Topic: Saltwater Fishing with SI

[George]

Folks,

I am curious, I fish freshwater for Bass and love it, but I am wondering how good are the SI units in the ocean.  I do fish for Tuna but usually on head boats a couple times a year.  These trips are usually 2 -3 day trips going south 100 to 160 into Mexico.

When fishing for Tuna are these units useful in finding bait balls and fish? 
How deep are the SI units effective for finding structure.   
Do the SI units have a place on the big boats?
How does choppy seas effect the system?
What about trolling speeds?
Any pics?

George

[George]

Anyone have any thoughts???
George

[Humminbird_Greg]

I don’t Tuna fish but don’t see why one of the Si units would not be effective for finding baitballs and fish just as they do on freshwater lakes.

I’ve seen images from users who have gotten Si images from as deep as 180 feet deep but I think that this was in fresh water.  Look under the Personal Pages in the Our Community section.  I think there are some good deep water (not sure how many are salt water though) images from some of the guys here.  Just remember that your water conditions may give different results though.

We are finding more and more of our Si units on the larger boats.

Choppy seas will affect Si sonar just as it does conventional downwards pointing sonar.  Look at the images on this board and you will see some that were taken in choppy conditions.  The bottom often has a rhythmic wavy appearance to it.

Not sure what your trolling speeds are but this would really be dependant on the placement of the transducer.  If it is in a location that has good clean (air bubble-free) water flowing over it than you should be able to get readings at very fast speeds.  Using Si sonar at anything above about 6mph will degrade the image you see and as you go faster the detail of what you see will continue to degrade even more.

[George]

Thanks Greg

I agree with everything, I would have loved to have this system when fishing saltwater. 

Also for freshwater I have 16 ft aluminum boat.  Recently I have been waxing the bottom of the boat in front of the transducer ( transom to 18" in front) and the transducer also with a carnauba wax.  I have had good results with side imaging up to appx. 10 mph.  When not waxed the results are poor above 6 mph.  Not sure but the wax may reduced the air bubbles going past the transducer.

George

[Humminbird_Greg]

Waxing the hull... interesting.  It must reduce the number of air bubbles.
Just not sure I would tell my buddies that I "wax" though... LOL! 

[George]

I would like to be able to run at a higher speeds and get good results.  I am guessing the only way to accomplish higher speeds is to get rid of the air bubbles.  Trolling for Tuna requires higher speeds.

George

[George]

I find it amazing that no Saltwater Fishermen have replied on their experiences using HB's SideImaging on the ocean. 

It might be that SI is only used in freshwater and by divers??  If there are some saltwater fishermen using SI, We would like you to share your experiences with us.

George

[dybvad417]

I find it amazing that no Saltwater Fishermen have replied on their experiences using HB's SideImaging on the ocean. 

It might be that SI is only used in freshwater and by divers??  If there are some saltwater fishermen using SI, We would like you to share your experiences with us.

George

Not amazing.  I use it in saltwater only and my max. speed is 6 knot.  (old boat) 

[George]

Hi dybvad417

Thanks for the response.  What has been your experience in finding fish with Side Imaging?  How deep are you fishing?

George