Is DI useful for shallow kayak fishing

[BrianMRetter]

Hello! I'm new to bass fishing as of last spring. I fish Indiana lakes & ponds from a kayak, and 85% of the time its 15-20ft deep or less (usually bays/coves/banks). I'm looking at a Raymarine Dragonfly 4 PRO to add to my toolbox...My question is, is down imaging (or a fish finder in general) even all that useful for my type of fishing? If I understand correctly, it basically will show me whats in a cone directly below me. In the shallow waters I fish, won't I pretty much be directly over the fish? Won't that spook it? I guess I don't fully understand the tactics used in this situation. Sorry for the very newbish question, I'm still learning. I really appreciate any insight!

 

 

[Allen Der]

DI is a very narrow cone compared to normal 2d sonar.  pretty much only useful for vertical jigging directly below your boat.  I'd get something with 2D sonar and GPS if possible.

[BrianMRetter]

How about side imaging? The Dragonfly 4 has DI and normal 2D I believe

[Wayne P.]

Down imaging does not have a "cone" shaped pulse. It is very thin front to back and wide to the sides. 2D sonar has the somewhat inverted cone shaped pulse that covers more area as the depth increases.

For vertical presentations, only 2D sonar is a suitable tool.

All the imaging technologies have to have movement so the sonar pulse can scan create the picture like images. Side Imaging and its copies have the most coverage since the range is adjustable. Down imaging and 2D sonar coverage is dependent on the depth= less depth, less coverage.

[Allen Der]

12 hours ago, BrianMRetter said:

How about side imaging? The Dragonfly 4 has DI and normal 2D I believe

I have no experience with Raymarine so I cant comment on their products.  I use Humminbird and have two 788ci HD DI's on my boat and a basic Piranhamax on my kayak.  I use the Piranhamax because I took it off my boat when I upgraded to the 788's, but it is a nice basic unit to give me depth readings and water tempature, which is all I really need for fishing small lakes on the kayak; plus I can power it with 8 AA rechargeable batteries in a little dry bag so I dont need to bring a bigger battery in a battery box.  GPS would be nice but I know alot of people use the navionics app on their phone for that.  If you have a sit on top kayak with scuppers, lowrance makes a scupper transducer that is easy to install.  you can get a unit without the transducer and buy the scupper transducer separately; or I think you can contact lowrance to exchange the standard trasducer with the scupper mount for a small fee. Also keep in mind that color uses alot more battery than grayscale units.  From what I've heard, you want at least a 7" screen for side imaging.  they make some 5" units but they arent very popular.

[Wayne P.]

7 hours ago, Allen Der said:

I have no experience with Raymarine so I cant comment on their products.  I use Humminbird and have two 788ci HD DI's on my boat and a basic Piranhamax on my kayak.  I use the Piranhamax because I took it off my boat when I upgraded to the 788's, but it is a nice basic unit to give me depth readings and water tempature, which is all I really need for fishing small lakes on the kayak; plus I can power it with 8 AA rechargeable batteries in a little dry bag so I dont need to bring a bigger battery in a battery box.  GPS would be nice but I know alot of people use the navionics app on their phone for that.  If you have a sit on top kayak with scuppers, lowrance makes a scupper transducer that is easy to install.  you can get a unit without the transducer and buy the scupper transducer separately; or I think you can contact lowrance to exchange the standard trasducer with the scupper mount for a small fee. Also keep in mind that color uses alot more battery than grayscale units.  From what I've heard, you want at least a 7" screen for side imaging.  they make some 5" units but they arent very popular.

The Helix 5 SI GPS models were selling out as fast as dealers were getting them when they first came out.

Yes, BIGGER is better for the side looking imaging technology, no matter which brand.

 

[Puggz]

21 hours ago, BrianMRetter said:

How about side imaging? The Dragonfly 4 has DI and normal 2D I believe

SI would be very helpful... but only if you know how to use it properly.  I agree with DI tho, if you know how to read sonar, that's all you need at your depths.

