side imaging

[Shellkat]

That transducer stuck down in the water below your lower unit looks to me to be asking to get ripped off in some instances. Do you have another while your moving

[Duayne]

Yes, you would install the one that comes with the side imaging for use while running the big motor and drop the 360 in when on the trolling motor.

[JUSTINHALL]

I use mine for stripers as well not bass so you are trying to do the same as me.
First off side imaging does not work well for what you are wanting to do with it. Side imaging works great for bottom structure tires, trees etc but locating a school of stripers 100' to the left is not realistic. I sometimes get a glimpse of it but only if they are close to the bottom, and you are marking shad not stripers.
I have 2 screens one is a C120 Raymarine and the other is the Lowarance HDS-10. Raymarine is a much bigger screen and clearer.
I use the HDS-10 on Structure scan and the Raymarine on standard. In my opinion the Raymarine has a much better view in 2D and I can tell the difference between bait fish and stripers however in structure scan mode I can very clearly see the bait vs stripers in that image. With that being said its not like you would think it would be you can see the difference but it took me a while to see it its not as clear as I thought it would be.
I bought the HDS-10 with side and structure for the same reason you are wanting it but it isn't for that. I was disappointed but have learned to live with it and I do like it but in a different way for different uses.
The side scan works great in the Gulf when marking structure or broken up wrecks, love it there but in Cumberland for stripers not so much use for it. Structure scan works really good for it but again have to be over top of it.
If you are wanting it for stripers I would recomend the Lowrance vs Hummingbird and would recommend Raymaring over both. Now I could careless what brand it is, some will jump in and say the bird and Lowrance ***** and vice versa I don't care if you drive FORD or Chevy either its just what you drive, so all that BS aside. If using it strictly for stripers I think you would have better luck with Raymarine I like both but would most def go with Raymarine if had to only get 1. I like the GPS way better in it and I think the 2D is much better.
You don't need to find structure for striper fishing you just need to find the fish.
In your question about the 360 scan, you only put that down when using trolling motor at low speeds. I think that would be great for stripers but I just couldnt have that thing on the back of my boat, it would get in the way too much, but it honestly would be better than the Lowranse structure scan I think for that. Sometime style trumps functionality on my boat right or wrong.
Best of luck if you want to see mine work anytime before you buy give me a shout would be more than happy to show you.

[Shellkat]

Well didnt that just through a wrench in it. We fish c- land alot, 50% in the river, went yesterday and caught our limits of white bass. We fish out of big johns and use the trial and error of fishing, we usually do alright. Last fall got to fish striper boils for 2 days, that is awesome. Was wanting the side scan to follow the schools after they go down. Never had a finder of anykind and thought I had it figured out

[JUSTINHALL]

Your welcome LOL.
Seriously though I had the same thought as you and it just isn’t that. Would I buy it again yes but would I buy it for the reason you are wanting it, no. I use it in different ways and have grown to like it but it isn’t what you think it is. I also expected to see the stripers clearer with the 3d structure scan but it doesn’t do that only difference is the shad is little bitty white marks and lots of them where as the stripers are a bit bigger and solid white vs opaque white. On my Raymarine 2D the shad is blobs of red and the stripers on longer arched shaped objects but sometime harder to tell with the structure scan you can definitely tell but not a clear fish image.

When I first got it I thought it was waste of money becuase it wasnt what I expected and what I expected was what you are asking it to do but a clearer image on structure scan, but I have grown to like it.

[Duayne]

I've found my HDS to be an extremely valuable and useful in finding bait and stripers.

First, you need to understand Lowrance and Hummingbird both have similar technologies but each has their distinct advantages over the other. The names of those technologies are very telling and provides a huge hint at some of the differences. Hummingbird has side imaging while Lowrance has structure scan. Side Imaging echos straight down then echos to the side both left and right. If something causes an early return then the echo can not see on the other side so that is displayed as a shadow on the floor. With this, it's easy to see a school of fish or bait that are suspended and you can even get an idea of the depth by how far away the shadow on the floor is from the mark. Side imaging does not have a dedicated down imaging transducer but used information from the sides to simulate a down image. The 360 feature extends this "side imaging" to a single transducer that rotates under the boat that sweeps all the way around in a 300 ft circle. Lowrance's Structure scan is primarily designed to return structure information in two ways. One, is a dedicated transducer to each side, then they also have a dedicated transducer straight down. Structure scan CAN and DOES return information on suspended bait or fish, but does not show a shadow behind it on the floor to help figure depth. The advantage of the HDS is in the down imaging and the networking capabilities in MY opinion

