# Side scan for saugeye?



## Huskyjrrk (Jan 17, 2021)

New to this site seeking info about what for electronics everyone finds useful in the pursuit of saugeye on our mwcd lakes. I know side view would be great for picking up the limited structure we have but is it really worth it for someone who dedicates most of their time on the water hunting bottom hugging saugeye, thanks in advance.


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

I'm sure if you can afford it , it sure would help.... a friend that fishes the southern crappie tournaments finally bought one , just being able to compete with all the others .... he swears by it now..... I think it's kinda cheating ..... no way I'd get one unless winning the lottery


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## saugeyesam (Apr 20, 2004)

I have the Lowrance Elite 7 ti with the total scan package on my Lund. You really have to fine tune it to be able to pick up Saugeye's hugging the bottom. I personally will use my electric motor to troll through an area running a split screen regular sonar/down scan with the overlay feature on. It will mark any bottom huggers with an arch. I waypoint the marks then I'll back off of them and start fan casting. I have 3 rods I set up. One with a jig and twister tail or gulp minnow, one with a Vib-E and one with a crankbait or jerk bait depending on the time of year. I'll work the area with the jig and crankbaits/jerkbaits if no bites I then back track through the waypoints if the marks are still there I drop the Vib-E in their face. If no bites I move to work another area. The side scan is great if your looking for structure and it will pick up fish but you really have to tinker with it to get the best return. Fish show up as a shadowy dot or wedge and if you don't know what your looking for you'll miss them. The HDS models from Lowrance and the Panoptics live scan are way better but very expensive and to be honest really unnecessary for MWCD lakes. If you know where the fish will usually be at given times of the year you can find them with regular sonar/down scan. I hope this helps. I bought the total scan package with the ice fishing kit. It came with the side/down scan (total scan) transducer, the regular sonar/down scan transducer an ice transducer and base, bag, battery and power cord for ice fishing. Mine came with C-Map Pro software that has nearly all public waterways including the Great Lakes and Intercoastal maps. Money well spent! I save waypoints everywhere I've ever caught fish and label each waypoint with the species and date. It helps pattern. I use to keep written notes in notebooks but this is much simpler. 

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

X2 on the total scan


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## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

Huskyjrrk said:


> New to this site seeking info about what for electronics everyone finds useful in the pursuit of saugeye on our mwcd lakes. I know side view would be great for picking up the limited structure we have but is it really worth it for someone who dedicates most of their time on the water hunting bottom hugging saugeye, thanks in advance.



MWCD lakes are about all the lakes I fish for saugeye and I have two Garmin's with side/down scan and use them all the time. Saugeyesam apparently feels the same way. Will sometimes show you fish where you don't think they should be....


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## Huskyjrrk (Jan 17, 2021)

Thanks guys I appreciate all the info, I've been after these fish for two years and it's enough to drive a person crazy trying to find them


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## saugeyesam (Apr 20, 2004)

Huskyjrrk said:


> Thanks guys I appreciate all the info, I've been after these fish for two years and it's enough to drive a person crazy trying to find them


Join the club man! I've been chasing them for a little over 25 years. Some years I can't seem to keep them of the hook other years I can't buy a bite. They'll test your patience that's for sure lol

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


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## sixtyminutes (Jan 3, 2009)

A good way to judge the value of side scan would be to go to youtube and search for Tom Boley videos regarding side scan. He has some great instructional vids and you can see how it can be used. I use it the same way in Ohio on our lakes and reservoirs. Works exactly the same on Saugeyes as Walleyes. Of all the new technology for fishing these days I would rate GPS mapping, side scan and spot lock in the top 10. The live scan stuff is fantastic but so expensive as to be out of reach for most of us. I gotta start saving more money I guess. I attached a down scan image compared to a 2D sonar image. I don't have any side scan images saved unfortunately. The price of side scan has come down lately and you might find some great used equipment if you're patient.


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## Huskyjrrk (Jan 17, 2021)

sixtyminutes said:


> A good way to judge the value of side scan would be to go to youtube and search for Tom Boley videos regarding side scan. He has some great instructional vids and you can see how it can be used. I use it the same way in Ohio on our lakes and reservoirs. Works exactly the same on Saugeyes as Walleyes. Of all the new technology for fishing these days I would rate GPS mapping, side scan and spot lock in the top 10. The live scan stuff is fantastic but so expensive as to be out of reach for most of us. I gotta start saving more money I guess. I attached a down scan image compared to a 2D sonar image. I don't have any side scan images saved unfortunately. The price of side scan has come down lately and you might find some great used equipment if you're patient.


These newer graphs show a lot more detail than even models just a few years ago. Even just to upgrade my unit looks like it would be a major improvement. Live scan would be fantastic but the unit itself would be worth more than the tin can I fish out of lol. Thanks for the feed back much appreciated.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

This may not be the place to ask but why would anyone use traditional sonar when downscan has so much more detail? 
What does traditional sonar offer that downscan doesn’t? Frequency/cone angle? 
Looking at the above screenshots one would only need downscan and sidescan.


