Justfishin2, everyone I know normally uses SI to search for structure, brush piles, laydowns, etc. SI will let you cover a lot of water to each side while in shallow water. I'm not sure how far your Lowrance will scan in 5' of water but with my HB I normally scan 50-60' with go clarity (I can scan a lot farther but that gives me a nice image). Then if you see something that looks interesting "mark" it with a waypoint and then go back over it with DI, 2D and take a good look to see if it is holding fish or possibly a good spot in the future (spring,fall,etc.). DI should give you a little more coverage area than 2D but not a lot in 5-15' of water. Even with DI you are only look at probably 15' in 10' of water. That is why SI is so great at 100' total coverage in 5' depth of water .

Water clarity will make some difference, but in my experience it is mainly that you will have a lot of trash from the muddy or stained water show up on the screen. I fish from 3 inches to 10 foot clarity water with good results. rdjj