I have always owned basic Lowrance units - the latest in color that show 3 sizes of fish within the cone and bottom hardness. The only unit a really miss is a Side Finder discontinued years ago by Lowrance capable of showing fish far out to the side but down only 4'.
Of course the images on those +$2k units is impressive especially in deeper lakes, but for shallower waters like where I fish are they worth it?
Only you can really answer that... I can say I am definitely catching more fish with the help of good electronics, so it is worth it - to me.
I shook my magic 8-ball for you. Result: "Cannot predict now". :dono rotfl
Good question. It is kinda like buying the latest smart phone and just using it to make phone calls. Good electronics can really help catch rates BUT you have to get to know your units. The first time you follow your jig down there to that big girl and catch it you will be more than satisfied with your purchase.
Almost seems like lessening the challenge of hit-or-miss-casting to areas (especially shallower weedy areas) in order to let the lure find fish. Fish I see on sonar under the transducer are rarely caught - even vertical jigging. But those images alert me to fish in that area of the lake.Quote:
The first time you follow your jig down there to that big girl and catch it you will be more than satisfied with your purchase.
Question: pertaining to a yearly average catch: are catch rates up significantly using expensive/ sophisticated sonar in waters no deeper than 15'?
Shallow water for me, its more about finding the isolated structure. Shallow water I consider 2-10', theres not much space for a crappie to hide in a piece of brush in 5 feet of water. So for instance side imaging, it will show me exactly where that brush is and I can fish it real quick. Takes about a minute to know if there's a crappie there or not in that shallow water.
Speaking of just side imaging here its really hard to spot fish in shallow water unless they are up really high in the water column. The deeper you go the easier it is because there is more space between the fish and bottom usually, crappie are a suspending fish obviously.
for "running docks" side imaging is a Godsend! Generally fish suspend up high under docks between poles and are usually easy to spot on SI even in the shallower water. I can run a whole line of docks and tell you which 2 have the schools of fish under them vs just going down the shoreline and wasting a whole morning fishing every dock for 5-10 minutes.
In the deep, structure loaded, weedless reservoirs around here, I'd be lost without a good GPS/graph aside from the week they are spawning.
My uncle in Minnesota rarely ever uses side imaging or anything other than a basic depth finder. It's just not really needed in those small lakes that are 15ft deep at most.
The best money I ever spent on fishing was for my two updated Helix and Lakemaster map cards. I have found more fish using my maps than my sonar.
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Pretty much my case also. I have a Garmin with Dynamic Lake Level. It allows me to find what I consider productive waters and stay in them. Yeah I will use the SI and DI but maps are key for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by BroKenneth
Really good thread
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I can say with 100% certainty they help me catch more fish. I spider rig relatively shallow, but even then i can see where the fish are in the water column and put my jigs right on top of them. Livescope has been a game changer for me. I caught fish without it, but I’m definitely more productive with it.
Yes,especially SI.
theysaid
Mega 360 show me a heck of lot more fish and structure than SI, DI, and 2d ever did. Even in shallow water.
I think the technology is at a point where,yes it will help you catch more fish on the average trip.Between the Mega imaging,360,and Livescope,locating fish in basically any water is not really a problem anymore,the act of catching them once you find them is a different story though.The new tech does help with the catching part as well in my opinion because you can see exactly how they are reacting to your bait or lure and make adjustments based on whats really going on down there rather than guessing.