I am thinking about a Hummingbird Helix 10. $699 or $899 with side image. In your experience, is it worth it.
I gotta do something to find more fish.:biggrin
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I am thinking about a Hummingbird Helix 10. $699 or $899 with side image. In your experience, is it worth it.
I gotta do something to find more fish.:biggrin
I'll be taking my new Helix 7 SI/GPS out to jordan tomorrow. I'll let you know :)
They are great for finding bream beds, otherwise no to me for crappie.
I don't have it but what I have read and heard about side scan it would only help when they are shallow. Really good for bass fishing but not much help wit Crappie.
Helix 10 SI for $899????? The Helix 10 SI that I'm looking at is $1499. Where did you find that bird? I'm going to get an SI unit and find out for sure.
Side scan is absolutely worth the extra money! It takes a little time and effort to learn how to use it and, maybe more importantly, what to look for on the screen. The ONLY downside to SI other than the cost is that you will find so many good looking places to fish, you'll have a hard time deciding what to try first. SI will let you ride down a bank and see which docks have fish under them while simultaneously showing where all the brush piles and stumps and drop offs and whatever may be down there. It'll even show you that the school of crappie you were catching have now moved 32 feet to the right. I'd be lost without mine.
P.S. get the biggest screen you can afford. Objects are bigger on a bigger screen, just like on TV.
YES YES YES it is worth the extra money! Once you tune it in and learn what to look for the fish are in trouble!
Absolutely. I would cry if I had to go fishing without mine!
Bill--let me help you with your decision. I'll share some screenshots that I will describe what I see and maybe this will help you make up your mind. All of these shots are from Jordan.
So this is a classic shot and why you need SI. It's not all about finding fish, but terrain as well. On the right side of the boat are lots of baitfish. You can see from the size and from the two shots below the SI. What is good about this shot is that the crappie are not up on the flat, nor on the dropoff, but on the bottom of this cove just before it ends. If you were fishing with two rods under the boat, good luck; but if you move 13-26 feet to the left, game on.
Attachment 228734
This is one of my all-time favorite shots. Under the boat and to the right are nothing but baitballs and one tree limb. The bait is fairly high up and you can tell by the length of the shadow. The shadow of the limb is short, which means it is down on the bottom. Use the shadowing to help you tell how deep to fish. Obviously, there are a lot of fish to the left. The darker the colors, the deeper the water. Note up in the very upper left hand corner, the color starts to turn lighter. The fish are in the channel and I can tell you, we caught good fish here.
Attachment 228735
Another shot to let you know this is good fishing.
Attachment 228738
The lefthand side is blurred because I am not completely out of a turn. The right is good and has some objects, probably rocks and maybe some wood. At the very bottom are a few fish, but Bill, I am moving on and not fishing this area. The most important thing I can share with you is that one thing SI and DI will do is show you were the fish ARE NOT located. The old saying is that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. Use the SI to help you know where not to fish. I made a huge mistake this past weekend in a tournament on Lake Greenwood by not trusting my electronics, especially the SI. It told me that few fish were in the area, but because some were caught in the area the day before, we kept trying and never got into the fish. Learn to trust your electronics and do what they tell you. Hope this helps. I'm using an Onix, but the Helix should give you good resolution as well.
Attachment 228739
Thanks JordanLimit, I'm about to begin my SI learning experience tomorrow.
Crappie hanging over a brushpile ~20 ft to the left of my kayak
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attac...3&d=1455159320
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attac...2&d=1455159318
I AGREE WITH JORDAN LIMIT AND OTHERS,I HAVE A 1199,859 ON CONSOLE AND A 998 ON FRONT ,THE SI ON CONSOLE HAS FOUND MANY BP AND OTHER PLACES TO FISH THAT WOULD NEVER BEEN FOUND,BUT IF U ARE NOT GOING TO PUT MUCH TIME IN IT TO LEARN WHAT IT IS TELLING U THAN IT IS WORTHLESS,U HAVE TO TRAIN YOUR EYES TO SEE WHAT IT IS SHOWING U,SOME BP WILL ONLY SHOW UP AS A LIGHT SPOT WITH A DARK SPOT BEHIND IT,A CHANGE IN TERAIN,HAS MUCH TO DO WITH HARDNESS OF BP.AS SEEN U CAN SEE FISH IN BP ALSO
I would like to have a Helix 10 si for 899... I'd buy 2 for that priceQuote:
Originally Posted by chief
Ok, so I got the price wrong. $1499 is the whole thing.
