Thread: Side Scan vs Traditional 2D?

An interesting si story. Been out in Arkansas since September 2022. I am boat less until my new build is ready. Been doing a lot of trout fishing with a friend on the Little Red River. He knows how I love to fish so back in May he offered to take me out on a local lake that reportedly was a fantastic shell cracker lake. Neither he nor I had ever been on the lake. We launched and for 45 minutes he is using Live Scope searching for beds. Now on his setup he does not have horizontal mode. I noticed he had a Helix si unit on his boat. I told him that the si unit would put us on fish pretty quick. He informed me that while he had the unit for a number of years he never learned to use it. I told him I knew how to use it and I’m fixing to put us on some shell cracker. I was reluctant to speak up as it was his boat and he was kind to take me out…but I could not hold my tongue any longer…LOL. It only took me 15 minutes to find the first bed of shell cracker. We caught a lot of really healthy shell cracker and bluegill. We went back a week later and I scanned the whole lake. Now when I get my boat I’ll know where the bedding areas are.

Regards


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Originally Posted by Alphahawk

An interesting si story. Been out in Arkansas since September 2022. I am boat less until my new build is ready. Been doing a lot of trout fishing with a friend on the Little Red River. He knows how I love to fish so back in May he offered to take me out on a local lake that reportedly was a fantastic shell cracker lake. Neither he nor I had ever been on the lake. We launched and for 45 minutes he is using Live Scope searching for beds. Now on his setup he does not have horizontal mode. I noticed he had a Helix si unit on his boat. I told him that the si unit would put us on fish pretty quick. He informed me that while he had the unit for a number of years he never learned to use it. I told him I knew how to use it and I’m fixing to put us on some shell cracker. I was reluctant to speak up as it was his boat and he was kind to take me out…but I could not hold my tongue any longer…LOL. It only took me 15 minutes to find the first bed of shell cracker. We caught a lot of really healthy shell cracker and bluegill. We went back a week later and I scanned the whole lake. Now when I get my boat I’ll know where the bedding areas are.

Regards


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man what a friend, I need a few like that.

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

An interesting si story. Been out in Arkansas since September 2022. I am boat less until my new build is ready. Been doing a lot of trout fishing with a friend on the Little Red River. He knows how I love to fish so back in May he offered to take me out on a local lake that reportedly was a fantastic shell cracker lake. Neither he nor I had ever been on the lake. We launched and for 45 minutes he is using Live Scope searching for beds. Now on his setup he does not have horizontal mode. I noticed he had a Helix si unit on his boat. I told him that the si unit would put us on fish pretty quick. He informed me that while he had the unit for a number of years he never learned to use it. I told him I knew how to use it and I’m fixing to put us on some shell cracker. I was reluctant to speak up as it was his boat and he was kind to take me out…but I could not hold my tongue any longer…LOL. It only took me 15 minutes to find the first bed of shell cracker. We caught a lot of really healthy shell cracker and bluegill. We went back a week later and I scanned the whole lake. Now when I get my boat I’ll know where the bedding areas are.

Regards


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Trout Magnet Man! I follow you on YouTube. You and Victor over at I_Fish are two of my favorite anglers to watch. Fantastic content. I’ve seen those shell crackers you guys were catching. Beautiful. Really neat story and seals the deal for me on side imaging. I’m gonna put one on my pond prowler next. Is there a notable difference in the Humminbird mega side imaging vs the regular side imaging? I’m thinking a Helix 7 or 9 would be a good size for my setup. Would love to learn how to locate those beds like that.


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Originally Posted by rojoguio

Humminbirds you can record everything to a SIM card to play back on your computer at home. Even the 999's give a great picture as long as your settings match your speed and you are not using a Etec engine (terrible alternator interference). Using HumViewer you can mark anything interesting, right-click a spot and Google Earth will open up and zoom the exact spot in. I side scan new areas while recording, play it back at home at 10x the speed marking everything interesting, then upload all the new waypoints back into all the units I have. Doing this I have marked over 1500 trees, stumps, ledges, trash piles, etc. I will note this, the waypoints generated by a Humminbird transferred to a Garmin only get you in the ball bark. The new Crappie Chaser is all Garmin so I usually have to make a quick side scan pass on the initial approach to pinpoint the spot before getting right on top using 2D Sonar A-Scope for a precision waypoint.

Is there a marked difference between Humminbird side imaging and mega side imaging? I noticed the helix 7 with standard side imaging is several hundred dollars less than the mega imaging versions. Would the standard si offer the resolution to identify bluegill beds?


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Yes there is a big difference. Always go with the biggest screen and highest resolution that you can afford, even if it means waiting an extra month or so to save up. Contact by phone BBG Marine, a site sponsor, for a quote. They will save you some money.

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Originally Posted by Pistol_Creek

Trout Magnet Man! I follow you on YouTube. You and Victor over at I_Fish are two of my favorite anglers to watch. Fantastic content. I’ve seen those shell crackers you guys were catching. Beautiful. Really neat story and seals the deal for me on side imaging. I’m gonna put one on my pond prowler next. Is there a notable difference in the Humminbird mega side imaging vs the regular side imaging? I’m thinking a Helix 7 or 9 would be a good size for my setup. Would love to learn how to locate those beds like that.


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Of course the image is higher resolution but I tell you, I used an old 899 for several years and found just as many bluegill beds. Of course having owned a Mega I don’t want to step down….LOL. I had that 899 hung on the side of a kayak for 2 years. If you have budget constraints I think the 7 or 9 will serve you well.

Regards


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If you have the budget, the 9" is the smallest I'd consider and is what I have on my 12' rowboat. I have mine set up as a portable unit. I wish I'd spent the extra and gotten the 10. I had a Gen. 1 Helix 10 but went to the 9 for ice fishing and Mega 360 and saved a few dollars; should have stayed with the 10.
For side imaging, the more width you have on the screen, the bigger the details you'll have. Bigger IS better for SI.

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Of course the image is higher resolution but I tell you, I used an old 899 for several years and found just as many bluegill beds. Of course having owned a Mega I don’t want to step down….LOL. I had that 899 hung on the side of a kayak for 2 years. If you have budget constraints I think the 7 or 9 will serve you well.

Regards


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Noted. Thank you so much for the information. This is super helpful to a new fisherman like myself. I’m going to shoot for getting a 9” or 10” version in the near future. It’s exciting to think about locating those beds and brush piles. I imagine it would be fun to just scan the lake on slow days, too.


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