Side Imaging

[Fishin_4_Fun]

I agree with you, but I have seen cover at winter pool and then not be able to find it again when it is under water. You can also see fish and baitfish on the graph. If you see something on the graph you can move your cursor to that spot and the humminbird will tell what direction and how many feet away the object is.

Take a camera and a handheld gps with you at winter pool, walk over to whatever structure looks good and mark a waypoint, and take a picture. Transfer that waypoint to your boat unit. Then at summer pool you've got your waypoint right on the structure.

A good way to know what you are seeing on the SI unit, is do the above things first, then you can see what that structure looks like on the SI unit, that you have pics of and have seen when dry.

I'd like my SI unit a lot better if it was in my boat more that it was at the repair center. It looks like I may be sending it off for the 4th time for repair.

[HiDefFisherman]

F4F,

You say you have a lot of trouble with your SI equipment. What kind of trouble is it?

Also, others out there, do very many of you have the same problem, or does F4F possibly have a lemon??

Thanks

[brlfishing]

i have the 997, if you educate yourself on how to use it, it is very benificial. instead of having to fish a point you can scan it. however, dont expect to see the fish on structure unless you are scanning at less then 100ft to each side. even then you will have to use the zoom on structure you see to actually distinguish fish on the structure. as stated above, you have to be moving for the si to work. it opereates by shooting a razer thin beam through the water, if you are not moving it will just return the same info giving you a distorted screen. if you go to yahoosideimaginggroup, you can get more info. you can mark spots at winter pool, but it still will not help you know which points/structure are holding fish. also as stated above, get at least the 997 you need at least that screen size. best thing i can say about it is that i have been fishing a main lake point around structure without bites, (if i didnt scan prior), and as im leaving look on the si and see bass maybe around just one little brush pile, you can gps mark it and turn around and cast right into them. usually getting fish. however it takes practice with the unit to do it in a manner to not scare out all the fish. mouning the si is usually on the jp since they are expensive. or, you can get a thru hull transducer, but it is a TRUE thru hull and you will have to drill through the bottom of the boat. hope this helps.

[davidsa]

Guys, I do 80% of my fishing anymore December to end of May and tend to be fishing banks more so then off shore structure. If I'm sitting 75 feet off shore line in 8ft of water imaging the bank, will I be able to get picture all the way up to say shoreline?

I have looked at the demo of the 797 and just that alone indicated to me a significant learning curve to even make sense out of what the unit is telling me.

[Fishin_4_Fun]

F4F,

You say you have a lot of trouble with your SI equipment. What kind of trouble is it?

Also, others out there, do very many of you have the same problem, or does F4F possibly have a lemon??

Thanks

I've got a 797

New out of the box the built in navionics charts wouldn't load so I had no maps.

Next problem was the unit would not save a waypoint by selecting a target on the si scan and would reboot itself every time I tried it.

Next problem was I couldn't hit the waypoint button at all without the unit rebooting.

Current problem is while navigating the top half of the chart will go blank for several seconds at a time before reappearing.

I've spent $20 a pop on shipping and insurance sending it in for repair. The last time the sent me a reburbished unit I have now. For $1100 I'm dissapointed in the quality. It's a good unit though when it feels like working.

[HiDefFisherman]

Thank you for the information. I feel for you, as it seems not many others are reporting these kinds of problems. You may be like my wife. I believe her body generates an "EM" field that seems to affect any electronics she uses. We share this computer, and she has a ton of problems, and I have very few. She has trouble with her satellite receiver for TV, while I have none, and if I check hers, it works fine for me. I also worked with another individual who had the same problem. Her work computer crashed for what seemed to be no reason at all. I was there training her on some software, and she could barely keep the software running on her machine. I would take control, and have no problem. ANNNNDDD, it's not like I am advanced in anyway...LOL. She would hit the exact buttons, or press the buttons, in the exact order I would instruct, but the machine would just shut down.

Hopefully the replacement will work, and it will have been a case of your having a lemon that has now been replaced. Otherwise, if you do produce one of these EM fields, you will soon experience the same type problems. I hope that is not the case.

It will likly be a couple of years or so before I buy a new boat, and will undoubtedly wait to get the SI unit until then. I hope before then I will have the chance to fish with someone who has one of these units and see how they work first hand.

Good luck, and tight lines.

HDF