Side Imaging on Bow

[muskielaw]

I know some of you run side imaging on your bow and just wanted to get thoughts from the bass fisherman on how you mounted it? I assume the transducer would be mounted to the trolling motor but how do you protect it in shallow water? When I bass fish I am a lot of times fishing in water that is only 1-2 ft deep and my trolling motor and current transducer takes a beating with the bottom, weeds and logs/branches. As you know the standard 2d transducer are not nearly the size of the SI ducer (specifically 997) and the puck style can be mounted flush to the motor. I am just really concerned about mounting the SI transducer to the trolling motor and it may prevent me from putting an SI unit on the bow. TIA.

Muskielaw

[reddog]

I dont have Si on the bow. If money were no object, Id have it, because money was no object.

If you are in that much trash, Si isnt going to help you anyway.

The guys that I know use their Si to mark inside dips in the weed line with a waypoint, and then use the trolling motor to follow the weedline, pitching into the waypoints.

[muskielaw]

Thanks for the response reddog. I am not worried about using it while I am in that shallow because there is no need to pay attention to any depth finder when I am in that shallow. My concern is damaging the transducer while I am using the trolling motor in that shallow. I guess one option that your post brings to mind is making the transducer easily removable while I am in that shallow. Wouldn't rather not do that and I don't know how much a pain that would be with putting it back on right each time as I know witht he transom mount ducer you have to have the angle just right to get the best image. I notice from the posts you put up on the different forums that you have a lot more experience with SI then I do as I just got mine last year and still learning. I am going to put a new depthfinder up front either way but do think it is worth spending the extra money on SI up front for when I am on the bow mount walleye fishing?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I too do not have SI on the bow.. only at the helm!

[Brad B]

To get the best result from the side imaging you need to be moving at between 3 to 5 mph is what I have been told. can a trolling motor even pull a boat that fast. I don't have a trolling motor but am looking to get one so want kind of speed can they produce in terms of mph.

[Esox_Magnum]

I can pull 3.4 mph with my bowmount. Old tank 175 Alumacraft Trophy with a PD 74 with a 3 blade Kippawa prop. Our 17' Tracker muskie boat pulls about 3.2 with a 80 pound Maxumm on it, we'll see shortly how the new 80 Terrova does on it.

[reddog]

To get the best result from the side imaging you need to be moving at between 3 to 5 mph is what I have been told. can a trolling motor even pull a boat that fast. I don't have a trolling motor but am looking to get one so want kind of speed can they produce in terms of mph.

You dont need to be going 3-5 mph to see fish with side imaging. You only need to be going that fast if you want the best screenj capture. I have many screen captures of fish going .05 mph with the TM. You just need to be able to know what it is showing you.

After this week, Im rigging up a SI 1197 on the bow for a test run.

You wont damage the transducer up front unless you run aground....... hard.

[cjac]

SI is meant for straight line reading with best returns at 3.4-3.8mph, it simply will not perform well on a bow mount that is moving L to R.

I sat through a demo with a Humminbird rep and that was one of my questions.

[reddog]

Drifting

Scanning till you see fish and then slowing down.

Trolling motor speed.

It may not be the ultimate screencapture, but it can be done..... effectively..

[slurpie]

It will only work if going really straight. When you try to turn its going to drag the lines out and you wont see anything. So not the best to mount it in a trolling motor seems like i'm always turning or something.

[muskielaw]

Thanks for the help guys. I do have enough experience with side imaging to know the in and outs of speed and line of travel and did not think having it on the bow would really serve its purpose. However, I have read a few different times that guys are putting in the bow and really finding it useful. I figured constantly turning to follow contour lines and such would defeat the purpose on the bow but if anyone does have any experience with it on the bow it would be great to hear. Reddog let us know how things go if you do mount it to the bow for a test run. What I am really trying to avoid is pulling the trigger on a nice bow unit and then being disappointed that I didn't spend the extra money on a SI. Thanks

[reddog]

Im leaving now. Will report back on Tuesday.

[Ed Carlson]

SI is meant for straight line reading with best returns at 3.4-3.8mph, it simply will not perform well on a bow mount that is moving L to R.

I sat through a demo with a Humminbird rep and that was one of my questions.

Yes that is true. If it is a (AP) trolling motor for instance, and it is making rapid course adjustments...it will basically smear the image causing distortion.

A sharp turn would yield a condensed image on the port side, and a stretched image on the starboard..so that too would make readings temporarily difficult to read.

But...if the course is set in a straight line it will paint a consistent image. As adjustments are made it will temporarily smear the image and start anew.

[fishwater]

Folks claim that once you get accustomed to using it on the bow you can actually use you trolling motor rotation to scan specific spots (under docks.) Yes the image isn't as good as a straight troll by, but them bass guys usually don't troll so it's probably just as good as a transom mount in many regards. I just put SI on my bow this season to play with.

[SimilarIsland]

One nice perk to having SI on the bow is you can see what's in front of you.

[reddog]

I dont know if a TM application would work for everyone, but I found it to be an incredible tool for open water walleyes over the last few days.

I did find that my auto pilot spins too fast to be of any use for that purpose.

A "smeared" walleye is still a walleye!

Like I tried to say earlier, the unit will show you fish, whether you are moving 3.5 mph in a straight line or .04 mph in a turn, . If you can't figure out how to read it, its not the units fault. The screencaptures I took this weekend wont be earth shattering to view, but.... well, you had to be there.

[reddog]

Thanks for the help guys. I do have enough experience with side imaging to know the in and outs of speed and line of travel and did not think having it on the bow would really serve its purpose. However, I have read a few different times that guys are putting in the bow and really finding it useful. I figured constantly turning to follow contour lines and such would defeat the purpose on the bow but if anyone does have any experience with it on the bow it would be great to hear. Reddog let us know how things go if you do mount it to the bow for a test run. What I am really trying to avoid is pulling the trigger on a nice bow unit and then being disappointed that I didn't spend the extra money on a SI. Thanks

Do you have SI on your boat now?

[Ed Carlson]

If they figure out a speed compensation formula to compensate for rapid movements, it will be an amazing tool on the bow. For now, the user will need to work there shills a bit harder to best understand what the side scan is trying to tell them.

I would live to spend the summer tinkering with it myself. I see a huge amount of potential there.