humminbird sidefinder

[tarnold5568]

just wondering if anybody has one of these and are they worth the money

[Ky Trophy Fish]

Got a 1197C si with extra high speed transducer,worth every penny.Can see structure that you never realized was there,even on your honey holes.Side scan lets you cover water more efficiently.

[Ky Trophy Fish]

Here is a snapshot from Dale from my 1197.With sd card ,you can find and keep bunches of info.Even swap sd card with buddy and go to those marked spots. It's a easy unit to learn to operate,even for someone like me(electronically challenged at times).Fished Dale Saturday,caught 17 smallies,4 spots fishing 35-45 ft deep suspended 2-3 feet off botton of a small creek channel in open water( 300-400 ft from shoreline).All fish were in a 200 yard long area.Marked beginning and end of this slot with GPS,then went to split screen mode to use GPS to hold position and Downscan mode to watch bottom and fish. Would have been tough to do without good sonar/GPS unit.

Snapshot was taken this spring-not Saturday.








http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/a...ish/S00044.png

[rickhise]

Here is a snapshot from Dale from my 1197.With sd card ,you can find and keep bunches of info.Even swap sd card with buddy and go to those marked spots. It's a easy unit to learn to operate,even for someone like me(electronically challenged at times).Fished Dale Saturday,caught 17 smallies,4 spots fishing 35-45 ft deep suspended 2-3 feet off botton of a small creek channel in open water( 300-400 ft from shoreline).All fish were in a 200 yard long area.Marked beginning and end of this slot with GPS,then went to split screen mode to use GPS to hold position and Downscan mode to watch bottom and fish. Would have been tough to do without good sonar/GPS unit.

Snapshot was taken this spring-not Saturday.






http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/a...ish/S00044.png

i fished that section today an they were not too friendly

[smuckey41]

I have the 1197si and like everybody before me said it's worth every penny it is amazing. You will find structure you never even knew was their.

[Ky Trophy Fish]

i fished that section today an they were not too friendly

Rick-those fish only bite on even number days,plus the sonar ping from a Humminbird induces them to feed better.Check the little side hollow channel/drop off on the left side of creek channel going in.Caught more fish there than on main creek channel Sat.If you would break down and spend some of your rusty ,salted down money on a Bird,I could let you use my sd card with GPS cord's.

[psvec]

just got a 898 hummingbird, cant wait to use it. the reason i went to hummingbird was that there is a lot of problems with lowrance units(HD)and that the information i got from a sale person at bass pro and at gander mt.

[jdw174]

Had an 898 installed in the boat a couple of months ago. Absolutely super unit. I'd always used Lowrance/Eagle products, but after reading about the HB units and their customer service I decided to make the switch.
Couple of things: 1. Your unit won't come with a manual, but with a dvd. A call to HB customer service will get you the printed manual. You could print out the one from the dvd, but at about 160 pages that's a bit much. 2. You can switch the unit to simulator mode as you power up. The great thing about this is that you can set in the boat, in your garage with the manual and actually learn how to use it without wasting time on the water. You can change the settings on each screen and see the changes take place on the simulator. Once you get things where you want them, just save each change and your unit will be set the way you like it when you hit the water. 3. Don't know which unit you're considering, but the 898 is not a light unit, nor is it small. If you mount it at the console you may not have room to use the included gimbal mount. I chose the RAM mount for mine....another $100 cost (you'll need the big mount).

Check the internet for pricing. I saved about $300 off of any catalog price I could find and got free shipping/no sales tax. PM me if you'd like the website I bought from.

Go here and click on the Humminbird forums. http://www.bbcboards.net/zeromain There's a ton of info in there on sidescans including videos. Yahoo.com also has a side-imaging group that has lots of data, including all kinds of snapshots taken of underwater objects.

A couple of other things you may want to get are a Navionics chip and an SD card. You'll need the SD card to save screen snapshots to upload to your computer at home, and to download any software upgrades from the HB website and upload to your unit. I got a 2GB card at Walmart for about $12.

It might seem a little intimidating at first, but compared to the confusing menus on the Lowrance 334ci it replaced (now on my bow), it's a snap to use. Good luck.

[Les Young]

They are high, but definitley worth it. You can fish off shore structure you never had a clue was there.

[mawi97]

I seen a thread over on BBC where BBG Marine has the 1197's on sale for $2000. I am thinking of buying a unit this winter. I went up to BPS on Sunday and the 998 was $2K. But I think the 1197 would definitly be better. What are the advantages of the 1197 over the 998 other than screen size? Also could anyone tell me the best Ram mount to buy. I have a 03 Nitro and I am thinking about mounting the ram mount on the floor of the front deck next to the console and putting the gps puck where my old unit is now on the console.

[jdw174]

I don't know about the 798, but anything from the 898 up will require the large mount, and they're about $100.