Thread: Side imaging

Si is the most important to me. I find brush so fast and mark them. In 4 hours I can mark about 25 brush piles easily.You can mark stumps and small laydowns on bottom. You then have a lot to try and sort out. If you like to fish brush piles then SI is a must. Also finding breaklinesand channels is so easy.

sometimes i will refer to di as (poor mans si ) because in my opinion all that di is ,is a limited view of si with no directional reference ,left or right or strait below just somewhere in the coverage area of the beam,very limmited while si on the other hand tells were the structure is ,left or right and how far away fairly accurate.close enough to mark 100ft + then go back and fish. also i think that conventional 2d sonar is needed for a lot of peoples crappie fishing techniques. please remember that this is only opinion many people disagree

I have very little time to go and just study a particular spot with regular 2D or DI. When I get a chance to go fishing a usually can make 2 passes over a spot with my SI and find all I need to know about that area and whether I should fish it or not. I have found a lot of structure and located fish off to side of the boat that I would not have seen with 2D and DI. You need to use all three 2D, DI, SI to maxiumize your time on the water when you are fishing, especially new spots. SI has shown my alot that I would have never found or fished. Just my 2 cents.

SI is by far the most important. I use SI to locate new stuff and use DI to examine it. Together they are a good team. However the DI from SI leaves a lot to be desired - JMO. As stated earlier I too use all 3 styles to increase my understanding of what is under the surface. The DI had really helped me read my 2d view.

Humminbird Side Imaging has, without a doubt in my mind, made me a far more successful angler over the past 2-3 years....particularly with respect to crappies. Check out these articles to see how I apply Humminbird Side Imaging (and Down Imaging, and Dual-Beam 2D sonar) to a variety of crappie-fishing situations:

Using Humminbird sonar to stay with roving late summer crappies

Mid-summer panfish revealed by Humminbird Down Imaging

Finding summer crappie with Humminbird Side Imaging and VMC jigs

Targeting spring panfish with Humminbird Side Imaging

Aquatic weed identification using Humminbird Side Imaging

Very nice read!

I believe that there are times that di will actually reduce the number of fish that you will catch.for instance,when you want to hover just to the side of a brush pile.with di you wont see the brush until you are already over the brush and possibly scaring the fish.this is were conventional 2d sonar would be a better choice.use si to find the structure then switch to conventional 2d sonar to keep your boat just far enough off the brush not to spook the fish.then when your done fishing you can use the di to get that pretty picture that you can show your friends

Have been running a 798c si unti at the console for a couple of years now, and just added a 798ci si at the bow. Everything mentioned so far about the use of si is right on. Very helpful tool, that's why I need one up front. If you invest in one, make sure you spend time learning how to effectively use it tho. Lots of ways to make the most of all the options.