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Old 08-31-11, 12:43 AM   #1
Fraze5150
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Question Advice on Hummingbird fish finders

I have been doing some reaserch into which fishfinder I sould get when I get my new boat. I have come across the
Hummingbird 898c SI Combo. I really like the ideal of a sidescaning sonar system. I was wondering if any of you guys have this particular fishfinder or one that is close to it. I would like to know how you like it and if it is really worth the money. I plan on rigging my new boat with the best that I can afford right off the bat because i plan on keeping this boat for sevral years.
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Old 08-31-11, 01:03 AM   #2
TN_Bassin
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It has a lot to do with what you will be doing with it once you get it(this consideration will have a lot to do with whether or not it's worth the money). On Ky lake for example SI is invaluable for eliminating unproductive waters as well as keying in on what exactly is down there. Back on Cheatham lake I hardly ever use the SI for anything other than a standard fish finder(depth, temp). The difference of the 2 lakes is what I'm fishing. On KY lake you use the SI to show you ledges and drops, on Cheatham it's mostly shallow water stuff with a few creek mouths.

Personally I would get the SI.

Also if you do decide on the SI unit, understand there will be a learning process involved.

http://www.bassfishin.com/bassfishin...earchid=330062
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Old 08-31-11, 01:17 AM   #3
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Yeah I was expecting a major learning curve with one of thes fishfinders.
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Old 08-31-11, 05:41 AM   #4
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I have the 898 and yes, it's worth the money. Go for the largest screen size you can afford. Make sure you get the PRINTED manual with your unit. HB shipped mine with just a DVD for instruction. A call to their customer service got me the printed one. You can use the simulator mode to practice with the manual and even pre-set the settings you like before even going on the water. I also recommend the Navionics chip to go with.
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Old 08-31-11, 07:08 AM   #5
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I live on ky lake and yes si is a good tool,I dont own one quite that good but still an si a 755c and a 785c2I,yet tend not to use it but for main lake as fish this stuff mostly.

Im comfortable being able to step out and walk to shore,and this shallow they arnt of much use,any of them.
But a decent tool for deeper water,invaluable showing off to the side where formally one did not see.
Buy preloaded dont mess with having a chip or chips as takes several to cover ky lake in some series.Most come without the transducer thats extra if a gps unit,pays to read and click on more info.

Last edited by lilmule; 08-31-11 at 07:19 AM.
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Old 08-31-11, 05:50 PM   #6
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mule.......oyu know we all hate you now right? "living" on a lake like that is jsut plain mean man. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
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Old 08-31-11, 06:50 PM   #7
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The learning curve is really not that bad if you look at the thousands of images that describe what they are showing like the SI Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/ and my Video Clips on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/imonbass...A73CD339FC6B95

All 4 models will do the same thing 798ci HD, 898c, 998c and 1198c. The major difference is screen size between the 898c, 998c and 1198c the 798ci HD has a few other differences like non-customizeable screen and only 455 kHz frequency on the SI/DI. Other than that they all operate similar and fire question to me if you have questions. I'm here to help.

I would totally have to disagree on Shallow Water SI is not useful. It's probably the most powerful sonar for shallow water. Coverage Area, Coverage Area, Coverage Area. IF you can't find em, you can't catch em and coverage area is the number one key in soanr to catch more fish! With Side Imaging the user selects the amount of area he wants to cover to the left and right. WIth DI and 2D soanr the range is defined by the sonar. 200 kHz 20° Traditional 2D Sonar only has a coverage of approximately 1/3 of depth so in 3' of water you are covering 1 foot of bottom, 6 Foot Deep 2' of bottom coverage and 9' deep only 3' of coverage...you don't get past the boat. You might as well buy a Piranaha Max Depth Finder for seeing how deep it is. With Side Imaging the Area of Coverage can be hundreds of feet... that's how powerful Side Imaging is! Look at these shallow water images and compare the 2D Coverage 1/3 of Depth and the SI Coverage...

Look at the fish on this drop...2D would have missed them...2.1 Foot of Coverage with 2D Sonar - 200' foot of coverage with SI



Look at the rocks you can tell where they start and end and the coverage for 2D would only be like 1.25 foot and SI 200' of coverage...



Look at all these fish! 2D Coverage would only have been 2.25 foot of coverage...



I would not underestimate the power of Side Imaging in Ultra Shallow Water and especially on the Trolling Motor!
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Old 08-31-11, 09:11 PM   #8
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Well to me 3.8 is deep,almost ledge fishin
I do own one step less in the 755c and 785c2i ,neither at 1.5 or 2ft are usefull,my old scout bottom line still is as one transducer aimed at water level it wont show depth at all or even read it just operates sideways.
They are great tools for showing off to each side whats there providing there is some depth,generally showing 4 times the depth in distance.And whats suitable for most people and most fishing situations just not this.

