Topic: Side Imaging for Locating Brushpiles

[95Ranger]

I am considering the purchase of a Helix 10 SI unit to use to locate brushpiles that may be up to 100 ft on either side of the boat. I have never used a SI sonar but I have looked at a lot of SI screen shots on the BBC forum and I only see brushpiles that are located in the water column directly under the boat. Is it possible to clearly identify a brushpile if it is 100 ft from the boat on a SI unit? 

[caskey_b]

To keep things simple... the answer to your question is YES..

these are not necessarily "brush piles" but you can easily see detail out 100'... I typically have mine set between 50-80 but you get the idea...



80' setting.. but can EASILY pick out individual objects at 75'+...


here you can easily pick out individual fish pushing the 75' mark...



these images off a 899ci HD SI with HDSI transducer... same you'd get with the Helix 10 SI

[95Ranger]

Thanks for the screen shots. Those are really good. I was concerned about distinguishing a brush pile from just a contour change, but your shots show enough definition at 80 ft to determine the difference.  Something that I find interesting is that the 899 SI seems to make the best images of all of those that I have seen posted on various websites. Maybe its the very high pixel density, which is higher than Helix 9,10, or 12 units.

[Whistler]

One of the key things that I've found when searching for brush with my 1199 is learning to look for the shadows of the brush as much as the actual brush.  There are lots of times with the brush itself blends in almost seamlessly with the bottom color, but it does leave a shadow, and that is the giveaway.

[95Ranger]

Thanks for the tip.  I really appreciate the information since I am not experienced at using SI. I'm sure it will take a lot of practice to get good at identifying targets on the screen. But do you think a brushpile that is 80 to 100 ft away will cast a sonar shadow that looks different than a sonar shadow from a similar sized small hill? In other words, will the details of the brush limbs be apparent at this distance so that you can be sure it is a brushpile?

[Bob B]

More than likely ..... you will just see something that looks interesting ..... Mark a waypoint and investigate at closer range.
I sometimes scan as wide as I can both directions to get a "picture" of the overall structure layout, creek channels, weed edges, etc......but the detail at that range is not going to be good.

Another trick you can use is to only view one side of the SI sometimes ..... You get double the screen for that side and any objects will be bigger.  I do that a lot when scanning along a creek channel, weed edge or steep bank looking for things that will hold fish.

[Landry]

I bought the 899 this spring. Great decision.
It is not the answer for everything but I have used it to easily find wood, brush piles weed clumps and edges of all sorts.
You will not regret buying one but you may be able to get 999 for the same price as I paid for the 899 as they r discounted now.
It marks fish fantastically on softer bottom btw.
I set mine at 100' max. Detail is great right out to the edge of that range.

[95Ranger]

Thanks for all of the good information and suggestions.  I plan to get a new SI unit in a couple of months and start learning to interpret it.

[Bob B]

There are a lot of Youtube video's ..... that's a good place to start.

There are some basic things to understand about how the sonar works, cone angles, and how to interpret what you are seeing on the SI images.

Doug has a lot of good video here   https://www.youtube.com/user/imonbass/videos
Start with the early ones and work your way forward ..... There is one where he folds pieces of paper to explain give a 3D understanding of what is in the SI display ..... watch that one over and over til you get it.