Posted 3/7/2016 9:58 PM (#808954) Subject: Moving side imaging to bow.
Posts: 443
Location: Duluth, MN
So last year i bought a SI unit and found i never used it as i never really spent time searching for spots with it. I mean who wants to spend an hour of on the water time just driving around? So my plan is to move the unit to the bow and build a drop down bracket to mount the transducer to the bow so i will be able to see whats directly off to my side rather than whats 20 feet behind me off the side of the transom.
As far as the console i will be getting a Helix 7 with a lakemaster chip since when you think about it all you really use the console unit for is navigating from spot to spot so side imaging doesn't really do much good on the console. Has anyone else done this and how did you mount the transducer?
I'm thinking some sort of L shaped bracket and taking an old trolling motor shaft secured to it with the transducer mounted to it. Maybe use the trolling motor collar to be able to quickly slide the transducer up and down for traveling.
Posted 3/8/2016 6:53 AM (#808963 - in reply to #808954) Subject: Re: Moving side imaging to bow.
Posts: 296
When I upgraded graphs a few years back I got a 998SI and an 1198SI. I have the smaller graph at the helm and the bigger graph up front. Learned I derive no joy from driving around looking at my graph. The reason I bought 2 SIs was so I could share the SI image to the front. Ended up not really liking that as you need to use most of the big screen to be able to interperet that while fishing plus the data is all behind you.
Last year I mounted my SI ducer that was just laying around to my Xi5. Was better having it up front but mounting it to your TM is hardly ideal. The 360 images are difficult enough to interpret while fishing and this system is even more difficult. Then throw in interference from the TM that plagues most bird systems and it made things even worse. So now I am back to just using the 2D up front and utilizing most of the real estate on the big screen for mapping. Which is a stronger tool for musky fishing where I fish anyhow. SI is great and all but on the lakes I fish with weedline that goes most of the way around the lake SI isn't quite as useful. The weeds cover up so much of the lake and it is very difficult to "see" what is really living in the weeds. And I have found the fish aren't afraid to show themselves when you find them.
In low/no cover situations SI is a far more powerful tool. If I fished big reservoirs or featureless bowls I would be willing to spend more time on the SI to eliminate more water faster.
If you figure out a good way to mount an SI ducer off the bow post it up! I would make it so you can turn the ducer slightly to "see" in front of the boat a bit. That would be very useful since that will help you hold the correct distance off weedlines or rockpiles without having to map them out first. But then you would almost need a mounting position on each side of the bow and turn the ducer each time if you fish off both sides of the boat. I've never been able to think up a good mounting method in my head to actual build one.
Posted 3/8/2016 7:24 AM (#808967 - in reply to #808954) Subject: Re: Moving side imaging to bow.
Posts: 443
Location: Duluth, MN
Nick i agree with everything you said. I fish Lake of the Woods a couple times a year and that's a perfect place for using side imaging. Since you typically are fishing rock structures its ideal for seeing large underwater boulders\structures that are not on the map chips.
I really like the bracket in the post i linked...you could easily swivel the transducer to any angle and see whats slightly ahead of you.
Moving side imaging to bow.