Topic: Hello

[Joe Slab]

 :)Hey everyone. New to the form and want to learn more about some of the high end fish finders. I have a 18 foot Express all weld aluminum boat with a 70hp Yamaha 4 stoke. I fish for white bass hybrids and crappie. I'm looking to get a good unit but not sure what to get. Want something like a 898hdsi or maybe a 900 series with SI. Hope to get some input from guys that know more about these units and maybe what would be best for me and the way I fish.
Thanks

[Humminbird_Greg]

Welcome to the Humminbird Side Imaging Forums Joe Slab.

Tell us more about how you plan on using your sonar and GPS for searching and/or targeting those hybrids and crappie.

BTW: the picture you are using for your avatar is sideways.

[Joe Slab]

Yes I couldn't figure out how to orient it correctly. Most of the time you cruise around looking at humps, points or schools of shad. With the small unit I have now it takes forever to cover any area and a lot of times I just give up. Also when you do find a big school of whites/ hybrids in 25-35 foot of water there moving and it's tough to keep on the school. I thought that a unit with SI/ DI i would not only be able to locate them more efficiently but also keep track of them as they move and feed. The biggest problem I have is locating these often nomadic fish.
Thanks
Joe

[Humminbird_Greg]

Than an Si unit would work well for you for both hybrid and crappie as you can follow the schooling fish with it.  I would consider mounting it on the trolling motor or some other moveable pole to be able to do this though but it can also be done with the transducer transom mounted but will be harder to do so.

So you need to figure out if you want the larger (900 series) or smaller (800 series) display Si unit.

[Joe Slab]

Thank you for the info. If I mounted the transducer on the tm would I still be able to have the head unit mounted at the console? Can you explain why it would be harder if mounted on the transome? If I mounted it on the tm I would have to drive around searching for my target with the trolling motor down all the time. I was thinking once I located fish I could turn my head unit toward the front and use my trolling motor to stay with the school or stay on a brush pile. Want to be able to get the most from my unit so I'm open to any advice or help .
Thank you

[Humminbird_Greg]

Yes, you can trolling motor mount the transducer and have the unit at the console.

It would be harder to track a school of fish with a transom mounted transducer because you would have to turn the boat with the main motor.  If trolling motor (or other rotating pole mount) you could just swivel the motor/pole to follow the school instead of turning the whole boat.

Maybe you need to use two transducers and a TS3 Transducer Switch to get the best of both worlds or even two mounting locations for your unit (bow and console).