Discussion on Lowrance Elite 5 DSI/Chartplotter ....

**Gunslinger** · 01-05-2012, 09:29 PM

For my uses DSI should be just fine. I generally only fish 2 lakes (both electric-only reservoirs in the 800 t0 1,200 acre range) and neither is over 35-feet deep in the main channels. I also troll for crappie a LOT more often than I shoot jigs. trolling in 10 to 25 feet of water, a front/TM mounted DSI unit makes the most sense because when I see structure that looks enticing I can simply mark the point and continue on course so that my jigs will run across/through it. If I get bites, I can swing around and make another pass and re-observe the structure. If it still looks good and/or I hook up again, I simply mark it as a waypoint. Over time I should be able to develop some VERY good trolling routes on these 2 lakes. Plus, when bass fishing (my primary favorite) I fish for BIG bass only. They tend to stay at isolated deep-water, off-shore structure that is almost impossible to detect with 2-D. Most of the other Big-Bass chasers I know swear by the DSI units for our particular style/type of fishing. And unlike many people, I don't have to de-program my brain from interpreting 2-D junk because I have never used a fishfinder of ANY kind in my entire life until a couple of seasons ago (largely because I never owned a boat until then. I've been a devout farm-pond guy for many decades but unfortunately the decent farm ponds are becoming quite rare and due to the direction our legal system has gone, fewer and fewer folks will allow people to fish them anymore). For big water fishing the side scan may be the best way to go, but for my intended purposes I think the DSI will work just fine (And I hope to be able to verify that within the next few weekends!!!).

**siscokid** · 01-06-2012, 09:31 PM

I must be missing something i've had this thing on my boat for 2 months now and i love it. Yes the instructions are useless but you gotta get on the water and play with it to figure it out. I think this is true with all fishfinders. Trial and error. I've had mine on Stockton and Table Rock here in Missouri at all depths and it's never gave me problems. Brush looks like brush and trees look like trees. I'm figuring out what baitfish and bigger fish look like. For the price i dont know what people expect. Their not side scan or structure scan and i'd like to know where you can buy one that is for $650 with or without rebates. Their tools and you still gotta do your homework and putforth a little effort to figure them out. Their not gonna guide you, bait your hook and clean your fish for you.

**kosmo** · 01-06-2012, 11:17 PM

. Their not gonna guide you, bait your hook and clean your fish for you.[/QUOTE]well said

**Old's Cool** · 01-08-2012, 04:33 PM

This might be of some help.

Lowrance Elite 5 DSI instructional DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/LOWRANCE-ELITE.../dp/B005CA4EKA

**FAADAN** · 01-08-2012, 06:20 PM

I'm a bit dubious of this video. It talks about sensitivity and from what I know of the unit, it is not adjustable. If I buy the video would anyone be willing to rent it for say $5?

**Old's Cool** · 01-08-2012, 07:10 PM

Not really worth the trouble of renting it when you can buy it on ebay for $21.

Lowrance Elite-5 DSI Fishfinder/Chartplotter Mark-5x DSI (DVD, 2011) (097278023855) | eBay

**buffresources** · 01-08-2012, 08:04 PM

Just an FYI...got an email from doc sonar's group and his elite 5 dsi dvd is at the publishers as we speak. Don't know price or specifics but his stuff has usually been good for us novices

**FAADAN** · 01-08-2012, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by buffresources

Just an FYI...got an email from doc sonar's group and his elite 5 dsi dvd is at the publishers as we speak. Don't know price or specifics but his stuff has usually been good for us novices

Good to know.

**Gunslinger** · 01-08-2012, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by Old's Cool

This might be of some help.

Lowrance Elite 5 DSI instructional DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/LOWRANCE-ELITE.../dp/B005CA4EKA

I bought this video on eBay. Don't waste your money -- it's no better than the instructions from Lowrance except for a small bit on sonar theory.

I did FINALLY get a chance to get out and spend the day on the water playing with this unit today. I am absolutely impressed with it! This unit blows away ANY standard sonar FF out there. It was amazingly easy, after only making a couple of very minor tweaks to the factory settings, to identify fish, baitballs, various structure. I LOVE the fact that a stump looks like a stump, a tree looks like a tree, etc. This is a VERY user-friendly unit. I didn't get into the GPS part too much, but as a fishfinder this is an awesome tool. Several times I just cruised around a bit until I'd see a stump in 20-25 feet of water with fish suspended around it (and it actually looks like it should). I'd then circle back around and ease up to that spot and once I got on it, drop a black and blue 1/8 oz jig down. Let it get to the bottom, crank it up a turn or two of the reel, twitch it a bit, and voila! Dinner was in the livewell!!!! The only tweaks I made to the factory settings were to choose the "purple" color/pallette, turn the noise filter to "off" and set the contrast to about 64 (and tweak the surface clarity a tad). It was overcast today, so the purple/orange pallete worked best, but in sunlight the Sepia pallete would probably be preferable. With different pallete selections you'll want to mess with the contrast a bit, but with the 64/purple pallete combo my screen images were crystal clear and even better than the images on the Lowrance site. It was particularly amazing to see the extreme detail when going over a particular section of the lake that has a lot of logs on the bottom. it was quite literally almost like looking at a real time underwater snapshot, in that you could see each individual log/tree in detail AND the fish around them (although fish generally showed as light spots of varying size). I would HIGHLY recommend this unit to any of my friends!!! There really isn't that much to learn with one of these, everything is pretty much automatic and instinctual.

**FAADAN** · 01-09-2012, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by Gunslinger

I bought this video on eBay. Don't waste your money -- it's no better than the instructions from Lowrance except for a small bit on sonar theory.

I did FINALLY get a chance to get out and spend the day on the water playing with this unit today. I am absolutely impressed with it! This unit blows away ANY standard sonar FF out there. It was amazingly easy, after only making a couple of very minor tweaks to the factory settings, to identify fish, baitballs, various structure. I LOVE the fact that a stump looks like a stump, a tree looks like a tree, etc. This is a VERY user-friendly unit. I didn't get into the GPS part too much, but as a fishfinder this is an awesome tool. Several times I just cruised around a bit until I'd see a stump in 20-25 feet of water with fish suspended around it (and it actually looks like it should). I'd then circle back around and ease up to that spot and once I got on it, drop a black and blue 1/8 oz jig down. Let it get to the bottom, crank it up a turn or two of the reel, twitch it a bit, and voila! Dinner was in the livewell!!!! The only tweaks I made to the factory settings were to choose the "purple" color/pallette, turn the noise filter to "off" and set the contrast to about 64 (and tweak the surface clarity a tad). It was overcast today, so the purple/orange pallete worked best, but in sunlight the Sepia pallete would probably be preferable. With different pallete selections you'll want to mess with the contrast a bit, but with the 64/purple pallete combo my screen images were crystal clear and even better than the images on the Lowrance site. It was particularly amazing to see the extreme detail when going over a particular section of the lake that has a lot of logs on the bottom. it was quite literally almost like looking at a real time underwater snapshot, in that you could see each individual log/tree in detail AND the fish around them (although fish generally showed as light spots of varying size). I would HIGHLY recommend this unit to any of my friends!!! There really isn't that much to learn with one of these, everything is pretty much automatic and instinctual.

How long have you been working for Lowrance anyway?

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