I recommend a side scan type unit. It’s a great tool. Down scanning is nice, but less value imo. A 7″ screen can be used and you can toggle between views easy enough to focus on what you need to.
My biggest use for DI is to confirm what my 2d is already displaying; it’s primarily the final decider on whether a mark tight to bottom is structure or a fish. It’s nice, but not necessary.
A 7″ screen would be fine to have a split between sidescan and GPS/sonar. The sidescan is a nice tool to use to find fish or key structure before you even start fishing. It can scan a good distance to the side of the boat, my best luck for detail is around 120′ or less so you can see quite a ways to what is going on in other directions. Obviously the deeper it is the less effective it is. Anything over 40 feet you really need to shorten the distance to the side and I don’t find it real valuable, but shallow water its impressive.
You can move along at a pretty good clip too and get great detail. Less than 10MPH is best, but I have had success at speeds in the 20MPH range but it really depends on how much turbulence there is beneath your boat and if you have the transducer properly installed. 5MPH is perfect. The new elite series from lowrance are packed with features and at a great price.
I’d figure out your budget and get as many features as possible for what you can spend. If you can get SI in your price range then get it. Toggling between screens is super easy on all the models so your screen size will be fine.
If you aren’t worried about connecting the graph to a trolling motor then you can price shop all of them. I like the Hbird units but that’s just a brand preference. Both companies have good products IMO.
If I’m running SI, I’m generally looking for spots. Doesn’t matter if I have an hour or all day, I will flip over to SI at least once an outing just to see if I missed something or can find something new.
Even on my Helix 10 I make SI as large as I can get it when using it, making the gps or sonar screens as small as I can or even taking them off entirely. It just gives the most detail.
Also getting proficient in quickly adjusting settings makes a world of difference. Let’s say I’m working a bank and to my left is shore and to the right is deep open water with no value at the moment. I will turn off the right side beam and enlarge the left side to be able to see as far as I can clearly see. This gives the most valuable information on the biggest screen size possible. Knowing where those and other settings are located is key on any size screen.
Much appreciated. Sounds like I should be leaning HBird, they seem to have more features packed into one unit than Lowrance does. Not a fan of getting a 2nd transducer if I want the SI. Have any of you used a 5 inch split screen? I had only been looking at used unit prices.. woof! Not sure if im ready for that kinda commitment yet! 
Much appreciated. Sounds like I should be leaning HBird, they seem to have more features packed into one unit than Lowrance does. Not a fan of getting a 2nd transducer if I want the SI. Have any of you used a 5 inch split screen? I had only been looking at used unit prices.. woof! Not sure if im ready for that kinda commitment yet!
You don’t need a second transducer for the Lowrance Elite Ti models to have SI. Its built right into the one transducer along with 2D and CHIRP.
I have a 5″ HDS that I use the split screen at times, but it is pretty small. I run 3 HDS units in my boat. 2 – 7″ models at the console and 1 – 5″ up front up front. I dedicate 1 of the 2 console models to mapping and the other is sonar with a SI split.
You NEED side imaging to catch fish. PERIOD
I wouldn’t be caught dead with anything less than a 10″ screen for maximum fish catching ability
So that must be the difference between Elite and Hook models? Last years models of Hook units are marked down quite a bit at Cabelas. Have you used their GPS/DI? I’d be curious to see the difference if i did decide I didnt want to spend the extra money on SI.
Not sure what article you are copying and pasting that quote from, skinny water. Most fish I’ve caught in my life have come without any depth finder whatsoever, so to say people need the latest and newest technology is pretty wild to me. And I simply dont have $1200+ to drop
You NEED side imaging to catch fish. PERIOD
I wouldn’t be caught dead with anything less than a 10″ screen for maximum fish catching ability
Wow? Jealous of someone getting a”fish finder” or your really not that good at catching fish the “old way”?
If your going to spend the $ to get SI then I recommend studying the heck out of it and understand what everything your seeing stands for. I just “had to have” the si when I bought a used unit 2 years ago. I still find myself going back to “old school” cause that’s what I’m used to and understand. If I had more time to just play with it on the water I would but for me, I catch myself going back to what I know and what I have confidence in. I am in no way stating that SI is not an important tool, just be prepared to spend some time learning and understanding this technology. Best to learn it and understand it without a pole in your hand.
Just my 2 cents
So that must be the difference between Elite and Hook models? Last years models of Hook units are marked down quite a bit at Cabelas. Have you used their GPS/DI? I’d be curious to see the difference if i did decide I didnt want to spend the extra money on SI.
The GPS in the Hook, Elite and HDS Gen 2 models are all the same. The Gen3 and Carbon have a faster GPS meaning that it pings satellites at a faster rate then the predecessors making it a bit more accurate and better refresh rate on the plotter.
The GPS on the other units is still very accurate and I never have trouble locking in on Satellites even with my boat parked in my garage.
Humminbird had widespread problems with their internal GPS a few years back. So many problems that they actually shipped the units with an external puck as well. I believe those have been resolved now however.
