SI & DI questions
 

For you guys with SI and DI units if you find something thats looks fishy do you fish it even if you cannot see any fish returns? I found a bunch of trees and brush Saturday morning but did not fish all of it because I did not see many fish returns.... I am also still learning what to look for with the Hbird unit. With he HDS units it seems like fish just jump off the page more to me. I ask this because I was watching some hook and look videos where they were using SI and DI to scan structure before diving to compare the images and while diving where showing a good amount of fish that was not shown on the sonar screen. Saturday I fished East fork and caught 3 keeper crappie along with some shorts, 5 bass and a drum while scanning for stricture. I lost a crappie at the yak that had to be 16" It was almost as wide as a dinner plate. I have to stop laying rods on my net !

16" crappie are too tough to eat! Throw'em back.

Big crappie I only practice almost catch and release. Very rarely do I cuss after losing a fish but damn this was a big crappie. My other 3 were 12-13"


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One vote yes. Sometimes it is the spot more than anything. Todays Cordell Hull trip is a good example(check out the thread- CH 12-13-15). I had studied the paper map and picked a spot I wanted to fish before the trip. I hardly scanned it while I was setting up except to get the depth and positioning right. Hooked three fish in about an hour....

I guess if it looks great you should fish it. I'm sure at some point the fish will move in.

Many people have asked the same question....and the answers can be complicated. Do you use fish ID when using the 2d portion of your sonar? Now many people will poo poo that but in a post I read from Wayne Purdum.....who is a well known bass guy and HB guru.....that discussed the HB fish ID and why it is different from other sonars. The algorithm is very good at picking out an air bladder and triggering a fish ID mark. Wayne P had a tree he would pass by every time he launched at a lake. Many times the di and si would show no fish....... he would switch to 2d and use fish ID and sometimes two or three fish symbols popped up and he would fish the tree and catch a couple of bass. You can scan a bush from one direction and not see any fish....scan it from another and it may show fish. That is why if I see structure and am able to scan it at another approach...angle...I will do it. No matter the brand of sonar you can scan at a certain angle on the fish and it not show. When using an HB si unit you really need to tune it every time you get on the water. It takes me about a total of 2 minutes to get it setup for the lake that day. Fished Center Hill yesterday and had some great images of Spotted bass feeding by the hundreds on thousands of shad in 60 feet of water....was too busy trying catch all I could to get a snap shot. Even though....IMHO....these si units will miss the occasional fish most of the time they are telling you what is down there. A good example was yesterday on the Hill. We started out in Florida Branch and fished it for about an hour and a half. Didn't get a tap even from a bluegill....the si unit was showing nothing. Roy and I headed to Mine Lick Creek and as I slowed down to start scanning I saw fish.....we started catching fish. Every spot we caught fish they were showing on my unit. I may fish structure that doesn't show fish but my rule of thumb is to scan until I find fish. But having used this unit in a kayak for a year you only want to paddle so far and I understand fishing a spot that may not show fish but does show structure. I know that God willing I will never fish without an si unit of some form on my boat. Headed back Tuesday for some more of those Spots and crappie.

Regards

Alpha I don't use the fish ID on my 2D. I have just learned to read 2D pretty well.... Lowrance at least :) I have noticed you don't see as many pronounced arches with Hbird, more blobs I guess. I will say that when in the bass boat scanning we don't stop till we see fish but as you said when fishing out of the yak you can only paddle so far. I will need to spend more time playing with it I guess. I did not learn to read sonar in two fishing trips so it will come with time. Nice job on center hill BTW. it's been a long time since I was on that water catching spots like that.

Edit: I agree with you when you say that God willing you never have to hit the water without SI ever again. If you are not using it you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

You're right on about arches. HB does not give as many true arches as others. Some think 2d sonar will eventually go away. I don't know. I do know the high dollar units in all brands are using digital displays and data.....a whole different animal than what we are using. I can see a PVC crappie house on mine but I have seen one on the HB Onix and difference is night and day. I really want the 12 inch Helix but I am thinking next years offerings are going to be breakthrough. So I may wait.....pretty happy with the 899.

Regards


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I would wait and get the newest and greatest thing. I still would like to get something with a bigger screen. Maybe next year sometime step up to a HDS model or something. I would like to see some of the really high end units. The best I have seen is the HDS 9 gen 3 and that unit is impressive. Do you fish center hill through the winter for smallmouth?

Uummmm <'TK><
 

:)All Crappie are to tough to eat and taste bad also unless you cut the red mussel out of it and I think Alpha will agree .. Gills RULE and are sweet !! <'TK><:)

Stay off my brushpiles!!! ;) Losing a slab daddy like that is always tough,I might hook a 16"+ maybe 2 or 3 times a year.I toggle back from ID to sonar to see the difference tween the two.

I have had Wayne Pardum on my boat three times, twice as a client, once as a friend. He is the nicest person and also a very, very intelligent man.
He's a wacky worm specialist and a Hummingbird guru.
He can be found on Bassboatcentral.com's forum boards if anyone has questions regarding HB's.

Don't you mean any of the striped fish? Whites, Hybrids, and Stripers all get the red meat removed. I can "zipper" it off the back in one quick motion. Otherwise the meat can have too much of a gamey taste for some.

I've never heard of Crappie being tough. That's my main complaint about them is that they're so mushy. I prefer a bunch of whites any day over a bunch of crappie taste wise. Crappie are easier to clean though because I don't have to worry about the red muscle.

Crappie can be mushy but they are my favorite until I track down some walleye. I do like to eat blue gill they tend to be a little firmer.

:cool:

I have known about those brush piles for a long time :) That's one of the reasons I fished there, that and the wind. Bait was everywhere up in the river but no bigger fish eating them.