Which locator where

Hi,
I’m looking at outfitting a boat with 2 Humminbird locators.
There’s so much info out there, my head is starting to hurt.
What are your opinions on which unit to put on the bow and which on the console?
Larger vs smaller – DI vs SI vs Downscanastan – GPS where, Transducers glassed in, on the transom, on the trolling motor… Dang, there goes my head again.
Any clarity would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
Brian

Good place to start with this is look at how you fish and what you want your electronics to do. Would bet the guys vertical jigging for walleyes and those casting docks for bass want there electronics for different reason. Then look at your budget and see what fits.

Getting out in a boat with someone that has what you are thinking about buying is a good idea to see how it actually works on the water.

Best Username Ever!!!!!

Get the biggest screens your wallet will allow. I have birds but a few buddies have lowrance and they all work. Have heard stories of bad lowrance customer service but have not had first hand experience with it. I can say HB has great service and I had a unit fixed and returned in 3 days including shipping on both ends.

Thanks for the replies,
About 60% casting weed lines and deep structure for Muskie & smallmouth/ 40% hunkered down near fish cribs and structure for walleye.
If I get one SI unit and one other DI / ?. Which one would you put on the bow vs console. Which would you get with a bigger screen?
I’ve read quite a bit on the forums and am still confused.
Thanks,
Brian

I think Mike said it best about getting out with someone and seeing what you like/don’t like.
I do a lot of spot-on-spot fishing and deep water structure. I like having my largest screen up in the bow so everything is easy to see.

Down Imaging side-by-side with standard 2D is a must when picking structure apart. I know its not the best description, but I consider DI to be more like an X-ray. Standard 2D will give you the reflective echo of the signal and show you density by the intensity of the return. In a case of fish cribs, it could show limbs or part of the structure as fish, OR not show the fish because parts of the structure will “echo” much stronger and over-shadow the fish. Having the DI image to compare it with makes very short order of dissecting what is actually there.
Another example is turbulence in the water. Air or debris coming off of a wing dam can show in 2D as a cloud or mass of stuff. The DI will give a clearer image of what is there and again, easier to depict what your really looking at.

When I’m in search mode, is when I’m at the console with the big motor running. This is where I like the side scan. I run the screen rate high enough that I can cruise about 5.5-6mph. As I’m zig-zagging around, I’m looking for oddities that I want to fish. I’ll see them to the side and turn and go back over it. As I dial in the spot, hit “Mark” and drop a way point on it, or a series of way points to identify a ledge or break, or pocket.

I recently sold one of my 1197’s and now only have one locator in my boat It’s a bit of a pain, but I rotate the ram mount 180 degrees as I go from the console to the front deck. Even though I’m down to one locator, I find that the way I use my electronics haven’t changed.

The only thing I’m going to do differently this year is incorporating an additional Ram mount and fabricate an adjustable arm for my Marcum LX-9 & Camera head. I want a quick release for the camera head cable in the event it gets snagged on something.

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Hi,

I’m looking at outfitting a boat with 2 Humminbird locators.

There’s so much info out there, my head is starting to hurt.

What are your opinions on which unit to put on the bow and which on the console?

Larger vs smaller – DI vs SI vs Downscanastan – GPS where, Transducers glassed in, on the transom, on the trolling motor… Dang, there goes my head again.

Any clarity would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

Brian

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What kind of boat? Specifically Tiller vs. Wheel.

Bigger is always better. SI/DI are a must in my boat for at least one unit. A lot of guys will say that SI/DI at the bow is awesome. I haven’t had any experience in that to say yes or no.

I had glassed in transducers. I didn’t like them and added an extra high-speed external transducer to my Skeeter.

You can get by with just one unit. Especially with I-Pilot Link technology. Turns out I was spending way more time in the stern even when “fishing” in a traditional trolling motor fashion. Since I could run the trolling motor from anywhere in the boat.

However as a Musky/Bass Guy I would assume you like the casting deck on the bow and spend a lot of time up there.

Have you checked out Jason Halfen’s page and watched the SI/DI videos?

Thanks for the info. I checked out some of the videos on Jason’s site. Looks like I’ll have some learning to do.

I’m thinking the larger graph up front, so it’s easier to see from the bike seat and the smaller one on the console where I’ll be able to see it pretty easily from the drivers seat.
Is that how most folks configure theirs?

Any tips are greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Brian

I see most boats having the larger screen at the wheel and the smaller screen up front. It is way easier to see the map on the large screen when you’re haluin on the lake/river. It is also nice if you are searching for fish and still driving the boat at the wheel. It really comes down to how you want it set up and what you like. You could rig them so you could easily move them by using RAM mounts and leaving yourself plenty of extra cable tucked away. Try it out, if you don’t like it switch em up.