Lets talk Fish Finders.

[charlie.m.jr]

On 11/14/2018 at 7:13 PM, JoshPerkins802 said:

 

So basically what I've understood. From everything i have seen and read. DI is best for deepwater applications. SI is a trolling motor shallow water best friend. At higher speeds it seems that DI is more effective than SI and regular Sonar.

You don't want SI on your trolling motor. Your boat isn't moving fast enough with the trolling motor to get a good image. Most side imaging is set up to give you the best picture between 2.5 to 5 m.p.h.  Also the deeper the water, the better ( clearer ) the imaging is on down or side scan.  The deeper the water is, the wider you can look side to side and still get a good, readable image. I use down scan to find schools of fish and side imaging for locating structure that could hold potentially hold fish. Spotting schools of fish on side imaging can be done and is easy to see, but figuring out what type of fish it is is the hard part. You need to know what to look for in the images. Figuring out what those schools of fish are is much easier with down scan.  I can tell from how fish are clustered and the shape(s) of their return as to what I am looking at.  ( bass, catfish, carp, crappie, etc.)  On the laskes that I fish ( TVA river system ) electronics are the name of the game for off shore fishing and I spend countless hours a year graphing and looking at / for fish. Once you figure out what you're looking at, it gets a lot easier and is a lot less overwhelming. 

[JoshPerkins802]

1 minute ago, charlie.m.jr said:

You don't want SI on your trolling motor. Your boat isn't moving fast enough with the trolling motor to get a good image. Most side imaging is set up to give you the best picture between 2.5 to 5 m.p.h.  Also the deeper the water, the better ( clearer ) the imaging is on down or side scan.  The deeper the water is, the wider you can look side to side and still get a good, readable image. I use down scan to find schools of fish and side imaging for locating structure that could hold potentially hold fish. Spotting schools of fish on side imaging can be done and is easy to see, but figuring out what type of fish it is is the hard part. You need to know what to look for in the images. Figuring out what those schools of fish are is much easier with down scan.  I can tell from how fish are clustered and the shape(s) of their return as to what I am looking at.  ( bass, catfish, carp, crappie, etc.)  On the laskes that I fish ( TVA river system ) electronics are the name of the game for off shore fishing and I spend countless hours a year graphing and looking at / for fish. Once you figure out what you're looking at, it gets a lot easier and is a lot less overwhelming. 

Thank you for that. Regarding the side imaging, i think Garmin (only know of Garmin because that's what I researched) has made it so SI is much more trolling friendly. I think you can bring it down to like .5mph. But i can't be certain, I've read a lot on them and articles are starting to blend together 

[charlie.m.jr]

With the trolling motor from garmin are you talking about Pan Optics? It is pretty impressive to see it, but it isn't quiet as easy to read or distinguish what you are looking at like it is with structure/down scan images. Pan Optics is more like a radar so to speak than what structure/down scan would be. Pan optics does make it easier for hitting specific spots like brush piles or rock piles because you can "see" what you're throwing towards, but as far as "seeing" what it is you're throwing at, it either comes down to structure/down scan or the tried and true method of fishing it and figuring out what it is.

[JoshPerkins802]

1 minute ago, charlie.m.jr said:

With the trolling motor from garmin are you talking about Pan Optics? It is pretty impressive to see it, but it isn't quiet as easy to read or distinguish what you are looking at like it is with structure/down scan images. Pan Optics is more like a radar so to speak than what structure/down scan would be. Pan optics does make it easier for hitting specific spots like brush piles or rock piles because you can "see" what you're throwing towards, but as far as "seeing" what it is you're throwing at, it either comes down to structure/down scan or the tried and true method of fishing it and figuring out what it is.

No I'm simply saying that the Side Imaging can be turned down to trolling speed to give a better quality image,  at least from what I think I read. Panoptix is a little out of reach for me lol But super cool technology. Thank you for your input!

[charlie.m.jr]

On the side imaging on the front, I caution you to stay away from that. You will get an image but it isn't what you're going to be expecting. As far as being able to turn the speed down in the settings, that's a new one on me. I'm not saying you're wrong, I just haven't heard about it. I have customers ask me for my opinion on this very thing almost daily and my answer is always the same. If you want imagining on the front, stick with down only. I have down imaging on my boat currently, and even the down image is not as sharp or clear as it is when looking at it while moving under power. 

[JoshPerkins802]

2 hours ago, charlie.m.jr said:

On the side imaging on the front, I caution you to stay away from that. You will get an image but it isn't what you're going to be expecting. As far as being able to turn the speed down in the settings, that's a new one on me. I'm not saying you're wrong, I just haven't heard about it. I have customers ask me for my opinion on this very thing almost daily and my answer is always the same. If you want imagining on the front, stick with down only. I have down imaging on my boat currently, and even the down image is not as sharp or clear as it is when looking at it while moving under power. 

I'm not trying to disagree with you. Just something i read. I think i will have to live with a lower quality image because 95% of the time I'm trolling.

 

 

Edit: Just something i "think" i read. I was more looking for validation.

Edited November 20, 2018 by JoshPerkins802

[charlie.m.jr]

15 hours ago, JoshPerkins802 said:

I'm not trying to disagree with you. Just something i read. I think i will have to live with a lower quality image because 95% of the time I'm trolling.

 

 

Edit: Just something i "think" i read. I was more looking for validation.

I understand buddy. Like I said, I'm not saying you are wrong at all, I'm just saying I haven't heard that. It could be something in the latest greatest that has come out. 

 

[gradycodd]

I'm still very happy with my Helix 9, I'm not graph savvy by any means and it is plenty user friendly, will likely be adding another to the rig. 

 

If you can afford it, Panoptix is one of the most helpful tools in the regards of not making any blind casts. Very lucky to have a few friends with that technology and it has accounted for some truly awesome experiences on the water. Wicked fun to watch them shoot up and smoke a big bait, and helps you make tweaks to your presentation by watching how the fish reacts to a bait in real time. 

[JoshPerkins802]

4 minutes ago, gradycodd said:

I'm still very happy with my Helix 9, I'm not graph savvy by any means and it is plenty user friendly, will likely be adding another to the rig. 

 

If you can afford it, Panoptix is one of the most helpful tools in the regards of not making any blind casts. Very lucky to have a few friends with that technology and it has accounted for some truly awesome experiences on the water. Wicked fun to watch them shoot up and smoke a big bait, and helps you make tweaks to your presentation by watching how the fish reacts to a bait in real time. 

Panoptix is a a good bit out of reach. But the technology is absolutely awesome! 

[Archtx9]

I always viewed electronics like buying a computer......get the biggest most powerful you can afford.   Spend the time learning the software.   Have guide friend that could really dial in the Side Imaging......he said if he didn’t see fish, he wouldn’t even stop to fish anymore.

I run the Lowrance Gen3 touch.....waiting for the new more powerful “live view” technology