Is side imaging a must for finding eyes?

[Sh0ckwave]

I just bought my boat last summer and am looking to really take walleye fishing seriously this year. The boat came with a gen 1 Lowrance HDS7 on the console and an HDS5 on the bow. I've been watching a bunch of youtube walleye videos and people seem to be using side imaging to find rocky points or using it to pick off individual fish or small pods out to the side of the boat. Is side imaging a must for finding eyes?

TIA!!

[97roughneck]

It's a must if you're one of the guys that must have the latest and greatest.

Myself, fishing is more of a relaxing time spent on the water. If I limit, great, if not, oh well, I still enjoyed it.

I know lots of guys will scoff at this and say, why do you even bother at all if you're not gonna go all in? To which I say, that's just the way I feel about it. I spent $4500 on my boat many years ago and maybe $1000 on gear.

I see boats for sale on WC for 75-100K and it almost makes me nauseous.

But I digress. I have a one Humminbird on the console and that's it. No side or down imaging. And my freezer has all the walleye I need.

But you have to decide how far you wanna go.

If I win the lottery, I'll have side and down imaging too.

[goldman]

I’ve caught walleye for many years without. I can see where it would be useful though.

Some educational materials would likely be money well spent. At least they were for me.

The book “Walleye Wisdom” by Lindner

Numerous DVD’s available On the subject. . YouTube would be useful here too.

[fishin10]

Originally Posted by goldman

I’ve caught walleye for many years without. I can see where it would be useful though.

Some educational materials would likely be money well spent. At least they were for me.

The book “Walleye Wisdom” by Lindner

Numerous DVD’s available On the subject. . YouTube would be useful here too.

I agree! Having a good paper map/chart to study/use as a reference will increase your chances.

[masterchither]

Originally Posted by Sh0ckwave

I just bought my boat last summer and am looking to really take walleye fishing seriously this year. The boat came with a gen 1 Lowrance HDS7 on the console and an HDS5 on the bow. I've been watching a bunch of youtube walleye videos and people seem to be using side imaging to find rocky points or using it to pick off individual fish or small pods out to the side of the boat. Is side imaging a must for finding eyes?

TIA!!

I have the side scanner with my HDS 7 Gen3. Finding walleye in the lake knowing what the fish are or probably doing. Where they are post spawn, how where they might be when you actually get on the water. Structure fishing for me with a even my old Lowrance X65, was about reading the structure and working the breaks and shelves. What's nice about the side scan is finding the spot on the spot. Yes, find the point or structure, and if you boat is going not too fast but not slow it will pick up that bolder on stump on the structure. Mark it. But the side scan in my opinion works when you are going at least 3 miles and hour, to paint that good image.

Good luck with it! Just my 2 cents.

[3M TA3]

I've had the HDS 7 and 8 for 10 seasons now and have relied on sidescan very little. Never really had cause to depend on it that much because my main focus was walleye and I stayed plenty busy without it. Had I been after Bass I suppose I would have relied on it more. I take it you have the LSS-1 as well.

[tandm]

One of the things I enjoy about the fly in fishing trips I take is firing up the old Eagle locator, unfolding the paper map, and seeing if I am smarter than the walleye or vice versa. Imaging technology is, certainly, beneficial, but it is similar to gps technology in our new vehicles. We become so dependent on it, we forget the simple ways of achieving the same results.

[kzoofisher]

A must? No. A useful tool? Yes.

More useful imo if you like to cast at specific structure or jig it vertically. Less so if you have a spread of planer boards.

I keep an eye on the SI while I work my way around structure and it isn't unusual to see a pod laying off in a resting position. I work them specifically with some success.

I'm able to locate weeds and fish them from a known distance.

In fairly featureless lakes I can easily locate the exact position of those small points or turns on the main break that don't show up on depth charts. This saves me having a thousand waypoints outlining the edges of structures and the time it takes to motor over them with 2D laying down the waypoints.

Extremely useful on unfamiliar water for locating structure.

I've learned quite a bit about some structures even on familiar water. Finding the spot on the spot as masterchither said. Not by fishing it many times for many hours to learn that this 30' section is best but by seeing that there's a deeper patch of weeds or a bit of mud that runs up the gravel slope and that's where the fish are.

And I really enjoy seeing those things and tailoring my approach to them.

[Ozark Bob]

It is a useful tool and you don't need to win the lottery. There is a 7" HB SI unit at Sheels on sale for $499. You absolutely don't need SI. I will never be without it. JMHO Bob

[Ltrain]

Not a must have but it's nice to have. I find side imagining more helpful in finding shallow structure that holds bass. Finding eyes to me is more about finding ledges and drop offs. I use a good map chip and find the ledge and keep an eye on my 2d sonar. You'll see on that the ledge and the arches holding to it. Alot of eyes are suspended on mud flats too and that's where you need 2d not side imaging.
All that being said i love looking at structure on the SI. Ozark said it perfectly- don't need it, wouldn't be without it.