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  1. #1
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    Question Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    Looking for opinions from owners/users. Considering purchase for use while drifting or trolling for stripers and catfish in freshwater. Any info appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Joe

  2. #2
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    Re: Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    I've had two and really liked them. They work as advertised. The key is getting the transducer set up just right. The SI works best at slow/idle speeds but it shows you some pretty sweet images.

    Dan

  3. #3
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    Re: Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    I like mine very much. I won't go to the lake without my Hummingbirds. I have had a Humminbird on my boat since way back in the early 1970's and still have my 1984 Humminbird LCR 8000 unit on the front of my boat.

    My new Humminbird 898C SI unit is mounted on the steering console with the SI transducer on the transom. The GPS antenna is mounted on a antenna extension pole right above the transducer's location.

    I like this setup a whole lot. In fact I had to order a new computer to handle the movie files that the 898CSI produces. I needed a new computer for video and pictures too so I finally broke down and bought a new ASUS Computer yesterday.

    I ordered a Video OUT cable from Humminbird to output the screen image to a portable monitor someday.

    If you want to use the unit inside you will need an extra 12 V power supply line and a 12 volt DC power supply source like a car battery or something equivalent.

    The only thing I don't like about the unit is that it's hard to see in the direct sunlight at times.

    Get the largest screen size you can afford ... 1197 would have been my preference but it was not within my budget at that time. But the larger screen size helps to see fish.

    But for seeing structure on the lake bottom and the lay of the land the SI units are great. They cover so much more territory in one pass as compared to regular 2D Only sonar units.

    If you are a guide or serious fisherman or just like electronic toys like me you will have to have one.

    This winter I'll be looking for new things in my lake while reviewing the recordings I took this spring, summer and fall. I purchased a new 24" Wide Screen Monitor for the computer that I may be able to use to view the films or recordings. I think you can record up to 20 minutes on the SDHC cards. I use a 4 GIG class 10 SDHC ScanDisk card for my system.

    You can also get the Digital maps on the SDHC cards from Navionics or with Lake Master. I have the Platinum 2010 Eastern Card which includes most of the big lakes in IN and KY and IL. But if I had to do it all over again I would get the Premium Map chip instead and save money. The Platinum is not all that much better than the Premium as the features of 3 D views are not worth the extra $100 IMHO.

    Hope this review helps.

    PS: the 2D regular Sonar views are really sensitive and when the sensitivity is adjusted upward I can see three bottom returns in shallow water and in deeper water see the algae floating around the thermocline at 27 ft deep. I spotted lots of fish right above the bottom the last time I was out using my unit last week. The fish arches were perfect as I was going around 2 mph in a straight line and the fish were stationary right about 2 ft above the bottom in 30 ft of water.

    You can capture way points along with the screen shot of what the unit is showing on the screen at the time you mark the way point.

    I had to read the manual a couple of time but now it's all second nature in setting the unit up. Just note that some functions may require multiple menu items to be turned on before the function will work. You see if you read the manual.

    I wanted one of these before they came out with them. Long time ago Humminbird came out with some 3D type depth locators that I had my eye one. But back then I could not afford to buy one.

    Be advised that you may spend a lot more time riding around in your boat just looking at the lake and studying the lake's bottom layout instead of fishing. But IMHO the time spent leaning the lake bottom will pay back huge dividends when you start fishing .

    As Buck Perry said. 90% of the fish are in only 10% of the lake. The trick to catching fish is to find the areas that hold most of the fish. Buck was one smart guy. His trolling with spoon plugs works if you use it for a while.

    I hooked a nice 4 lb bass on main lake at KY lake years ago before people even thought about fishing the KY lake Ledges. I trolled across a spot where a creek channel emptied into the Main TN river channel and hooked into the bass on the first pass. He got off as I was using lead lined fishing line with a very heavy trolling rod that was more of a ocean fishing rod and reel setup than one that was used for trolling for bass in freshwater. And you need to have a good supply of spoon plugs as they tend to sink when the boat stops and will get hung up on stumps quickly if you don't control their depth.

