Anyone using a side imaging unit?

I’ve been considering getting one of the Humminbird units. All the pictures that are on their website and that I’ve seen from other users are really cool but it seems almost all of the pictures that I’ve seen are from reservoirs where there’s lots of trees, stumps, roadbeds…, not natural lakes or rivers. Just wondering if you’ve been using one and found it helpful for your bass fishing here on the Mississippi and/or on other WI lakes ? Thanks.

I ran a small humminbird (797) on my Crestliner, but sold that boat two falls ago. That small unit taught me a ton about large lake structure….seeing the defined edges of (and holes within) weedbeds, seeing isolated rockpiles (the best kinds….the ones not on maps), seeing scattered, suspended fish, finding cribs, etc. All of that was on lakes and reserviors in MN and WI.

Last year, I ran a 997c on a Skeeter WX 1880 that we used on the Mississippi to film a couple of IDO-TV episodes. You haven’t really seen a wingdam, or a washboard bottom on a river until you’ve seen them on side imaging. No problem identifying fish either!

I’m so conviced of the power of side imaging that the Skeeter WX 1880 that I’ll be running in the FLW this year will be equipped with two units: an 1197 at the console, and a 997 that I can move from kicker to bow. I already know that a big portion of my prefishing will be done by staring at a graph.

Just got mine on Fridy (997c). Can’t wait to get it in the water.

I am currently running one on my skeeter also. I just got it a few weeks ago from Skeeter boat center so I am still playing and fine tunning it yet, but it has been nothing but impressive for me, so far. I have a few scrren shots that I have taken from the last couple times out, BUT they are still on the card which I forgot in the locator. Next time down I will try and remember to grab it and I will post a few pics of what I have got so far. By the way I have only used it on the Mississippi, so yes, they work just as well in the river

I have used them on WI lakes but not on the river. You can see logs, bridge piers, weed beds. I also use it a lot on one lake that has cribs all over the bottom. Kind of neat to see exactly what is down there. And I will mark all the cribs with it so that I can find them on the ice. I think I have more fun watching what is on the bottom than I do using for something constructive. Keeps things interesting when trolling around.

I bought a 1197 this year and it is sweet. the detail is awesome. It will help you find fish and structure. you can see every rock log etc on it. It helps find fish but it also teaches you about the stucture you are fishing. The larger screen is great if you want to split screen. I put a high speen transducer and a Y cable so I can use it at speeds like my lowrance 112. so I was able to move my 112 to the bow. I have not been searching new structure much with it yet but will be doing so more and more. If at the vary least it looks pretty darn cool.

Will never have another boat without a SI unit. I ran a 797 for 2 years and upgraded boats to one with 997 unit. It is truly unbelievable what you are missing by NOT having one. I have used it on lakes, rivers and resevoirs. Truly amazing.

All I have is the small 797c2, but yes they are really good. I’ve found things on a lake I’ve fished for years that I never knew was there. I’ve found big rocks way under the water. Pockets in the weedline that I didn’t know were there. I snapped many pictures from it and saved them all to my computer to look at later. It’s also neat to be able to have the coordinates to go with those pictures.

As soon as I get richer I will get one of the larger units. That might be awhile though.

What about the shallower lakes? Our local lake is only 8′ or so at its deepest. Do those units have a lot of surface clutter? What about thick algae blooms? Thanks

My computer crashed at work today while trying to post. As stated above, it works great. As for less than 10fow, here is a sample. I was concentrating on transitions between bedrock and (whatever) type of rock it was projecting up with a little rock snot on it for smallies

One thing to keep in mind for the SI, is to get familiar with the screen speed. I have mine set to give me the best image at 4.5 to 5 mph Here is from my 1197c SI NVB

I have had the 797c2 for two years now, 90% of my fishing time is on the Mississippi river and I love it. It’s almost as much fun exploring with SI as it is fishing, not really, but it is fun.

For the die hard Lowrance guys, I’m hearing rumors of a Lowrance SI in the near future, anyone else hearing this?

I think there is a post somewhere on this site about it?

It’s not a rumor. Lowrance SI will be an add-on to the HDS units. You’ll need a new transducer, and I thought I read something about a new interface box that will go between the transducer and the HDS. It will add up to a bunch more $$ on top of the HDS units.

We’ll have to wait and see how well this all works, especially in the face of proven SI technology from Humminbird.

Anyone know the difference between a NVB and NIB unit? Which do most folks on the river have?

NVB=Navionics Gold and HotMaps Premium Charts pre-loaded.

NIB = usually means “New In Box” if your seeing that on ebay, Craigslist, or other sales sites.

I went on H-Bird site and searched for NIB and blanked