Best Direction to Side Scan?

I know that they say to either climb a ledge or drop off of a ledge to get the best 2D views. Is this the same for DI also? And, when side scanning a long ledge will objects show better going parallel to the drop-off or off and onto it like the 2D, or does it even matter?

If its me,doing searching.iwould run parallel and then just mark waypionts from si scans.you no,i havnt been a big fan of di but lately i have found a use for it.theres been a whole lot of bait fish in the back of the bays and it makes it harder to distingush the difference between structure and bait fish.i believe the di works best for that.still probally what you said climbing the ledge or drop off the ledge would work best

I would think running parallel with the ledge/drop off would give you the strongest returns when using SI, and the distance from the ledge/drop off will affect the picture as well. You can adjust the distance you scan so you can concentrate on the area of interest. If you see something interesting then you can always circle around and try different angles with the SI on the object, or use the DI right over it. Even try adjusting your sensitivity while trolling along the ledge, it can make the picture and objects show up better with a push of the buttons. It's all trial and error, when trying to get those things adjusted. And when you have it adjusted for one area of the lake, you'll have to make changes on another area.

Thanks!

Parallel is the best way in my opinion.

I think the talked about idea of scanning direction is basically the idea of getting an angle of return on the identified structure so as to be able to get the structure to show against the dark background of the water column...

Structure (such as brush) shows in an SI image as a brighter/lighter shade of the chose pallette color...if that brush is backdropped against the bottom contour showing in the SI image, it tends to partially blend in with the bottom...

Conversely, that same structure backdropped against the dark water column is going to stand out against that dark water column...making it much easier to interpret the structure's finer details that would disappear backdropped against the bottom...(this same idea is why some prefer DI over SI... the side facing aspect view or DI always puts the structure backdropped against a starkly contrasting background in the DI image)..

So as the guys have already said, sometimes it's beneficial to mark the structure and then scan it from different directions.... Maybe even scanning the structure in a direction that would allow that structure to be backdropped against the dark water column...

Rickie