Finding side imaging useless

I have been excited about side imaging for a long while but now after having it for a month I'm not sure it's of much use other than the novelty of seeing what cool stuff is off to the side of the boat.The more I play with it the more I find myself using old fashioned 2d sonar and DI. I feel like I am able to imagine the bottom pretty accurately by the slope I'm seeing straight down and the shoreline topography. Just don't get how seeing something off to the side of the boat after I've past it is gonna help me. Even marking the spot and returning puts me on top of it which I could have done with standard sonar anyhow. If the water is too shallow for the boat I can tell what's there by looking at the vegetation. Am I missing something?

Distance !! That's the big factor IMHO. You can see off "to the sides" at a much greater distance with SI than with any 2d or DI. It's pretty hard to imagine "seeing" anything outside the 60deg cone of 2d or the 75deg fan sweep of DI ... when compared to the ~90deg fan sweep of SI. Not to mention that with SI you can tell which side of the boat the image is coming from ... something you cannot do with 2d or DI.

... cp :kewl

I can see the distance benefit but since the image that shows on the screen is already behind you by the time you see it I don't know how to use it to my advantage. I guess I can turn back to get another view but how do you mark a spot visually for casting if it's not under the boat or within distance of a thrown bouy. Maybe I'm totally misunderstanding its use at this point or had expectations that were unrealistic.

Just add a waypoint, then return to spot drop a bouy at a distance you are comfortable with from the structure..........If you wanted to you could throw a bouy up wind and down wind to further identify the spot.........but then everyone else can see that too....

You could also go back to your waypoint using trolling motor and identify structure with TM mounted FF.......

I had hundreds of brushpile/stakebed waypoints before I had SI ...

Now I have thousands ...Most of which I never knew existed ...

Rickie

I love recording with my SI. After a day's fishing, I will go around and record new areas and then review at home to plan next trip or new places to try. Being able to record and review has also helped me to better understand what I am looking at. I use SI to find new places and then use 2D (and maybe someday DI) to zero in on spots.

danny

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Originally Posted by Zippy

I can see the distance benefit but since the image that shows on the screen is already behind you by the time you see it I don't know how to use it to my advantage. I guess I can turn back to get another view but how do you mark a spot visually for casting if it's not under the boat or within distance of a thrown bouy. Maybe I'm totally misunderstanding its use at this point or had expectations that were unrealistic.

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Cursor to the spot and mark a waypoint. Navigate to the waypoint and get on top of the spot with 2D or downscan and fish it.

With SS, you can scout a bay for brushpiles or shad in very little time.

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Originally Posted by CatFan

Cursor to the spot and mark a waypoint. Navigate to the waypoint and get on top of the spot with 2D or downscan and fish it.

With SS, you can scout a bay for brushpiles or shad in very little time.

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That has been the benefit to me. I can hit a new lake, and at 5 mph ease through a cove or along a creek channel and find every bit of available cover in there in just a matter of an hour. When I go to a new lake, I usually spend the better part of the first day just marking places to fish. Then that night, I take my card out and put it on my computer and get a better look at what I marked.

For me, I was an instinct fisherman that learned by trial and error. I picked up SI because of tournaments so that it cuts down my search time for fish or baitfish.

Everyone here is telling you exactly what you need to hear. SI is a research tool. Si will find structure very quickly and after you mark it you can return within seconds to start pulling fish or keep trucking and mark a lot more structure before pulling out the fishing poles. Like has been mentioned already most days on new lakes I don't even get the poles out of the locker. I will mark waypoints all day to return on future trips to harvest fish.

Try this some time. Start on a new body of water or a different part of a body of water you don't have waypoints on or know where structure is located. Scan with your 2d for an hour. Then switch to SI and compare your findings. If you find anything with your 2d you will find it much quicker with your SI and you will find structure you missed with your 2d. The hour worth of 2d search will be completed in a few minutes with SI and I mean a few minutes. Less then five.

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'm getting it now. I had imagined watching the side imaging seeing something and attempting to go back and find it at that moment. Instead I should be using it to scan for submerged structure, cover or anything fishy, mark a waypoint and then go back and fish it either right then or at a later date. I need to start recording so I can view the information at home that would be fun, like fishing all over again. Thanks again this helped.

What unit you have? If you have a Humminbird you can download Humviewer you can retrieve your recordings from your sonar and upload them to your computer and see them in Humviewer. You would be able to see MUCH more on the recording in your home on the big screen. You can then see and find and mark points and upload them back to your card and put back in your sonar for you to go check those spots.
The bigger the screen you have on your unit the better it is to see those hings you would miss on smaller screens. Trust me. I have found MANY places i did nit see on the screen when I was out but found them later after reviewing.
I think Lowrance has software as well but i am not familiar with it.
Don't give up on SI. It is the way of the future.
Good luck.

That was my question also. What kind of software is needed for viewing Lowrance recordings on a computer and where can you get it?

SI is a search tool. You can cover 500 total feet of water in one pass vs 20 feet. Once you find and MARK fish and structure with SI, and your map, then you go over that spot with DI. A closer look with DI will give you a better idea of the size of the fish and how they are positioned. Once you have done that then you switch to 2d sonar and fish vertical. This is the way I fish deeper water, say 10ft -80ft. If you fish shallower than ten feet then I would use SI, along with your map, to find and mark brush or rock piles. Once you have marked your spots then you just cast to those spot by using just your mapping and GPS.

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Originally Posted by sah

That was my question also. What kind of software is needed for viewing Lowrance recordings on a computer and where can you get it?

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Lowrance Sonar Viewer - Software Informer. An application that plays back any file recorded with a sonar-enabled product.

This is nuts!
no insult intended.....
SI is so valuable I can't see fishing without it.
today for instance,
I'm looking for large schools of bait and the Perch I hope will be under them.
SI at 100 Ft. , motor along until I see them.
Otherwise I'm leaving the boat in the barn till spring.

Starting to see the benefit now. I just did a recording last time out and then reviewed it at home in Humviewer. Marked some way points will try to use them tomorrow. My screen is a little small for getting much out in real time on the water but at home its great.

I added marks today, will visit in the summer

Yeah, SI isn't that great. Wanna sell it??

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Originally Posted by callmecamo

Yeah, SI isn't that great. Wanna sell it??

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:biggrin

Zippy, sometimes when you see something off to the side, it looks too small to fish. When I see something, I look at approximately how far off to the side it was then do a 180 and try to get a closer look with the Down Scan. About the only time I use 2d anymore is off the trolling motor transducer to pinpoint the brush that my marker bouy is supposed to be close to. Tossing the bouys out is sometimes a crap shoot but you know it's there close by. When I drop the TM, the 2d tells me where the brush is and most times, the bouy is off about 5-10'. Once I confirm the brush with 2d, I toss a bouy a little upwind of it and pick up the original bouy.

Keep your SI on about 60'. That gives you a 120' swath as you are searching. I will also use the tracking lines on my map and go back on a parralell course further off to one side. Doing this allows you to completely cover a cove or a particular area. The beauty of it is that once you have everything marked in an area, you can just use your map and Down Scan to check the spots to see if any are holding fish. If they are, fish 'em!