The biggest question I get at tournaments and fishing seminars is, "What do trees, rocks, grass, drop offs and fish look like on Side Imaging?  Or I’m not seeing the same great stuff that other anglers are seeing.” 

Understanding what structure and fish look like before you get out on the water can really help you learn how to find those areas quickly and eliminate a lot of frustration. Let's take a look at picture #1 which came from my good friend Doug Vahrenberg. This is a really great screen shot as it shows most of the different types of structure in one picture.

One thing to remember about seeing structure on SI and DI is the size of the object.   That great looking tree shown so vividly is probably 40' tall! So, imagine how small a Christmas tree is going to show up. You also need to know that most of the real "Money" shots you see were a result of countless passes by the structure. 

For example: If you're looking for a brush pile on a ledge along always go across the area at every angle.  Sometimes just the different contrast will show you the structure. Mark the structure with a waypoint and then go back over it with Down Imaging to really pick it apart. Another option is to bring the range in on Side Imaging to 35'-40' and get right beside it.

Now, let's take a look at some structure on picture #1.

On the left we have a huge grass bed (outlined in green). Grass usually has a cotton candy type of appearance on SI and vertical lines on Down Imaging. The really cool thing is it shows all of the little cuts and pockets in the grass. If the grass isn't too dense you see the bass in them as shown circled in red.  A lot of tournaments have been won by finding these subtle changes. Fish appear as white streaks in Side Imaging and, if they're close to the bottom you will usually see their shadow as well.

 
Proceeding over to the right you see a great looking rock pile on a ledge outlined in blue. Rocks show up quite well in Side Imaging and Down Imaging.  Big boulders,  rip rap and rock piles are easily identified. This great looking rock pile is sitting right on the ledge of a creek channel. Just to the right of the rock pile the image goes dark really abruptly. This signifies a steep drop into a creek channel as outlined in pink. Since the beam from the transducer can't see down in the ledge it returns the image back as dark. To understand how the SI transducer interprets the returned information, take a flash light and shine it on an object. The area that is lit up is returned back as imagery and anything behind it is returned back as shadows. This creek channel drop off has standing timber on the ledge and down in the creek channel as well. These are shown outlined in yellow Down Imaging takes everything one step further. That standing tree that appears to be laying down on Side Imaging is now shown standing up which give you such a great perspective.

Look at Picture #2.  What a great shot if you're looking for fish! You can see the shape of some of those fish. The 2D sonar shot shown on the split screen just can't compare.

Picture #3 is one of the best tree shots I have seen.

No guess work here!  Fish and two brush piles are distinctly shown in Picture #4 .This is just a sampling of what you should and can see using Side Imaging and Down Imaging.

If you have Side Imaging or Down Imaging and you are not seeing images like these shown don't get discouraged.  Make sure your installation is right. Check out my previous article about installing and troubleshooting Side Imaging installations.  A sure fire way to determine if you have a transducer or control head problem is to find a fellow angler that has Side Imaging installed and is seeing all of the great stuff.  Try your control head on his boat. If it looks great then you should look at your transducer. It could be the transducer itself or an installation problem. If the control head doesn't show you good imaging then you can assume it's the control head itself. Here's another thing to consider, most SI installations include a "Y" cable with a dual beam puck attached along with the SI transducer.  Try unplugging the "Y" cable and plug in each transducer separately. 

If the transducers are plugged into the "Y" incorrectly or if there is something wrong with either of the transducers you will see the problem. Also, always make sure you have the latest software installed. If a problem has been reported and fixed you want to have that update. Don't forget Humminbird has the best customer service in the industry. They are always eager to help you get the most out of you Humminbird unit.

Until next time, Tight Lines and Good Fishing!

Eddie Kendrick
JohnsonFishingTeam.com Pro Staff
www.johnsonfishingteam.com

Editor’s note: A special thanks goes out to Doug Vahrenberg for his assistants with the photo for the article. For more information on Vahrenberg check out his website at www.dougvahrenberg.com