My experience with my HDS has been much different than Justin's. If you are scanning a creek that is 400 ft wide, the bottom should be dark with a gradual increase in lighter color. If I see patches of white in the middle, I know that is either bait, a large school or both. I can then move to that side and find that patch. I can even move the cursor to it and mark a way point, then find that way point on the GPS. I can then go over that patch and the combination down scan and standard transducer can tell me exactly what it is. I can then see the depth, and I can see at what depth the creek is. The down scan on the HDS has some huge advantages over my old Lowrance unit. First, you can overlay the down-scan and standard transducer which gives the head twice the amount of information about what it has scanned. Bait shows as bait, schools of fish show as schools of fish and trees, brush rocks show as trees brush and rocks. Then, the down scan is capable of figuring out the difference between humps on the bottom and fish. I can now see the difference between two or three stripers just off the bottom or a hump. Those fish are usually inactive, but if you bounce a bait in front of them, they will usually eat it. I've picked up many fish due to now seeing those fish and sitting over top of them reeling bait up through them.

Where I would agree with Justin is if you are scanning a flat or shallow water with the HDS. It will show you the structure but it won't be able to distinguish between a school of bait or brush to the side. The down scan area is smaller so the sample is smaller. I can't tell you how the Hummingbird would do but I would think it would be similar but slightly better due to the shadow technology.

[Shellkat]

Corn/ fused now on what I thought I was after.I was sure one of those di/ si units would track those stripes like rabbits through snow.

[MJ]

You can most definitely see stripers with side imaging. You have to invest the time to understand what exactly you are looking at on the screen. Check the link below, it's a forum just for side imaging images.

Hybrid Stripers

Humminbird Image Interpretation

[Duayne]

Those are some great screen shots in that Hybrid Striper thread MJ. You get to see the fish on the deck that represent the fish on the screen.
Shellkat, notice the marks in those screen shots, then note the dark "shadows" on the outside. Those shadows represent the "marks" that are whitish. That tells you those marks are suspended because the shadows do not extend from the marks down to the floor. It it were a massive bait ball, it would be a larger single shadow. The HDS is a little harder to read for bait and fish off the bottom with the structure scan, but the information is there if you can learn how to read it.

Something else people may want to consider is MinnKota Ipilot and cannon down riggers can interface with Hummingbird. I don't think either can interface with the Lowrance (yet?). I just purchased the Ipilot so I'll be learning that next.

[Shellkat]

Think I'm going with the Hummingbird 598 HD /SI

[Moveon]

I pilot with the Terrova MinKota Trolling Motor interfaces with some Humminbird SI units (not all of them) and can use the Lakemaster HD new maping cards to follow a contour or depth line or a track. If I had the money I'd buy a new trolling motor just for this feature alone. You can use it in "spot lock" mode as well to maintain your position over a brush pile. It uses the Humminbirds gps and the trolling motor to hold the boat's position in a certain spot. You can also use a bunch of waypoints to make a track and have the trolling motor follow that track for trolling.

What I'd suggest for following schooling fish is the Humminbird 360 unit connected to a Humminbrd 1198 with the new brighter LED back lighted screen.

And you are right. You can also connect a Cannon Downrigger to the Humminbird SI Units.

Heck you can even connect a RADAR to some of the Humminbird units.

Those are some great screen shots in that Hybrid Striper thread MJ. You get to see the fish on the deck that represent the fish on the screen.
Shellkat, notice the marks in those screen shots, then note the dark "shadows" on the outside. Those shadows represent the "marks" that are whitish. That tells you those marks are suspended because the shadows do not extend from the marks down to the floor. It it were a massive bait ball, it would be a larger single shadow. The HDS is a little harder to read for bait and fish off the bottom with the structure scan, but the information is there if you can learn how to read it.

Something else people may want to consider is MinnKota Ipilot and cannon down riggers can interface with Hummingbird. I don't think either can interface with the Lowrance (yet?). I just purchased the Ipilot so I'll be learning that next.

[HURRICANEBOB]

When I had my 20 foot pontoon, I had one unit that pivoted to be seen from bow or helm. Was a simple down unit. Worked good for me when working jumps, or downpoling in creeks, or when throwing lures in the dark in Spring at Stripers working the bank.

I agree with all others, though, a 360 unit would tell you where they are after they go down better than a simple down unit. Even with knowing where they went after they went down from a surface feed, you'd have to be moving pretty fast to keep up with a roving school. My philosophy has been that if they are working a particular area, or a particular type bank, or channel break, or flats area, I don't much care where that last school went. I'm more interested in using the fishfinder to locate the bottom terrain, and getting a headsup when the next school shows up at that location.

I just never had much luck chasing fish, I have had a little luck (pic) finding a good area, good terrain, good pattern using a simple down unit. And then just giving it a little time for the dinner bell to ring. Pic shows the unit and how I had it mounted.