Chief I just got the Helix 10SI and love it. Check with Brian at BBG 770-529-8880 for pricing and he can also answer any questions you have.Quote:
Originally Posted by chief
I had the same question about 6 months ago. I wanted the side imaging but at the time did not have the money to buy at least the helix 7 preferably the 9. I opted for the helix 5 with DI for now. Picked it up for just over $300 and figure it works for now, was better than what I had by a long shot, and I can move it to the front when I get enough money for a SI. I agree with the posting about go as big as possible. After using mine on DI, I think 9 might be the smallest SI I would consider.
I was really hoping you found it for $899. I was going to use the savings to bring doughnuts and hot chocolate to the next tourney at Harris for everyone.
I recently got the Lowrance HDS7 Gen 3 bundle and LOVE IT!!!!
Mike
Take a kid outdoors!
the Helix 9 looks like the best buy to me. $500 for 1 more inch of diagonal screen? Not me. Looks like its the exact same unit with just a smaller screen
Yes sir
X2!Quote:
Originally Posted by BAMA S
Thanks, JL, for those great screenshots and your interpretations. I always find these posts very informative. I have a Humminbird 597 HD DI. Not as sophisticated as ya'lls models, but it can work good at times. My question is, is there a tutorial on how to tune these ffinders so I am getting optimum performance? I spend way too much time looking for the ideal setting to wring out the best of the unit. Perhaps you could share how you might tweak a unit?
ON DI UNITS,IT SHOULD BE FAIRLY EASY TO SET UNIT AND SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CHANGE IT MUCH LIKE U HAVE TO ON SI,WHEN U GO OVER SOMETHING TO GET BEST VIEW ,FREEZE UNIT AND THEN ADJUST TILL U ARE SATISFIED THAT IT IS AS GOOD AS WILL GET,THEN GO OVER IT A FEW TIMES FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTION TO SEE HOW WELL IT IS DOING,ALWAYS ONE DIRECTION WILL LOOK BETTER THAN ANOTHER
Crewmax, If you Google Doug Vahrenberg Tips and Tricks -he has lots of you tubes that explain how to set up most all Humminbird units. Also lots of reading over on the bass boat central board.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crewmax42
As LR77 stated, there are some very good videos out there. Charles purchased an instructional video from Dr. Jason Halfen, the Technological Angler. One of those warm days over Christmas I spent over three hours one day playing the DVD on my laptop while sitting in the boat. I would play a section, hit pause, go through that information on the Onix, then hit play again. You have to leave the fishing rods at home and put in the hours necessary to master the electronics.
We have the Humminbird 360 on the boat and I am not happy with the results I am getting. I think part of the reason is my settings are not the best. I literally downloaded the manual from Humminbird and started reading it earlier this week. A 597 can help you locate fish if you master how to get the most you can out of it. Charles and I started fishing a little over a year and a half ago with the new technology. He can affirm that there were a number of days at the beginning that he fished out the back while I sat in the driver's seat with the manual trying to learn all the technology. You can tell from my screenshots that I have fine-tuned the basics, but I still have a long way to go in completely mastering the technology.
ON GETTING SI,I THINK THE BIGGEST DOWNSIDE WITH HUMMINBIRD IS NOT TRUE DI UNLESS U ARE BLESS LIKE JL AND HAVE A ONIX
SI requires many hours of working with settings and a good knowledge of what settings to use under different conditions.
I spotted this school of crappie from 180 feet away and they were just barely visible; I moved in and this is what I found. Caught my limit in less than an hour and was culling fish for 2 more hours.
SI works for you if you put the effort to learn it.
Attachment 228858
the great thing for me is learning to use my SI means I get to fish!
These examples help a lot, thanks for sharing
I'm looking at the Helix 10 SI. And here's why.....
10" 600 x 1024
9" 480 x 800
7" 480 x 800
5" 480 x 800
Mike
After using my SI a few times there is one negative I did not think about. Its even easier to find fish but it makes it much more frustrating when their not biting! :)
Garmin has announced a 7 inch unit with chirp and side imaging for $499.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-t...rod528825.html
Absolutely worth the money! Other than finding brush piles and other stationary structure to fish, I use it when trolling. If I pass a school of fish, I can mark them and turn around and troll that area.
"I know you're done there! Now take it!" LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by sporkd2
I just got the Helix 7si after doing research on both and I feel it is worth it. Good ex. above with Jordinlimit post.