    But in the years I have fished KY lake for Bass I learned very early that bouncing crank baits off the stumps produces more fish than a free running plug did. Perhaps it's because that's where the bass are hiding or perhaps it the sudden change of direction as the crank bait or spoon plug hits the stump, stops for a split second and then quickly pulls away in an awkward position.

    I use to scuba dive a lot and have observed crayfish scooting across the silt on the lake bottom. They leave a trail of smoke or silt behind as they propel themselves across the lake bottom. I figure that a crank bait hitting the muddy bottom does the same thing and this is why bass like crank baits. Especially ones with a little orange or red on their bottom and that swim backward like a bomber crank bait. These imitate the fleeting crayfish that bass love to eat.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fisherjoe View Post
    Looking for opinions from owners/users. Considering purchase for use while drifting or trolling for stripers and catfish in freshwater. Any info appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Joe

  4. #4
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    Re: Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    I currently have a 798ci. I think it's great! I have had it for about 7-8 months now using it 3-4 times a week. Not a problem at all! If your going to seriously striper fish I would recommend you buy the hot maps platinum plus chip with it to really define your GPS contours. Mine was $1000.00, $125.00 for the chip. The 798 has the side imaging also and a nice 5" screen. However, if I had it to due over I would have bought the next series up without the side imaging and an 8" screen for the same money. Those BIG screens are REALLY nice! All I do is striper fish so I don't use the side imaging hardly ever. Although it is really cool and if your looking for structure and things like that, it is second to none! It makes out some awesome pictures of anything on the bottom but fish basically show up as dots. It takes some getting used to define fish from other stuff sometimes. Overall they are great units!

  5. #5
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    Re: Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    I have a 798CI. Love it. Have learned to spot bait fish on the side image. Very functional with lots of applications. Spot a ball of bait fish 150 ft off the side, move the curser on the screen over to the baitfish and mark spot, switch screen to gps and troll over to the marked spot. There are several websites that feature tips on interpeting side image screens. I'm still learning functions on mine and I am approching 3rd season.

    check these sites out for interpitation tips.

    http://www.blacklaserlearning.com/in...ask=view&id=38

    http://www.instituteformarineacousti...Sonar.htm#Data

  6. #6
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    Re: Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    Follow up post:

    This past three weeks I have been fishing with a good friend and he has one of the Humminbird 1197's on his boat.

    The switches on the 1197 are different than the one's on my 898 unit. When you press a switch or button on the 1197 you can hear an audible clicking sound to let you know that you pressed the button or the rocker switch. I like that feature. The 1197 also has a submarine diving sound when you turn the unit off. It's funny to hear that sound and it makes me want to yell out. Dive Dive Dive. LOL

    The screen is 10.5" on the diagonal which is huge compared to my 8" screen size.

    Also the 1197 had the text boxes along the bottom on the screen which allows the screen to show more of the data from left to right. On the 898 the text boxes are vertical along the left side and take up an inch of the left side of the screen. This makes the side scanning screen even smaller. I wish that Humminbird (Johnson) would reprogram this unit to make it display the text boxes along the bottom of the screen instead. It give us some more screen to work with.

    Fish dots are harder to see on my unit and not really easy to see even on the 1197. But huge schools of fish show up easily. I can spot big schools of crappie and shad with the 1197 or the 898.

    There are three buttons on both units that you can program to show any of the available screens with the touch of a button. Just use the menu or exit button to scroll though the various screens and when you see one you like press down and hold one of these three buttons until it tells you that it's accepted that view for that button. After that all you have to do is press the button to go to that particular screen. This makes it faster to find the right screen. Otherwise you have to scroll though all the screens that are not hidden by the views menu options.

    To see what the side scanning sonar see in 5 minutes would take hours with a conventional sonar unit. You see so much more area of the lake in one pass and can see it in a way that lets you understand what the bottom of the lake look like.

