it adds fish in the boat at a later date?

[Old Ironmaker]

It's a tool and like every tool it all depends on what you need to do with that tool. I don't need SI or DI deep water longlining for suspended fish on Erie. Maybe I do as I have never fished with one. I have a simple HB 600 series Combo HD and colour and it works just fine targeting Fresh Water Drum. 600 bucks including the chip taxes in 3 years ago. The GPS is as important as the detail in the water column here to re track through my weigh points and know exactly where I am in a water desert with zero landmarks and fog. If it was in the budget I would love the largest screen I could get. Just the other day I said to y buddy according to this there is bait right under the boat on the surface. Sure enough looked over the side and the water is packed with smelts. It took a bit of discipline not to scoop up a meal with my net.

 

Good luck on your purchase, get the biggest screen that fits your budget and the tool for the job. Like most electronics it seems prices go down every year. BTW the guys at Burlington Sail sure sound like they know their stuff. One spent a 1/2 hour with me trying to explain the SI and how to read it. He knew I was not a buyer just interested but treated me with the same enthusiasm as someone with a few grand in their jeans. That goes a long way in my book.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Old Ironmaker

[SlowPoke]

I like my Lowrance LSS-2 Down/Side scan. I find the down scan really allows you to inturpret what you see on your regular sonar and the side scan allows you to see what you never would have seen until passing directly over it. Down/side scans are most effective in shallow to 30' fow and 1-3 mph. It don't use it on the big lake or still/drift fishing. If you think it will suit your most common fishing methods, you'll appreciate it.

[jjcanoe]

^^^^ what Slowpoke said. He does a LOT of trolling and I do a LOT of fishing with my Minnkota. Some times I feel I got ripped off buying a DI after seeing his SI in action. However when I thought harder about it, mine does the job I need it to for the type of fishing I do. His let's you pin point structure and weed edges from afar where mine only allows it from directly overhead. If you fish a lot of new water, or a BIG body of water like Lake St Clair or Simcoe, SI would be the way to go. It allows you to pick spots to fish you may not have noticed otherwise. DI excels when you are fishing your regular lake that you already know quite well and want to zero in on a particular piece of structure then mark it with you GPS. Both are excellent bits of technology helpful in slightly different ways.

[chris.brock]

Update-

 

I bought a Helix 5 SI. I can admit I'm not as techy as Bill or other guys.

 

I can split the screen with whatever functions I want. I can see way more with the regular sonar versus DI. DI sucks so far, it's only been a week though.

 

SI doesn't work like it's claimed. It is somewhat useful if your following a weedline or sharp break but definitely not revolutionary technology. I'm on the regular sonar 90% of the time.

 

SI and DI are only good in shallow water too, forget about deep laker spots.

 

The built in GPS is cool. I thought I didn't need this since I have a handheld. Way easier to hit "mark" on the graph when I see something cool rather than carry the Garmin.

 

Thumbs down from me for DI and SI. Spend the time with a line in the water rather than watching a screen.