alright, with the new to me boat purchase my partner thinks since i'm turning lose of some cash i should swing for one of the side imaging sonars.

#1 do ya'll really think they are worth it?

#2 and i know this has been discussed to death but which brand and model

#3 is it hard to identify fish/crappie with side imaging, never seen one on the water. i have seen the wonderful pics of bridges and cars but the fish to me in those pics look very faint as opposed to regular sonar. or do ya'll use side imaging to locate struture and then go over it with regular sonar or down imaging?