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## Huskyjrrk (Jan 17, 2021)

Lewzer said:


> This may not be the place to ask but why would anyone use traditional sonar when downscan has so much more detail?
> What does traditional sonar offer that downscan doesn’t? Frequency/cone angle?
> Looking at the above screenshots one would only need downscan and sidescan.


I'm no expert on sonar but I think sonar produces a better mark on fish than down scan. Down scan usually only shows a tiny blip while your sonar usually shows a line or arches for fish. Maybe these newer units are powerful enough to pick up fish as good as sonar but on my older unit sonar is much easier to decipher.


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## sixtyminutes (Jan 3, 2009)

I understand the point you are making. I guess my answer is that 2D sonar does show you additional detail that down scan does not. The size of the fish is not as clear on down scan. Bait looks like bait but larger fish look, kind of, all the same. 2D when properly tuned can help you determine the size and sometimes the species. It also shows you how hard the bottom is. Which can be critical. Side scan is a narrow band of sonar. It scans that small strip of water and bottom directly out to the side and under the transducer. Again very narrow but with tremendous detail. It will only show you fish in that band. 2D scans a cone shaped area. So you are scanning a wider area directly under the transducer. Side scan looks out to the side and can show you fish and structure your boat is not over top of. It is harder to interpret the results. In other words, the fish sometimes are hard to see as they blend in with the bottom. I use all three to get the most information about the area I am fishing and how the fish are using that area. Buy the largest screen you can afford. And, don't forget that buying a used unit can really save a ton. Some guys just have to have the newest and best. Buy their old units. I have Gen 2 Humminbirds. They work great. The Gen 4 units are a bit clearer so I have been told. I am skeptical that the difference is worth the price of an upgrade. But if I want to use the 360 I have to have the newest head unit. I guess I will wait a bit. One of these days it will all be live scope sonar with 3D images of the bottom and structure. May even just stun the fish for you so you can dip them out the lake.😁


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## saugeyesam (Apr 20, 2004)

Lewzer said:


> This may not be the place to ask but why would anyone use traditional sonar when downscan has so much more detail?
> What does traditional sonar offer that downscan doesn’t? Frequency/cone angle?
> Looking at the above screenshots one would only need downscan and sidescan.


On down scan fish show up as a square dot or wedge shaped blip. The Lowrance units have an overlay feature that overlays a percentage of the 2D over the 3D down scan. Which overlays the arch onto the DS dot I wish I had a picture to share, it's pretty detailed. As for the side scan it'll show fish as the same dot or wedge but if they're glued to the bottom they really tend to blend in unless its a relatively sizable fish. As mentioned above the bigger the screen the better the detail. 

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


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## Dragline (Nov 26, 2007)

Well on the day's I can't seem to mark a fish with the down view sonar and think they are either buried in the mud or gone....
the side view alerts you to the fact the fish are high in the water column and to fish top 6' or shallow trolling.
Many days this seems to be on windy day's with wave action.
If I don't see fish DOWN then fish high. Works for me.


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## sixtyminutes (Jan 3, 2009)

Dragline said:


> Well on the day's I can't seem to mark a fish with the down view sonar and think they are either buried in the mud or gone....
> the side view alerts you to the fact the fish are high in the water column and to fish top 6' or shallow trolling.
> Many days this seems to be on windy day's with wave action.
> If I don't see fish DOWN then fish high. Works for me.


Good point. Side scan is excellent for seeing how high the fish are. You don't get that with 2D sonar as you have to go right over top of the fish to mark them on the sonar. If the fish are high they swim away from the boat and the sonar won't see them. Fish spooking away from the boat is one of the reasons we use planner boards on clear water lakes like Erie. It is also great to spot fish that are suspended or chasing bait fish. Side scan is really useful. Most fisherman won't spend the time to really figure it out and trust it. It allows you to scan a wide swath of water. I typically scan 60' on each side so I am scanning 120" wide. You can't do that with 2D or down scan.


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## float4fish (Feb 15, 2017)

sixtyminutes said:


> A good way to judge the value of side scan would be to go to youtube and search for Tom Boley videos regarding side scan. He has some great instructional vids and you can see how it can be used. I use it the same way in Ohio on our lakes and reservoirs. Works exactly the same on Saugeyes as Walleyes. Of all the new technology for fishing these days I would rate GPS mapping, side scan and spot lock in the top 10. The live scan stuff is fantastic but so expensive as to be out of reach for most of us. I gotta start saving more money I guess. I attached a down scan image compared to a 2D sonar image. I don't have any side scan images saved unfortunately. The price of side scan has come down lately and you might find some great used equipment if you're patient.


Tom Boley is probably my new favorite fisherman. He is more about explaining the why’s than just catching fish after fish. His seminar series from last spring was incredible.


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

10/4 on Tom Boley !! Very informative information for sure!! Love his videos!!


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