new fish finder advice

[seaark ryan]

I am going to upgrade my Lowrance LMS 334 this spring. I am looking at 1197 Hummingbird. Or one of the New Lowrance unit. My question is. Is it really going to be worth spending the time to relearn the Hummingbird SI and will it be usefull or should I stick to what I am very familure with and stay with Lowrance. I am still going to keep the Lowrance that I have (334 unit) and put it up front by my trolling motor. I have been using the GPS and trolling baits on ledges I also drift the mud flats. Other than that I will anchor up in the spring and fish 0-5 foot till after the spawn. I am most insterested in posts from people that have used both that know how use them and from owners of the Hummingbird SI and problems they have had. Thanks for your replys.

[Fishking]

My question is. Is it really going to be worth spending the time to relearn the Hummingbird SI and will it be usefull or should I stick to what I am very familure with and stay with Lowrance.


If you really want to learn something new then defintely get the 1197. You really don't know what your missing. People think they know the water they fish a lot til they look at it in SI. It is a whole different world under there. As for the high speed tranducer, I never understood why that is such a necessity for some. If you were going 40mph across the water, wouldn't it be to late anyway?:smile2: I have never had a problem with the transducer mounting or being able to view either side in SI. And believe me you can definitely see the fish. Plus with the updated Humminbird PC program you can look at your waypoints in google earth which helps with tournaments or just planning your day of fishing. I would suggest downloading the manual and read up on the unit to get a head start. I believe the 1197 & the 997 have the same manual.

http://store.humminbird.com/download.ep?file=997_Manual.pdf

[seaark ryan]

Fishking I see you are from KC and I asume that you fish the MO. My question is when the river is on the rise and it has alot of trash (leaves grass and what not) does it clutter up the screen on SI mode and make it non usable or does it still work ok. This is something that I was told by someone that I think really dosent know sh!+ about it but hay neither do I, that is why I am asking people that have one!

[Fishking]

Fishking I see you are from KC and I asume that you fish the MO. My question is when the river is on the rise and it has alot of trash (leaves grass and what not) does it clutter up the screen on SI mode and make it non usable or does it still work ok. This is something that I was told by someone that I think really dosent know sh!+ about it but hay neither do I, that is why I am asking people that have one!


Well, I guess it depends on someones definition of how much trash is a lot. There is always a good amount of debris coming down the MO. If it looks something similar to this pic.
http://www.kccatfish.com/images/P1011994.jpg
Then there probably will be some sort of interference. But again I'm not fishing in the middle of that mess either. The only time I have seen it become cluttered is if we have the boat up in a dams turbulent tailwater. I'll search and see if I can find some snapshots to post of the SI picture in some not so favorable conditions.

[GaryF]

If you were going 40mph across the water, wouldn't it be to late anyway?:smile2:

But if you just came close somewhere, that is good information to have for the next time you come through.


On the debris / interference issue, It has NOT been my experience that the 3d is and more susceptible than the 2d. It actually does a little better in some cases, for example I've seen where a discharge coming into the river looks like a bunch of bait fish on the 2d, where on the 3d you can tell it's just a cloud of little air bubbles.

What I've used the SI for lately is to look for fish in the holes off wing dikes. I can pass over with 2d and not see anything, but then see them off to the sides on SI and give it some more scrutiny. I've learned that it takes 2 -3 passes with 2d to figure out what I can see with one pass using SI.

[seaark ryan]

But if you just came close somewhere, that is good information to have for the next time you come through.


On the debris / interference issue, It has NOT been my experience that the 3d is and more susceptible than the 2d. It actually does a little better in some cases, for example I've seen where a discharge coming into the river looks like a bunch of bait fish on the 2d, where on the 3d you can tell it's just a cloud of little air bubbles.

What I've used the SI for lately is to look for fish in the holes off wing dikes. I can pass over with 2d and not see anything, but then see them off to the sides on SI and give it some more scrutiny. I've learned that it takes 2 -3 passes with 2d to figure out what I can see with one pass using SI.
Thanks thats good info!

[Fishking]

What I've used the SI for lately is to look for fish in the holes off wing dikes. I can pass over with 2d and not see anything, but then see them off to the sides on SI and give it some more scrutiny. I've learned that it takes 2 -3 passes with 2d to figure out what I can see with one pass using SI.

Not nesseserly, it can work the other way also. SI doens't give you the ability to see down inside a depression "hole" if your sittin in 3 feet of water. For example, your boat is moving down a 3 foot sandbar with a sharp 30+foot dropoff to your right. The angle of the dropoff prevents the sonar waves from bouncing off fish or the actual bottom. You will be more inclined to see suspended fish rather than fish hugging the bottom "side" of the dropoff. Sure, your SI image will show a dark area where there is a depth difference but, it will not show you accurately the inside of the hole "ledge" without passing directly over it with "2D". I attached two pics of the same hole/ledge from both views that we took before setting up. A 45lb & 55lb blue came out of this spot within 15 minutes.

[seaark ryan]

On the SI photo on the right half is the dark area in the center the hole from the wingdike? If you have some more SI photos will you post them also? Thanks

[Fishking]

On the SI photo on the right half is the dark area in the center the hole from the wingdike? If you have some more SI photos will you post them also? Thanks

Yeah pretty much, took that snapshot after we passed the start of it. Let me look and I'll post a couple more in a min.

[Fishking]

1st- Some asian carp and other rough fish sunnin themselves on a flat in cold water.

2nd- What's this one look like?

3rd- Something sittin in a depression in a wing dyke wash out area, ahead of the fish you can see the sand ripples formed from the current on a gradual slope.

[Fishking]

Also on the last pic, you can notice the cloudy area in the center. This is what kind of interference we get when passing thru some turbulent water. e.g. tip of a wing dyke

[seaark ryan]

Thanks alot! I can see how this will help. What model do you have?

[Fishking]

Thanks alot! I can see how this will help. What model do you have?

997

[seaark ryan]

Is there any differance between a 997 and 1197 other than size.

[Fishking]

Is there any differance between a 997 and 1197 other than size.

Nope

[seaark ryan]

I think I am going to go over to Cabelas and play with one for awhile. Sounds like I will end up getting one. I have found the 1197 loaded with maps and transducer for $2400.00 on Ebay. I cant see how the new HD Lowrance could even compare with the SI and I have had Lowrance units on my boats sense 1987. Fishking,thanks for your help!