Sidescan?

[pressfit]

I think I want one, which one would be a good one to get, are they worth the money? I hardly ever fish under my boat where my sonar is now.. I've heard guys say they can tell a bass from a crappie from a catfish.. is this true?

 

[Crappieaddict]

I think sidescan can be a very valuable tool. There is a learning curve, that I am still working on. Depending on the size of your screen and the distance you have it set to scan is the biggest variable. A 5" screen set at 120' both left and right, any fish will just be a dot. I couldn't distinguish the species from this. However, a tree 40' or more from the boat, that's going to get my attention. I would not have saw it on downward sonar. A school of fish, yes you see them. Key thing with sidescan IMO, get the biggest screen you can afford, minimum of 7". I use Lowrance, but it's the old Ford vs Chevy.

 

[WTM]

for side imaging anything less than 7" is a waste of money. all 4 of the major brands will show fish returns. some will have better cover returns and some will have better fish returns. and then there is budget, how much are you willing to spend?

side imaging only will not make you a better fisherman. a combination of side imaging used in conjunction with 2d sonar and down imaging WILL help you find more fish.

with 2d on split freqs i can cover a lot of water at 20mph and mark those fish returns. then go back with down scan or side imaging and get a better location and actually see the cover/structure they are holding.

with side imaging i am scanning shallow water that i cant run with 2d on effectively, this is where side imaging comes in handy.

on lake ledges i use 2d and down imaging more than anything. i run back and forth across the ledges/channel drops to find and mark fish. i may do this for anfew hundred yards before i even pick up a rod.

as far as specific units and side imaging, in my opinion, humminbird is hands down on cover detail. to my eyes, lowrance and garmin are about the same except garmins range is greater and with a GT30 transducer its probably better on detail. ive never seen a ray marine but almost bought one. keep in mind ive only seen first hand and used the upper mid range units in the last 2 years. you could PM Trigger and ask him for a comparison between ray marine and humminbird upper end units.

as far as seeing what fish look like on side imaging, check out this video. he can show it better than i can explain it.

https://youtu.be/3lu_lQtLqpE

then you have the mapping issue. most now include some sort of base map but the better maps and features you have to buy a map card. garmin comes with really good mapping and also sells an upgraded map package, BUT with garmins you cant use navionics or other mapping software. garmin bought navionics so that may change in the near future. humminbird lakemaster maps are good too.

 

[Jmed]

when I am looking for fish, I run 4 screens simultaneously. 2d sonar, map, down, and side scan. I would not own a depth finder on a fishing vessel without any of those options. Id say 90% of the bass I caught this winter were spotted on the graph before making a cast. My advice is to go with Lowrance models. they are more user friendly and more plug and play. My fishing partner just dumped a bunch of money on the humming bird Helix 10s, and he swears My older gen2 lowrance shows the fish better. I think the hummingbird has too many options and adjustments that have to made to get a good pic.

 

[rbreedi1]

your not going to be able to say oh that's a crappie, bass or whatever by looking at the fish on the screen. You can make an educated guess by where its at, how they are grouped, etc..

 

[WTM]

when I am looking for fish, I run 4 screens simultaneously. 2d sonar, map, down, and side scan. I would not own a depth finder on a fishing vessel without any of those options. Id say 90% of the bass I caught this winter were spotted on the graph before making a cast. My advice is to go with Lowrance models. they are more user friendly and more plug and play. My fishing partner just dumped a bunch of money on the humming bird Helix 10s, and he swears My older gen2 lowrance shows the fish better. I think the hummingbird has too many options and adjustments that have to made to get a good pic.

fish returns has more to do with transducer beam width than settings. humminbirds ultra narrow beam width makes for high resolution images but a lot of the fish returns are lost as opposed to lowrance or garmins wider beam width which were designed for higher fish returns, but the images are grainier.

 

[Smo]

So on my helix 7, I should set the beam width to wide ?

That will show fish returns better?

Still in the learning curve with mine, but I think I'm gaining ground. LOL

 

[TNReb]

I had a Garmin 7SV with side imaging...

I recently purchased a Solix 12. In the spring when the fish are shallow, the side imaging helps me find cover and structure that I may not have known existed.

I agreed with rbreedi1's comment - if you see 1 fish, you aren't going to immediately know if it's a bass/crappie/etc. However, you can get a sense of what they are likely to be based on how they are grouped, where they are in the water column, etc.

I think the value of side imaging may shine more for me once the bass move off to deeper water. I've still got a lot to learn about it - but it's tough when you're by yourself just trying to figure stuff out.

 

[nitro_z17]

So on my helix 7, I should set the beam width to wide ?

That will show fish returns better?

Still in the learning curve with mine, but I think I'm gaining ground. LOL

also youtube helix 7 set up. "TONS" of info on there :tu:

 

[Smo]

Thanks Nitro, I've been watching a bunch of them that's how I've picked up what little bit I've learned.

 

[WTM]

So on my helix 7, I should set the beam width to wide ?

That will show fish returns better?

Still in the learning curve with mine, but I think I'm gaining ground. LOL

as far as side imaging, beam width is dictated by transducer crystal length and is fixed. if i remember that beam width setting is for down imaging, since that model doesnt have a dedicated di crystal it uses the 2 si crystals to draw the image.

setting it to narrow it will capture images pretty much below the boat where as the wide setting will include images further out to the sides of the boat. a nifty feature for pinpointing fish in di mode. you can do the same thing in 2d running split screen freqs.

sensitivity, contrast, brightness and sharpness are the settings you want to play around with to get better fish returns displayed.

try different freqs, if your scanning in 455khz try 800 khz(if available) on the second pass and vice versa. when you catch some fish you can further tune the settings over the area you know there are fish. that way you can find the settings that make those soft fish returns pop out more.

 

[Smo]

Thanks for the info WTM.

I've been adjusting those features trying to come up with a good combo and color.

Playing around with scan width too , being it down to 30' or so.

I'm still not seeing what I should be seeing...lol