Ok now show me those cattle egrets feet.
I do however like humminbirds even though i own a 785c2i which other than a gps unit is useless,what or who invented it along with smartcraft transcuders I hope is in the unemployent line-800 plus for a gps depth finder one ties a puck on a fishing line after stopping to read depth-transducer not included.My 755c is ok.for both gps and depth.
Caution many models use weird costly transducers read and avoid such.
Regardless if even a higher model costing 3k it wont out operate my 60 dollar scout with its built in shore filter for pure sidefinding.
But any tool is usefull for what it was built for the modern si-di 3d is great for showing contour to each side and depth both of which the old scout does not.
For showing contour of a main lake curve or ledge cant be beat,as covers a lot more water,and down and out.My old scout is just out,but wouldnt trade it for a 998.

Last edited by lilmule; 08-31-11 at 09:43 PM.
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Old 08-31-11, 09:27 PM   #9
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DougV is certainly the expert, and I agree with him 100%, SI becomes even more valuable in shallow water, otherwise there is no tool on conventional fishfinders to give you any coverage area. I have sold many fishfinders made by several mfg's, I have not seen any in the stores that do not come with the transducer. Maps are another item that can add expense to your purchase but in my mind they are worth the investment, pre-loaded maps contain general information about the lake you are fishing with very simplistic topo maps. If you purchase a chip from like Navionics you will be amazed at the level of detail in the maps. In my opinion it is money well spent if you are on lakes that you may not fish week in and week out, and even then they still offer several advantages over the pre-loaded maps.
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Old 08-31-11, 09:54 PM   #10
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If you bought navionics hotmaps,you would need three chips for ky lake,first one stops just after paris landing even though it says tn they mean first 30 miles,second one takes you from big sandy to I 40 where one needs a river section.
My preload I dont have to change anything so pros and cons of both.$300 dollars worth of maps later you may wish it was preloaded as still need another chip.
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Old 08-31-11, 10:01 PM   #11
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I will admit Navionics does partition Ky lake into several sections to make money. Don't know if the other map companies are better about it. But anyways, getting off topic. HB's are good units.

Si works well in shallows less than 10 foot, but when I say shallow, I mean 2ft or less(yes a boat can get that shallow).
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Old 08-31-11, 10:15 PM   #12
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Is KY lake the only lake you fish? If it is then I see your arguement, if not, just use your pre-loaded map for KY lake and enjoy the regional Navionics for the many other lakes that allot of people fish. The other thing about pre-loads are that they don't cover allot of the smaller lakes in the region, you get much better coverage for these type of lakes with Navionics. In the end its your decision, if your happy with the basics and they get the job done for you, I say use them till your blue in the face.
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Old 08-31-11, 10:29 PM   #13
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Mostly not all occasionally old hickory or pickwick or gville and the preload is plenty for me coupled wth the savings and pia in changing chips.
And ky lake isnt the only nav map that one needs more than one chip in order to go more than 30 miles in any direction.So for those less healed with$ and with say less needs its a good option the preload.If one felt they might need more then a preload and a hi def chip for a certain local might be in order.
To me basics are the preloaded blank outline map showing no depth contour,and the majority of nav maps dont show 50 acre lakes.Those of 1500 acres are seldom on them,try finding beech fork near huntington wva,east lynn 30 miles away yes.

Last edited by lilmule; 08-31-11 at 10:37 PM.
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Old 08-31-11, 10:34 PM   #14
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Like I said before, if it works for you then use it. Don't understand why you are having such a hard time with the chips, it could not be easier with the current fishfinders. But then it don't sound like you have much experience with them anyway.
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Old 08-31-11, 10:56 PM   #15
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Not having a hard time with the chips simply dont use them.
As far as experience am versed enough to make my own chips,if desired.
Most gps units read more than one format,it is however unfortunate they all dont have a standardization.Then no one would need a chip company.
Most companies are in for $ its a business world.
If one wanted a hi def map of ky lake hydragrafx makes a side finder map one ment for computer but enc will make it work in just about any gps unit,they are the reason a high def navionics cd isnt available for ky or barkley,they took on the big dogs and won in court its copywright.
So if I desired the real thing id buy it locally.Not an enhanced noaa map.
The preload shows contour and depth which for my simple needs is enough.
The actual use is up to each operator and their own needs
Bring your boxfull of chips to ky lake,my gps unit will name the bay im in will yours,they tend to name only large ones.