    For example you can follow a creek bed in the lake and keep it on one side of the boat and see the entire creek and it's banks and see where there are trees laying on the creek bed or bank of the creek. You can see where an old road bed crosses the creek channel and the old concrete bridge supports that once held up a bridge. You will never see things like this using conventional sonar units with 2d sonar. You would have to make 30 passes over this type of structure to see what the SI units show in one pass.

    People with these units are going to catch more fish PERIOD. Once they learn to use them properly. Well let me clarify that statement. They will learn the lay of the land much faster which Should enable them to catch more fish. It will give them much more knowledge of the lake bottom structure.

    As far as spotting schools of fish yes it can do that. But sometimes schools of fish are not in the mood to bite. Or they may be shad or other types of fish that don't bite on crank baits etc. Sometimes you can find a school of fish and put a live minnow right in their face but they won't bite.

    But with the SI units you should be better equipped to find the fish and stick a bait near them. But the SI unit won't make the fish bite.

    IMHO If the price of these things were not so outrageous everyone who fishes would have one or two on their boat.

    My friend has one on his boat and has another new Humminbird 900 series at the front of his boat. But it's only a 2 d Humminbird with a big screen. Once he figures out where a brush pile is located using this 1197 he turns it off and switches to the 900 unit up front. Then he drops a marker buoy to mark the spot. After that he can maneuver the boat to best fish the spot.

  7. #7
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    Re: Hummingbird Side Imaging ??

    Quote Originally Posted by Fisherjoe View Post
    Looking for opinions from owners/users. Considering purchase for use while drifting or trolling for stripers and catfish in freshwater. Any info appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Joe
    I have sort of "bo whoo'd" them for striper fishing but that is without even really looking into it other than a five nimute look at Bass Pro. How smart is that?

    Seems like the learning curve on how to use, set the settings and interpret the screens would be very steep and very long...to really use it properly. Not really a reason not to check it out though. If the water ever comes back up at cumberland side maging and lowrance down scan might almost be mandatory for pulling boards near the bank or even in forty feet of water...if you know what I mean.

    Here are some nice videos of how side imaging can be used in general and there are more by the same guy listed. Very nice Demo!

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TapOut64#p/u

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TapOut64

  8. #8
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    Side Scanning Sonar Humminbird 898C SI Unit

    I've used an old Humminbird LCR8000 since 1986. It's still going strong and I have it mounted on the front of my boat today.

    But I bought a SI unit two or three years ago and I use it a lot. It's a lot more advanced sonar unit. The regular sonar works great and the screen has different color schemes. Color makes a huge difference when reading the fish signals and the bottom type. I use the default sonar color pallet. Red color indicated a very strong signal return. Harder bottoms send back more sonar sound waves than soft bottoms.

    The side scanning and down imaging views are great.

    I located a huge school of suspended crappie and caught 6 big crappie out of that bunch using my 898C SI unit while trolling crank baits in 26 ft of water. I would never have know those crappie were there without my sonar unit.

    I wish I had the Humminbird 360 unit for when I'm slow trolling with minnows and a drop shot line. I could then know exactly where the school of fish are going and where they have been. I could follow the school more easily and stay right on top of them all day long. But I'm going to wait for that technology to get updated so that it's integrated into the Min Kota Trolling motor some day in the future. I'm hoping that will happen. I don't like the idea of it being on the back end of the boat where I can foget about it and forget to pull it up and then it might get damaged by hitting some thing in the lake or on the lake bottom.


    Quote Originally Posted by peter View Post
    I have sort of "bo whoo'd" them for striper fishing but that is without even really looking into it other than a five nimute look at Bass Pro. How smart is that?

    Seems like the learning curve on how to use, set the settings and interpret the screens would be very steep and very long...to really use it properly. Not really a reason not to check it out though. If the water ever comes back up at cumberland side maging and lowrance down scan might almost be mandatory for pulling boards near the bank or even in forty feet of water...if you know what I mean.

    Here are some nice videos of how side imaging can be used in general and there are more by the same guy listed. Very nice Demo!

    TapOut64 - YouTube

    TapOut64 - YouTube

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