Is Side Imaging Worth The Extra $200

[chief]

I am thinking about a Hummingbird Helix 10. $699 or $899 with side image. In your experience, is it worth it.
I gotta do something to find more fish.

[sporkd2]

I'll be taking my new Helix 7 SI/GPS out to jordan tomorrow. I'll let you know

[trypman1]

They are great for finding bream beds, otherwise no to me for crappie.

[SEA DANCER]

I don't have it but what I have read and heard about side scan it would only help when they are shallow. Really good for bass fishing but not much help wit Crappie.

[hockey86]

Helix 10 SI for $899????? The Helix 10 SI that I'm looking at is $1499. Where did you find that bird? I'm going to get an SI unit and find out for sure.

[shadboy]

Side scan is absolutely worth the extra money! It takes a little time and effort to learn how to use it and, maybe more importantly, what to look for on the screen. The ONLY downside to SI other than the cost is that you will find so many good looking places to fish, you'll have a hard time deciding what to try first. SI will let you ride down a bank and see which docks have fish under them while simultaneously showing where all the brush piles and stumps and drop offs and whatever may be down there. It'll even show you that the school of crappie you were catching have now moved 32 feet to the right. I'd be lost without mine.

[shadboy]

P.S. get the biggest screen you can afford. Objects are bigger on a bigger screen, just like on TV.

[shane1980]

YES YES YES it is worth the extra money! Once you tune it in and learn what to look for the fish are in trouble!

[Fish2eat]

Absolutely. I would cry if I had to go fishing without mine!

[JordanLimit]

Bill--let me help you with your decision. I'll share some screenshots that I will describe what I see and maybe this will help you make up your mind. All of these shots are from Jordan.

So this is a classic shot and why you need SI. It's not all about finding fish, but terrain as well. On the right side of the boat are lots of baitfish. You can see from the size and from the two shots below the SI. What is good about this shot is that the crappie are not up on the flat, nor on the dropoff, but on the bottom of this cove just before it ends. If you were fishing with two rods under the boat, good luck; but if you move 13-26 feet to the left, game on.



This is one of my all-time favorite shots. Under the boat and to the right are nothing but baitballs and one tree limb. The bait is fairly high up and you can tell by the length of the shadow. The shadow of the limb is short, which means it is down on the bottom. Use the shadowing to help you tell how deep to fish. Obviously, there are a lot of fish to the left. The darker the colors, the deeper the water. Note up in the very upper left hand corner, the color starts to turn lighter. The fish are in the channel and I can tell you, we caught good fish here.



Another shot to let you know this is good fishing.



The lefthand side is blurred because I am not completely out of a turn. The right is good and has some objects, probably rocks and maybe some wood. At the very bottom are a few fish, but Bill, I am moving on and not fishing this area. The most important thing I can share with you is that one thing SI and DI will do is show you were the fish ARE NOT located. The old saying is that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. Use the SI to help you know where not to fish. I made a huge mistake this past weekend in a tournament on Lake Greenwood by not trusting my electronics, especially the SI. It told me that few fish were in the area, but because some were caught in the area the day before, we kept trying and never got into the fish. Learn to trust your electronics and do what they tell you. Hope this helps. I'm using an Onix, but the Helix should give you good resolution as well.