Side Imaging - SI Do you use it ?

[Badbagger]

Just curious how many fans there are locally of SI? I've spent a fair amount of time looking at the technology and going to make the plunge before the spring to hook up a unit on the FlatArk... aka SeaArk - Personally, I think it's great technology and a useful tool on the flats as opposed to traditional DI which is pretty much useless if you've got the trolling motor spinning and you're in 5' of water. Lowrance has come up with the HDS Touch units which are starting to hit the suppliers shelves in the larger 9" series and the 12" is not far behind. http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/HDS-Gen2-Touch/

So, do you SI?

[Chalk]

Yes...but only for looking for bottom dwellers in deeper water....I can only see it being useful on the flats if the water is muddy and your looking for the grassline or oyster bars...I've tried to incorporate it into flats fishing...but so far I get more out of looking at aerial photos and marking spots.

I have a HB 997

[CarolinaJim]

I have the HB 998, to date I can not say that it has really increased my catch rate consistency on the flats (less than 4 FOW). Seems to be because of a few issues. If you ONLY fish in a few FOW knowing what I know now I'd be hard pressed to recommend paying for that feature from any brand. I do all kinds of fishing and have used SI to catch a pile of fish in different situations so it was worth it to me.

First, the trout and reds are not in large schools most of the time, schools of fish are not hard to see on screen. I have seen schools of reds in 3-5 FOW not visible by eye and maneuvered to catch some, same with trout and jacks.

Second, the trout seem to be down in the grass and it is not easy to distinguish the fish on screen. This the forest for the trees issue.

Lastly, my current transducer mounting is to deep in the water. As soon as I have the cash I will get a second TD and mount 1 on each sponson very close to the waters surface. HB is widely regarded as having the best shallow water coverage. HB's in the 455K mode the advertised 86 degree beam angle is really the beam angle that has a full 10 db of signal. The signal does go up towards the surface as it goes out and is quite usable, my td is to low and blocked by sponsons to receive this "extra" signal. My TD is about 13-16" below the water surface (depends on where I'm at in the boat). So lets say I'm in a true 3ft of water the TD can only see 1.5' and below.

[Badbagger]

Thanks for the info. I think after the first of the year when I repower the boat I'll be saving my pennies and pickup one of the new Lowrance units. Great for a backup GPS, and will be used as the main sounder. My Garmin 720 is used strictly to navigate with.