Down Imaging Experience

[Sculpin67]

Anyone have any experience with Hummingbird's Down Imaging? I'm considering a 596C HD DI, and wondering if the down imaging will help in finding fish.

[bus33]

I would definitely recommend it. I have found it more useful for determining what type of structure in under you but also have had good luck marking fish.

[Jason Halfen]

I find Humminbird Down Imaging to be in incredibly valuable compliment to Side Imaging and traditional 2D sonar. Check out this DI/SI combo of a pile of early summer crappies. It definitely helps me find, and catch, more fish.

You can check out the links below to learn more about Humminbird Down Imaging. I put the first collection together when DI was just being released, and the next couple of links show DI in action in a variety of contexts:

http://www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com/downimaging1.html

http://www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com/summerpanfish.html

http://www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com/treetopbass.html

http://www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com/weeds.html

[DerHooker]

I understand that the boat needs to be moving (not stationary) to have DS functional...not blurred. True?

[Bowhuntnsteve]

hmm good question for Jason.
Jason, can you be anchored for instance and see the perch school below the boat using DI?

If the word "Lowrance" is on the unit, it will look even better !
Birds just got Downscan capability with the up grade I hear.
Lowrance had it from the git go.
Just sayin....
Wen

[Jason Halfen]

Originally Posted by Bowhuntnsteve

hmm good question for Jason.
Jason, can you be anchored for instance and see the perch school below the boat using DI?

You can collect images at any boat speed. Clarity tends to increase in most circumstances with a moving boat/transducer. Having said that, some of my clearest, most highly detailed images have been collected with the boat barely moving at all....0.2-0.3 mph. All the user needs to do in this instance is decrease the chart speed to its lowest setting (1). Below is an example of a cabbage bed that I collected with the boat moving at 0.3 mph. You can pretty much count the leaves on individual stalks in an image such as this.

[TerryMSU]

I have the DI and what you will see if anchored is the echo response. It will not be a full "picture" but more like one slice of the picture continuously repeated. Of course, as the things in the slice change (like fish moving thru), so will the slice. So you can indeed get useable information from the DI while not moving. The information will not show up as a "picture" like brush on the bottom will if you are moving.

TerryMSU