Humminbird Side Imaging

[Ugly Dogs]

I bought a Humminbird Side Imaging Sonor. I tried this past weekend for the first time and did not mark any fish with it. I figure that I don't have it set right. So what are the correct settings for using on the river? I know that there were fish there because we caught a limit of 10. I was doing about 1.0-1.5 mph when I was trying to scan with it. I was in 8-13' of water and scanned an area of about 600 yds long. I had it set at a range of 100'. Any advice or tips that you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[zoops]

Seems most of what I hear is the settings are going to vary from boat to boat, day to day even. I've never messed with mine much, I think I have the sensitivity around 10. I use 60' for range, figure it makes things stand out a bit easier. Got any screen shots of what you were seeing? You definitely should be able to see fish on the river. They can be subtle though, typically you're looking for a little brighter return with a shadow behind it.

 

[dukgnfsn]

one thing to consider is bringing the side distance down to 40-50 ft instead of the 100, the further out you scan the smaller the details show up. Also a lot of the river walleye are tight to the bottom so they don't stick out like one would expect, as zoops stated can be very minute with very little shadow due to being that close to bottom. As for settings I looked at some videos on YouTube for settings and info and worked with it until I got it so it seems to be working. Next time I use mine will try to remember to note some of my settings and send them to you by PM as a starting point to try. May be a while until I get out between weather and work, GL and just keep on working with it and it should. get better as you use it more.

 

[Achucker]

You tube tom boley side imaging. He has several videos explaining it and how he sets his. Watch and do what he says and you'll see more fish.

 

[Bfishn]

I don't have any experience with bird, but i would either find some YouTube videos or just google your sonar and you may find other forums with suggested settings. That's what I did with my Garmin and have never touched it since. Fish stick out like a sore thumb along the sandy river bottom. I do agree that 100' is probably a bit much until you know for sure how to use it and what to look for to see fish.

 

[Ugly Dogs]

Thank you very much for the help, I was wondering if I was using too much distance with it.

 

[buckhunter24_7]

Once you get it figured out it will be your favorite tool. I rarely fish a spot anymore if I do not mark fish on my side imaging

 

[buckhunter24_7]

I usually run mine at 70-80 feet, and I take the center imaging out of the screen

 

[Ugly Dogs]

Once you get it figured out it will be your favorite tool. I rarely fish a spot anymore if I do not mark fish on my side imaging

A friend of mine who is a very good fisherman and successful tournament guy said the same thing. He was telling me how much it has made his pre fishing for tournaments so much easier and has allowed him to spend more time fishing and less time searching for fish. He also said that once you get it figured out, you can start seeing the size of the fish by the size of the marks. He's not saying that you can tell that it is a 8LB walleye, but he can see that it's a bigger fish or that it's a smaller fish.

He once sent me a screen shot of a paddle fish and you could actually tell that it was a paddle fish. it was very cool.

 

[SerchforPerch]

Side imaging should work really well in the river with the clear water and sand bottom. I would second the Tom Boley tutorials and reducing SI distance to 75' as well. Also, make sure you have your transducer positioned properly - too high or too low and you wont get good returns from SI.

 

[Rowdie]

When searching for fish, how fast can you go and still get a good read on the bottom?

 

[701FishSlayer]

Shorten the width. Believe it or not you should be seeing fish with even the factory settings most times.

 

[buckhunter24_7]

When searching for fish, how fast can you go and still get a good read on the bottom?

Mine reads the bottom the best at 4-5 mph I got my scroll speed set at 6 I believe

 

[Big Iron]

I wrote this up for the guy that bought a graph from me.