Fish Finder Question

[Bigsteve1830]

Have a question , am considering getting a hummingbird 859 basically just gps and sonar because it's obviously a lot cheaper then a si unit. I am wondering if when fishing deep for bass if the sonar will be just fine or if I should go for si? I guess just wanna know if the si makes a big diff on deep structure fishing. Thanks

[Wayne P.]

What is "DEEP" to you?

[Bigsteve1830]

Anywhere from 10 to 40 ft

[Smokinal]

They are 2 completely different tools. I use si to find the structure, gps to mark it and sonar to take it apart more closely. I don't know many people who fish a rock pile while watching their si.

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/10/2015 at 6:21 PM, Smokinal said:

They are 2 completely different tools. I use si to find the structure, gps to mark it and sonar to take it apart more closely. I don't know many people who fish a rock pile while watching their si.

I know one, ME.

I use it to tell where the rock pile, brush pile, creek channel, stump, ect is in relation to the boat.

 

2D sonar just shows them within a circular area "somewhere" under the boat. That circular area is larger as the depth inceases.

 

Just takes practice to do that. After all, both are just sonar pulses that measure distance from the transducer.

 As long as the subject is within the sonar coverage, it will be constantly displayed on the right side for 2D and at the top for SI. "It's so easy a cave man can do it"

 

BTW, Humminbird Side Imaging works quite well to 200' and those models have 2D sonar also and blended Down Imaging generated from the two SI pulses. You just choose how you want stuff displayed.

[Bigsteve1830]

Thanks for the reply bud so u use ur GPS and map chip to find structure then ur si to figure out exactly where it is so u don't have to drive right over the top then right?

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/10/2015 at 11:15 PM, Bigsteve1830 said:

Thanks for the reply bud so u use ur GPS and map chip to find structure then ur si to figure out exactly where it is so u don't have to drive right over the top then right?

 Sort of for waters I am not familiar with.

If you don't pass directly over a "subject" it will show where it is as long as it is within the range you have selected, and you can pause the screen, move the position curser to that subject and save a waypoint for it.

 

There is a Casting Ring feature that you set the radius for that will be put around all your waypoints.

Then you just position your boat on that ring and cast to the center of it, you don't have to see it displayed on your sonar.

 

Of course if you pass directly over it, any sonar will show it.

 

This is a tree on a stump/log pile that I passed directly over--it shows on both sides of the SI view.

 

 

This time when I passed by that area, the tree was on the left:

 

 

 

In either case, I could save a waypoint for it and return directly to it anytime I wanted to.

Actually both of those times I wanted to, so I could take those screen shots as examples. I had found that a few years earlier and saved a waypoint for it.

 

I do stuff like this to get examples for topics like this to help others decide what technology suits their needs/wants.

 

I have an example of the Casting Rings in the Screen Shots topic above when used with the 360.

Post #126

[Bigsteve1830]

Well I thank u for taking time to reply for me this technology they have is unreal. I just got big into bass fishing last year and now I'm hooked.... I'm surprised I'm not divorced yet lol

[Smokinal]

Good God Wayne, do you know what your settings were for those si shots?

[slonezp]

I've had SI for 3 years or so and I wouldn't be without it. I still use 2d sonar for everything vertical

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/11/2015 at 1:37 AM, Smokinal said:

Good God Wayne, do you know what your settings were for those si shots?

No except for the Chart Speed. That was whatever the GPS speed was.

 

I change the unit settings according to how the screen looks if I want to improve the image at that location.

I don't pay attention to what the numbers are, I just go by how it looks.

I don't use the same color all the time either. Some others show stuff better for me according to the subject and ambient light.

 

If you are a "set it and forget it" person, you won't get the best performance.

The units are very adjustable, use the adjustments.

[Chief 2]

I never get resolution like that. I have mine set on what is recommended which always seems to be mid range on the settings. It is difficult to find real structure here in flat bottom lakes Florida.

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/11/2015 at 12:37 PM, Chief 2 said:

I never get resolution like that. I have mine set on what is recommended which always seems to be mid range on the settings. It is difficult to find real structure here in flat bottom lakes Florida.

Yes, that is an issue. You have to be around stuff to see stuff.

[slonezp]

  On 1/11/2015 at 1:25 PM, Wayne P. said:

Yes, that is an issue. You have to be around stuff to see stuff.

When I got my first SI unit I thought there was something wrong with it. Turns out it was the soup bowl mud hole water I call home. I have taken up walleye fishing the last couple years and have been fishing new water with cover and structure. Makes me feel like I didn't waste my money.

 

I tend to be more like Smokinal with my electronics using SI primarily as a search tool and it has helped me personally when I'm fishing ledges in the Wisconsin River., More so locating shelves on the ledges , and fish in relation to those shelves. I just touched on following old river channels in Lake Wisconsin last year and plan on doing more of that this year. 

 

One thing I have noticed as far as picture clarity, is fast current and algae really mess things up.

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/11/2015 at 1:25 PM, Wayne P. said:

Yes, that is an issue. You have to be around stuff to see stuff.

Even if you have limited stuff to see, fish and weed edges are handy to display.

This is a shallow featureless cove showing 200' of coverage. There are submerged weeds and a couple of small fish on the right side and a good size bass on the left side.

 

[Chief 2]

That does look more like what I am experiencing. So I understand, are the fish you are referring to the white marks on the screen? Thanks!

 

Gary

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/12/2015 at 12:28 PM, Chief 2 said:

That does look more like what I am experiencing. So I understand, are the fish you are referring to the white marks on the screen? Thanks!

 

Gary

Yes. Additionally since stuff blocks the sonar pulses, including fish, there will be a shadow opposite the transducer. Those fish have a shadow on the bottom next to them.

[Chief 2]

Thanks for the help!

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/12/2015 at 3:38 PM, Wayne P. said:

Yes. Additionally since stuff blocks the sonar pulses, including fish, there will be a shadow opposite the transducer. Those fish have a shadow on the bottom next to them.

This screen shot shows the shadows to the far right of this school of bass since most where high in the water column.

 

[prjavelin]

What is that Wayne? A canal or something? Also what is the black marks? The shadows from the canal wall?

[Wayne P.]

  On 1/12/2015 at 7:47 PM, prjavelin said:

What is that Wayne? A canal or something? Also what is the black marks? The shadows from the canal wall?

That is the main creek channel of a man made reservoir.

The upper left side shows sort of a swirled bottom, but that was due to me changing the boat direction to criss-cross that channel.

The upper side of the channel on the right side is shadowed (horizontal) since sonar cannot "see" around corners. Just indicates the steep dropoff into the channel bottom.

The dark streaks at the lower right are the shadows of the fish in the channel.

 

I was actually there that day to record sonar logs for improving the contour map data for that lake.

After I saw those fish, I stopped recording and did some catching before continuing logging.

 

Traveling in a straight line with a creek channel changing directions, looks like this: