Hi Guys....


I have a 898c SI that i bought a couple of years ago. I have used it very little since my kids were too young to get out in the boat. Now I have more time so I purchased the Ipilot link system a couple of weeks ago and we have been out almost every other day.


I never really had a lot of time to study the 898 and question what benefit it has given me... I want to make sure I am getting all I can out of the system.


Do you guys really find schools of crappies with the Side Imaging? I have not been able to do that at all over the last few weeks. I can see structure....but then I have to pass over it and see if it is holding fish. Do you guys do this? The question is how often do you really spot schools of crappie with the SI out of the water column?


I do not feel I get the image quality that others are getting. I compare the SI images and DI to what I see in simulation mode and they are miles apart. I have also seen images posted on line that are pretty cool. I wonder if something is wrong with my system or if it is me? The images online are clean...mine are blurry. Are those guys using 800kHZ when they take those really nice images...like seeing crappies off to the side out of the water column?

I use 455 to get the full slice of water...I match my boat speed to the chart speed....I adjust the sensitivity, contrast and sharpness like everyone says to do. I do not get even close to the image like the one below...

https://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...yoBo8&fr=crmas

My DI is even worse than my SI....It is just all blurry.


Does water quality matter? I am on Lake Wissota in Wisconsin. This time of year there is a lot of green string alge in the water. I have went to other clear lakes and have not had better success imaging.


My transducer is level with the boat transom as it sets on the trailer....on the water it may set heavier on the console side where I sit... Is that a big deal?


I appreciate any help...I am really frustrated. My wife and kids love to fish and I want to get them on fish but this is not helping me.