Last edited by lilmule; 08-31-11 at 11:04 PM.
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Old 08-31-11, 11:16 PM   #16
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Want some shallow water images...These are all from the trolling motor mounted side imaging and less than 4 foot deep some 200kHz 20 degree sonar is around a foot or smaller coverage...Side Imaging still gives you more...







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Old 08-31-11, 11:20 PM   #17
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It does better than I thought,but still like my old scout for shallow.
With new models comes improvement.My 90 deg would do about 15 ft either side,the scout 160,somewhat however limited at times due to thickness of pads.
Its a simple plain screen no frills shows only fish,no structure ,occasionally marks a stump as a fish
For depth of any kind where one wants to view structure the sf wider angle 180 deg are the best.

Last edited by lilmule; 08-31-11 at 11:27 PM.
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Old 08-31-11, 11:33 PM   #18
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I would say that in the future they will get more and more of the smaller local lakes added to there list for High contour maps so that it will be worth while to have the new maps on the SD cards. Right now this is kinda of a new thing so they dont have a lot of the smaller lakes.
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Old 08-31-11, 11:35 PM   #19
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I'm certainly not disputing whether or not side imaging works in shallow water. Just the effectiveness. I've been using my 1197 for a while now and it hasn't shown me anything I couldn't see with my eyes at those depths. Plus at depths less than 3 foot, I generally turn my graphs off. Call me crazy but I think the fish can hear it. If I'm totally wrong in this assumption please tell me. I am still learning about side imaging myself, and I find your posts informative.

Anyways this discussion is starting to get off topic. Not far off, but just enough to where it's little help to Fraze.
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Old 08-31-11, 11:45 PM   #20
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Yes it twas somewhat due to me,believe you are right however at least some freq they can hear,and drives me batty as well thus the blank screen scout for super shallow but each to his or her own.
They like any tool are usefull and more so for some things than others,tis but an opinion.
For scouting a main lake ledge your unit is tops.
I do think there are differences between what your gps chip says is down there and what the actual imager shows,thus why myself the preloaded gold.

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Old 09-01-11, 05:55 PM   #21
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Sonar spoking fish...I've never turned my units off. My theory we use rattling baits to entice fish and heck some are using Hydrowaves which are sending soundwaves to entice fish. I've not seen an instance that sonar has spoked the fish but to me anything that gives me a single cast advantage to catch one extra fish...I'm leaving it on.

Here's a cool image I captured of two shallow water stumps and the resident bass hat lived behind them...THe stumps were completely under the water and I caould not see them but the baitfish were there and I made the cast and found the bass's hiding place.



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Old 09-01-11, 09:01 PM   #22
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Sonar most certainly effects fish, to what degree is the question, but you have to explain that image Doug...I kinda make it out, but where are the fish, I only have a little experience with si. Thx.
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Old 09-01-11, 10:11 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TN_Bassin View Post
I will admit Navionics does partition Ky lake into several sections to make money. Don't know if the other map companies are better about it. But anyways, getting off topic. HB's are good units.

Si works well in shallows less than 10 foot, but when I say shallow, I mean 2ft or less(yes a boat can get that shallow).

Not to get too far away from topic, but please help me understand what part of KY lake is not covered in region E, my understanding limited as it may be of KY lake is that it is primarily in KY and TN.


I don't have the chip for that region, but can't understand the need for more than 1 chip to cover this lake.


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Old 09-01-11, 11:00 PM   #24
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Like lilmule said. Well the part about the navionics map stopping at I-40. My chips show everything North of I-40, and granted most people are going to be fishing North of I-40 so this isn't an issue for most. Plus one could argue that Ky lake unofficially ends there, as it is considered the "Lower Tennessee Watershed".

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Old 09-01-11, 11:17 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
Sonar most certainly effects fish, to what degree is the question, but you have to explain that image Doug...I kinda make it out, but where are the fish, I only have a little experience with si. Thx.
On the Right side you see a Stump but if you examine the sonar shadow it is actually two stumps - this is where the fish was hiding. Event thou these stumps where in 1.6 foot of water they were not exposed above the surface or near enough that you could see in the muddy water.

On the left side there is 3 schools of baitfish and you can see the shadows of all three. The upper one creates a shape like a bat.

This image I was scanning 50' to each side with my Trolling Motor Mounted Side Imaging so I was covering 100' with Side Imaging. 200kHz 2D soanr would have a coverage of approximately 6" in this example. But being able to positively know what was under the water's surface I was able to place a cast and catch the bass that was waiting for an easy meal. This is my favorite style of fishing - fishing square bills in very shallow water. Notice was temp was almost 90 degrees. Resident Bass live shallow all year long. And this is the perfect example I look for when fishing this way finding bait and ambush spots and the rewards can be big. Like it was here.

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