Do bass fisherman use side image technology?

[GUP72]

I was curious if Bass fisherman use side image technology? Specifically the Humminbird? I mainly catfish but find it invaluable. The reason I ask this is I have broken 3 transducers this year, $300 each!!!! The plastic keeps cracking and the mount just falls apart and the ears on the transducer break off just below the mounting hole. I developed my own mount and can even reuse the broken transducers so I should be good for several years now!

[Bassboss]

Quite a few guys here use side imaging units... I'm a shore angler, so I'm not one of those people, but someone will get to you pretty soon buddy!

[GUP72]

Originally Posted by Bassboss

Quite a few guys here use side imaging units... I'm a shore angler, so I'm not one of those people, but someone will get to you pretty soon buddy!

I like your signature! "think like a fish, no matter how weird it gets. My uncle is a carpenter and is forever trimming exteriors on houses. He has always told me to "think like a raindrop" when I am working with him. My dad's famous quote is " if it ain't the hard way it ain't the right way". How true that has proven to be....

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by GUP72

I like your signature! "think like a fish, no matter how weird it gets. My uncle is a carpenter and is forever trimming exteriors on houses. He has always told me to "think like a raindrop" when I am working with him. My dad's famous quote is " if it ain't the hard way it ain't the right way". How true that has proven to be....

Their really is allot of truth behind that isn't there!

[carolina-rig-01]

I had a side imaging unit on the Ranger I traded off a few years ago. It was the Humminbird 797. I found it to be a very usefull tool to find stuff that most guys would never know was there. Against my better judgement I let the unit go with the boat when I traded it for my Triton because I planned on buying a bigger unit. Finally 2 years later I am getting ready to order an 1198.

[Ranger Guy]

In your word: Invaluable.

I would like to say congrats to your handy work. Thats a very nice durable looking mount. You might even consider continuing to wrap the aluminum all the way around the bottom in the form of the 2 ribs. Maybe cut it down to only 3/4" tall underneath. Looks like some good marketability potential there?

I use an 1198 at the console w/ a transom mount transducer and a 998 at the bow w/ a trolling motor transducer. Almost 2 years old and have never had any issues.

Go to freshwater reservoirs mostly. I also am anal about everything and very careful w/ all of my gear.

I find them extremely useful. I structure fish so I feel blessed to have them to locate structures that I would never see on sonar alone. Usually I'll use a 3 way screen on while cruising around and sonar/DI at the bow. I'll occasionally use side when I'm not moving the trolling motor just to peer out 60' or so.

This past Sunday they helped us find several 2 - 4 lb'ers in 14' of open 52 deg water where I would have never fished. Several boats beating the bank came in empty.

I find myself already this year seeing more things on them or at least understanding more things that I am seeing on them then I did last year so I'm looking forward to some great fishing the more I figure out....

The only thing that I can say I wonder about is when I first installed the console unit, I could have swore that I was getting a depth reading at higher speed down the lake but now I can't get any reading until I stop or slow down. Everything looks normal and as it should, so I dunno.

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[bamabassman]

i agree about the "straps", and i LOVE the bracket. looks VERY secure. of ocurse side inmaging is on my WISH list. but i don't have one. maybe one day.......

[jasonfish320]

I had the 998cSI unit on my Nitro that I sold and the unit went with it. Although I used the SI a lot, I too had the same problem with higher speed readings for my 2D sonar and it's extremely irritating, I've heard that a shoot thru ducer is the best approach. The side imaging was crucial for me when pre-fishing, it literally saved me hours. I would highly suggest getting to know your unit inside and out and just spend a day or two playing with it out on the water, a lot of fishermen don't take full advantage of the technology that these units can provide and a larger number don't even know what they are looking at most of the time. It took me a lot of time/practice before I could look at the graph and tell what I was looking at.

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Ranger Guy

Looks like some good marketability potential there?
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+1, having ripped off a few transducers(and not those expensive SI ones either), might be good for other models too.