Looking for opinions on Side Scan

OrangePeal · **Joined:** Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:10 pm **Posts:** 75

As the subject says......Looking for opinions.
I am about to purchase a new finder.
Do those of you who have Humminbird SI units do you feel that you got your moneys worth out of them? The cost is alittle over $300 dollars and could be used on other tackle if it's not worth it.
Also how does the Down Scanning feature work for marking fish?

Thanks for your time and like always,
Safe Fishing First,
Jack

TheLandshark · **Posted:** Fri Jun 04, 2010 4:30 pm

Lowrance now has the equivelant called structure scan

flap'n'shad · **Joined:** Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:36 pm **Posts:** 142

Jack ,
I have the Hummingbird 987c and I primarially fish Lake Ontario for the ellusive small mouth bass and I would not be without mine . 1st let me say that the side imaging or even the down scan will not find you fish but , what it does do is shows clear images of structures ( ship wrecks , rock piles , trees , or even weed beds ) of where the fish might be . The thing that is nice is the fact that Hummingbird has both side imaging and down scan ( like Lowrance ) but the big difference is that with Hummingbird it is a free download using existing side scan transducer and it is a $500 add on for Lowrance.

Just my thoughts , hope it helps .

Cheers , flap'n'shad

Maverick · **Joined:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:32 am **Posts:** 586

Personally I think this is classic chevy vs ford debate.
I have a HDS 8 with the structure scan add on and I am extremely happy with it. It def took some getting use to but you CAN most definitely use the Lowrance version to find bait fish and fish.

I may be wrong on this but I was under the assumption that Humminbird uses 'software" to get there downscan image... whereas the transducer the airmar made for lowrance actually has 3 separate elements; left right & down. The free upgrade from HB is just a piece of software that helps create the downscan image, The lowrance Structure Scan kit (LSS-1) comes ready out of the box for left, right and down. Also the way I understand it, if you want to add a second head unit down the road for bow of boat etc you have to have a connection cable with Humminbird which is another 200 + or - a few bucks. The Lowrance can distribute to 3 head units out of the box. here is an example from another forum that did a comparison between the Humminbird downimaging and Lowrance Structurescan.

HB Down imaging 800khz

Lowrance Downscan 800khz

HB Downimaging 455 khz

Lowrance Downscan 455khz

Walleye-Jay · **Joined:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:21 am **Posts:** 159

I went with the hds10, so far I haven't really seen fish on it, the great thing is when set side by side with the sonar you can compare, a few times last night I thought from the sonar I had found fish but the downscan proved otherwise and I was able to tell the so called fish on my sonar were clearly smal logs and branches, pretty amazing unit, I did alot of research and at this time lowrance is the way to go, it's initially more money but you can add a total of 3 hds units to the structure scan box, if you have any questions let me know

TheLandshark · **Posted:** Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:01 am

You definately cant go wrong with either. Some guys will swear by imaging others will tell you its just not worth the extra coin. I would say if you are a bass fisherman or a walleye jigger looking for structure it would be right for you. I didnt feel it would help to improve myself so I went with the Humminbird 1157c. Keep in mind that if you have a problem with your Lowrance unit you are going to be cursing like a drunk sailor when you try to deal with thier customer service. Lowrance has serious customer service issues. I could tell you stories upon stories of guys I know that have tried to deal with them

OrangePeal · **Joined:** Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:10 pm **Posts:** 75

First thanks for the responses.
We bit the bullet on HB.
798c si and 788c with Interlink.
Now if Lk Ontario would settle abit to try them out..

Safe Fishing First,
jack

furious · **Posted:** Sun Jun 06, 2010 12:28 pm

I have used Humminbird for 2 seasons now and it definitely has a few options that are nice.

I now have a Lowrance HDS 8 and an HDS 7 networked. The Lowrance does have the advantage of being able to cover water a lot faster than the HB. With the HB you can't go much more than 4-5 mph. With the Lowrance you can cruise at speeds up to 35 mph. and cover a lot more water faster.

As far as customer service goes, I have never had a problem with either HB or Lowrance. A good dealer is a bonus too, Linden Audiotronic in Kingston is great, I deal with them for everything and he is top notch.

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Looking for opinions on Side Scan

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