Also, check out the new HB Helix series.  Fantastic image quality.

[Wayne P.]

35 minutes ago, Puggz said:

SI would be very helpful... but only if you know how to use it properly.  I agree with DI tho, if you know how to read sonar, that's all you need at your depths.

Also, check out the new HB Helix series.  Fantastic image quality.

I was using a Helix 12 CHIRP SI GPS today.

[BrianMRetter]

Thanks so much for all the replies!

[Bassman37]

On 2/21/2016 at 8:06 PM, Wayne P. said:

I was using a Helix 12 CHIRP SI GPS today.

Hi Wayne,

How would you rate the Humminbird chirp vs their non-chirp models? Is there really that much of a difference in clarity (or would I notice it on a 7 inch screen)?

From spending a good bit of time reading comments on this board and others, I have decided that for the type of fishing that I enjoy, mainly casting towards shore, side imaging/GPS is a must for me on a new fish finder. I mainly fish small forest preserve and state park lakes out of a 10 foot Porta-Bote with a 45# trolling motor and over the past four years I have been using a Humminbird Fishin Buddy 120 so this will obviously be a major upgrade for me that I want to get right.

I have been going back and forth between the Garmin Striker 7 sv/GPS w/ Chirp and the Humminbird Helix 7 si/GPS combo as my budget is $700 tops.

As you seem to be the Humminbird expert on this board, I would appreciate your thoughts and advice.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

[Comfortably Numb]

If you dont want/need Si Raymarine Dragonfly are best in class. They have chirp on the 2d sonar and Di.

[Wayne P.]

13 hours ago, Bassman37 said:

Hi Wayne,

How would you rate the Humminbird chirp vs their non-chirp models? Is there really that much of a difference in clarity (or would I notice it on a 7 inch screen)?

From spending a good bit of time reading comments on this board and others, I have decided that for the type of fishing that I enjoy, mainly casting towards shore, side imaging/GPS is a must for me on a new fish finder. I mainly fish small forest preserve and state park lakes out of a 10 foot Porta-Bote with a 45# trolling motor and over the past four years I have been using a Humminbird Fishin Buddy 120 so this will obviously be a major upgrade for me that I want to get right.

I have been going back and forth between the Garmin Striker 7 sv/GPS w/ Chirp and the Humminbird Helix 7 si/GPS combo as my budget is $700 tops.

As you seem to be the Humminbird expert on this board, I would appreciate your thoughts and advice.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

Humminbird does not have a CHIRP transducer in their inventory. The CHIRP capable units chirp the standard transducer (cheap CHIRP). The Helix 12 models where the only ones that have built-in CHIRP until this week. The ONIX got software to add built-in CHIRP.

Previously to have CHIRP with the ONIX or ION models it took an extra accessory and third party transducer to do CHIRP--a few more thousand in cost.

I have only been on the water twice using the Helix CHIRP and the location and depths used, I see no benefit with CHIRP other than an adjustable frequency range to prevent cross-talk with other units. I tested with lots of fish present using 200 kHz and its CHIRP range, 83 kHz and its CHIRP range, and the combo 83/200 kHz and its CHIRP range.

To get the full benefit of CHIRP, it takes a low Q transducer designed for CHIRP.

[Bassman37]

Wsyne,

Thanks for the detailed explanation as it is much appreciated!

[BrianMRetter]

Wayne, I have a question for you...I decided to go with the Helix 5 SI/GPS...problem is, I was really hoping it was compatible with Navionics SonarCharts (Great 1' increments on the small lakes I fish) but it appears it isn't...In fact, I don't see anything it is compatible with!  Do you have any advice? 

[buzzed bait]

you'll be happy you didn't get the DI version i think.... i barely if ever use it on mine, just stick with sonar.  BUT now SI, that's probably a different story.  i have ZERO experience with the side image.