Panoptix "Down" or "Forward" Mounted in Reverse for Trolling

First time poster, and the Great Lakes Panoptix video led me here. We’re looking at adding a Garmin unit with Panoptix for next year, and it will be used for trolling for Salmon and Lake Trout on Lake Michigan in depths anywhere from 10′-300′ as well. I really like the video put together by the guys on here showcasing the use of Panoptix in Lake Ontario for that very application. My question is, if you had to pick just one of the Panoptix transducers for this application, would you go with the “Down” model as showcased in the video or get the “Forward” transom mount model and mount it facing rearward? I like the idea of being able to watch how fish respond to the downriggers and the baits on those rods like in the video with the “Down” transducer. However, it seems that with the “Forward” transducer mounted facing back toward your baits you could accomplish that as well as possibly pick up the baits on other rods (i.e. dipsy divers and shorter planner board lines). We also run baits on our downriggers 100′ back sometimes and it seems like the “Forward” would pick those baits up better. Lastly, salmon are known to trail baits for a while before striking or leaving and it seems like the “Forward” would show that better with the way the picture is projected, especially when they hang back for a while before coming up to a bait. My primary concern with using the “Forward” transducer in this fashion is the depth that it will effectively work too. Garmin states it will grab objects as far in front of the boat as 100′ feet but how far down will it go for that range?

Thoughts? Has anyone tried the “Forward” style transducer mounted facing to the rear for deep salmon trolling purposes? Thanks in advance!

Are the forward transducers able to read in that deep of water? I have the down view and I haven’t fished in deep enough water to see both the ball and the lure at the same time. I guess if I shortened the line out from the ball I could see them, but I like the cranks to be at least 20′ behind the rigger ball. I can still see fish moving up towards the bait just go off the screen when they hit. In general I have been using it in 30-35′ of water trolling with down riggers. It is pretty amazing technology.

Kevin, do you have a link to the video you reference?

mojogunter wrote:

Are the forward transducers able to read in that deep of water? I have the down view and I haven’t fished in deep enough water to see both the ball and the lure at the same time. I guess if I shortened the line out from the ball I could see them, but I like the cranks to be at least 20′ behind the rigger ball. I can still see fish moving up towards the bait just go off the screen when they hit. In general I have been using it in 30-35′ of water trolling with down riggers. It is pretty amazing technology.

That’s why I’m thinking the Forward version might work better to see both the downrigger weights and the lures behind them, and then see fish come up and trail the baits or hit them. I just don’t know how deep the forward view will work. I might try giving Garmin a call and speaking with one of their engineers.

Kevin Leach wrote:

First time poster, and the Great Lakes Panoptix video led me here. We’re looking at adding a Garmin unit with Panoptix for next year, and it will be used for trolling for Salmon and Lake Trout on Lake Michigan in depths anywhere from 10′-300′ as well. I really like the video put together by the guys on here showcasing the use of Panoptix in Lake Ontario for that very application. My question is, if you had to pick just one of the Panoptix transducers for this application, would you go with the “Down” model as showcased in the video or get the “Forward” transom mount model and mount it facing rearward? I like the idea of being able to watch how fish respond to the downriggers and the baits on those rods like in the video with the “Down” transducer. However, it seems that with the “Forward” transducer mounted facing back toward your baits you could accomplish that as well as possibly pick up the baits on other rods (i.e. dipsy divers and shorter planner board lines). We also run baits on our downriggers 100′ back sometimes and it seems like the “Forward” would pick those baits up better. Lastly, salmon are known to trail baits for a while before striking or leaving and it seems like the “Forward” would show that better with the way the picture is projected, especially when they hang back for a while before coming up to a bait. My primary concern with using the “Forward” transducer in this fashion is the depth that it will effectively work too. Garmin states it will grab objects as far in front of the boat as 100′ feet but how far down will it go for that range?

Thoughts? Has anyone tried the “Forward” style transducer mounted facing to the rear for deep salmon trolling purposes? Thanks in advance!

I guess I don’t see the advantage to fishing a forward transducer on the transom. What many guys do with the down, myself included, is mount it backwards and then use the built in adjust-ability of the bracket to tip the transducer face rearward about 20 degrees or so. This allows the down transducer to be aimed at the baits, downrigger balls, etc. that are positioned in the water column well behind the boat.

Also, don’t forget you have 45 degrees of adjustment fore and aft in the menu as well. I find I can CLEARLY see downrigger balls, downrigger line clips, spoons and fish with 30′ of line behind the downrigger clips to my spoons when I run 16 – 23 degrees of AFT adjustment with my current set-up using a down transducer mounted in the manner I mentioned above.

PS – there’s a setting in the menu that allows you to “flip” the image that is displayed on your fish finders. When you mount a down transducer “backwards” that means the port side of the boat is displayed on the right side or your screen, starboard on the left. Flipping the display in the menu re-orientates the displays so everything appears correctly and intuitively.

Tim Bossert wrote:

Kevin, do you have a link to the video you reference?

I think he’s talking about this one.

I am starting to think about this as well. Do you think that you could trolling motor mount the p-22, just aim the trolling motor and unit towards the bottom and rear of the boat, and use the kicker to troll?

I would think it would go far enough back to see the rigger balls. Anyone tried this yet?