Hi all, new member here hoping to gain some knowledge. I mostly fish for White Bass, Stripers and Hybrids on Texas lakes. A few times a year I also fish the Texas Coast, mostly the bays or closer rigs, 75 ft of water or less. I have a 22 ft Champion Center Console, 200 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. Right now, I'm using a Garmin Gpsmap/Sounder 398. Time for an upgrade. I'm thinking of getting a Hummingbird 898c SI or 858c DI which leads to my first question.
Which one? Do I need side imaging? Ive never seen it used and not sure if it will help me catch more fish or not.
Should I look at some other models? I like the larger screen size of this unit.
Reading this forum it seems other folks have had issues with getting depth readings while on plane. Is this common? While searching for schools of fish I'm normally at idle speed but to me, it's still usefull to have depth readings at high speed to keep from hitting sand bars and ect.
My boat doesn't have a jack plate. I'm thinking that the stepped in portion of the transom by the drain plugs and water intakes is one option or towards the outer edge of the boat but I,m not sure that the signal wouldn't be partially blocked by the motor there. Any other ideas on transducer locations? Mounting brackets or whatever?
Any ideas or advice is appreciated, Thanks again.