Down Imaging

[buzzbait4me]

Hey Guys,

 

 

I had the boat out yesterday and I realized that my old fishfinder quit working on me. I am in search for a new one with traditional 2d sonar and possibly down imaging capabilities. I have it narrowed down to the Humminbird 561 or the Humminbird 561 DI. I know that down imaging gives you an image right below the boat, but how would you actually use this out on the water? Do you just drive around and whenever you find something with the DI, mark it on a gps and then come back and fish it? Can you guys that have DI explain to me how to use it to locate the structure and then fish the structure?

 

 

Thanks in advance

[Comfortably Numb]

Same as the 2d but instead of a blob, it shows an image of what is really there.

 

[Long Mike]

You might want to take a look at the new Raymarine Dragonfly.  It offers combo down imaging, standard 2D sonar and GPS in a very affordable package.

[Scott F]

The Dragonfly costs 3 times what the Humminbird 561DI costs and 4 times what the 561 costs.

[buzzbait4me]

_{So do you just go to a place where you know is structure like stumps or brush piles and then search around until you find one and then fish it?}

[Wayne P.]

For actually finding and fishing for fish, regular 2D sonar is best. Imaging will help you interpret what the 2D is showning.

 

2D sonar has a somewhat inverted cove shaped pulse and covers more area at one time.

Imaging uses a thin front to back pulse that is wide to the sides and produces a somewhat picture like image.

It takes movement for the imaging pulse to "scan" so the unit can produce the images.

 

You need both for fishing.

 

 

 

 

[3dees]

the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI imo give you the best bang for the buck. sonar, down scan, and gps on a wide 7" screen. the Elite 7x is even cheaper if you don't need gps. I  usually run split screen with 2d and dsi unless I'm dropshotting. dsi is useless for dropshotting.