I have two Lowrance HDS units on the console because I want to see SI, DI, 2D, and Chart/GPS all at the same time. Can’t efficiently do that with just one unit. So my 10″ is dedicated to SI, DI, 2D sonar and a 7″ dedicated to the map/GPS. Trying to do it all on just one unit is possible but you’ll be constantly be toggling between screens and get frustrated. My SI uses the full width of the 10″ screen and I still need my readers to see all the detail. Bigger is better.
I like Humminbirds’s SI better than Lowrance, but Lowrance’s is still very impressive and for everything else I prefer Lowrance’s features and performance. Personal preference.
One unit is a refurb from Cabelas and two are used from EBay. I’ve had great luck with used units, but it’s a crap shoot and I got lucky.
Btw, if you want to mark GPS waypoints on the console unit while you’re driving around, you want an external GPS receiver mounted near the transom-mounted transducer. Check if your models will support that. With Lowrance all you need is NMEA network.
Side Imaging is nice but Chirp and Down Imaging are a lot easier to understand for most of us. If I had to choose SI would be at the bottom of my list. Unless your doing a lot of shallow water casting (bass) or looking for suspended Crappies.Down Imaging and Chirp will help you put a few more fish in the boat.
Side Imaging is nice but Chirp and Down Imaging are a lot easier to understand for most of us. If I had to choose SI would be at the bottom of my list. Unless your doing a lot of shallow water casting (bass) or looking for suspended Crappies.Down Imaging and Chirp will help you put a few more fish in the boat.
Its funny you mention that because I love pitching light jigs/ raps at shore. By far my favorite way to catch walleyes. Can you tell I’ve been fishing from shore a little bit too much in recent years?? I feel i will be able to find plenty of applications for it, just not sure how useful it would be on just a 5 inch screen.
Side Imaging is nice but Chirp and Down Imaging are a lot easier to understand for most of us. If I had to choose SI would be at the bottom of my list. Unless your doing a lot of shallow water casting (bass) or looking for suspended Crappies.Down Imaging and Chirp will help you put a few more fish in the boat.
Chirp is nice but essentially doesn’t really “add” anymore to the screen other than better definition and clarity. And being the newest tech out there it comes with a price tag that guys just getting into it cant afford quite yet.
Regular 2d is an amazing tool when you know what you are looking at.
Personally if you can get into a SI unit I would. 5″ is small, but it does work, just have to be a little closer to the screen. Are you gonna be able to see everything you would on a 10″, no, but in time you can upgrade. What you will be able to see is structure quite well, and most my SI viewing is looking at spots. Having confidence on key areas of structure is just as good as seeing fish IMO.
You NEED side imaging to catch fish. PERIOD
I wouldn’t be caught dead with anything less than a 10″ screen for maximum fish catching ability
10″?? Common man! You cannot catch fish with anything less then a 16″…. gotta have two of them too!
DI sees farther out the side than 2D and is way more useful than regular 2D on Lowrance units. That’s partly because Lowrance has a dedicated DI transducer whereas legacy Humminbird don’t, so their DI sucked. Newer Hbird units license the Lowrance technology and are much better, though I don’t know which models started using that.
For those of you that care, I did find a decent deal on a Helix 7 SI on craigslist a few weeks back. Memorial day weekend was my first time messing around with it. Still don’t really know what I’m looking at, but I assume that will come with time. Fishing was pretty tough, but I did get my biggest walleye of the weekend only because I saw a pile of rocks (that I never knew existed) on a big sand bar. Swung back around and trolled over it and smacked her. Pretty neat technology!! Next up: navionics regional map!
. Fishing was pretty tough, but I did get my biggest walleye of the weekend only because I saw a pile of rocks (that I never knew existed) on a big sand bar. Swung back around and trolled over it and smacked her. Pretty neat technology!!
That’s what its all about! Nice work.
only because I saw a pile of rocks (that I never knew existed) on a big sand bar.
And that my friends is how you get hooked on using this as a tool. Obviously I’m late to the discussion, but you have already got yourself on the path you need to be on. Regardless of how often you get out, the key is to USE IT. Study it, compare what you mark to images in 2D, DI, and so on. You may need to adjust your screen speed or other settings to get the clearest image that you can get. But with regular use, you’ll get it dialed in and will see many new things that you didn’t know was there 
I soon realized that all of this technology will not be learned in a week. New goal is to just simply understand how one little thing works each trip out. So many different layouts, options, and views on there than I know what to do with. Gives me something to mess around with while the fish aren’t biting! Thank you to everyone that pitched in to help me out. So many different choices out there..
I know you specified bird or lowrance. But I would look at the Garmin Striker 73 SV. Easy to use, excellent picture, side imaging, down imaging, and traditional all in one unit at an affordable price! I just got one myself, and the Garmin was an easy choice over the other high priced “name brands”.
I soon realized that all of this technology will not be learned in a week. New goal is to just simply understand how one little thing works each trip out. So many different layouts, options, and views on there than I know what to do with. Gives me something to mess around with while the fish aren’t biting! Thank you to everyone that pitched in to help me out. So many different choices out there..
Search YouTube for Doug Vahrenberg, The Technological Angler or HumminBirdTV for lots of videos on how to use your new depth finder. All three have good information. Tight lines and happy learning.
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