Best shoot thru hull transducer for Solix for 2d imaging on plane

[Enduro67]

Hello:

I find myself trolling open water more and more so marking fish on plane is becoming more of a priority.
I would like to add a shoot thru hull transducer to my boat.
Can someone recommend which humminbird transducer is best for this application. And what settings to use (chirp, freq, etc)
I would like to be able to mark bottom/ depth at 50-60mph and mark fish/bait at cruising speeds 30-40mph.

[Wayne P.]

Standard 2D for a first generation SOLIX is XP 14 20 T.
Standard 2D for the second and third generation SOLIX is XP 14 HW T.

As far as performance, that depends on your skill at installing a shoot-thru transducer in a suitable hull.

[bobcoy]

Has anyone found fishmarks useful at 30 to 40 mph? If so how do you know where to find the location they went under the transducer? Bob

[ntslam]

It's a lot easier to do with stripers and fish that group up in large schools. You can shut down while still on top of schools. I can find em easier in the winter when they're stacked up more. Drop a waypoint on em and go back. But here's what to look for

[bobcoy]

I can see that working on school fish. My marks are maybe 2 or 3 fish in open water. Once in a while a school of shad. I am still not sure I can find them(even if they are standing still after I blow over the top of them goin 30 or 40MPH. I am guessing it is probably 10 seconds before I get off plane and start a turn. At 40 it is almost 60’ per second. Even if I have my eyes glued on the screen and one hand steering and the other on the “Mark button” and I will guess about another 2 seconds before GPS gets a position logged. For me it would have to be a pretty big group to actually get back on the group of fish. But I am an old guy and don’t move as fast as I used to. Thanks Carl

[Hollada]

Has anyone found fishmarks useful at 30 to 40 mph? If so how do you know where to find the location they went under the transducer? Bob

Not fish marks, but tall weeds and random changes in bottom absolutely. Best way to scan big smallie water.

[Meleagris1]

I use the XP 14 HW T and can definitely see individual fish on humps etc with my through hull 2D. You aren't going to see them all at speed but if that is what I'm doing I'll do a split 3 pane view with mapping and then one pane 2D base mag and one 2D at 2X or 4X zoom. Also a great way to find those very slight depressions that fish use but that you can really only find at speed because they are so subtle.

[bobcoy]

I think depth is also part of the equation. 90% of the time I am in open water it is 100’ or deeper unless I run at least 25 miles up lake.(Bull Shoals) The bottom does not come into play for fishing unless I get into the back end of creeks. I have only been on one lake since 2006. It is 76 miles long so I don’t get bored. I mostly fish Walleye except in the spring. They don’t stock stripers here although the ones that got put in in the 90’s are whoppers(PB 46” 40lbs) No schooling either. There are times I spot bait balls and I will investigate, but generally I am going somewhere I know there are fish and don’t study the sonar much, just the map. We all fish different places and some things work better than others. JMO Bob

[plunker]

Has anyone found fishmarks useful at 30 to 40 mph? If so how do you know where to find the location they went under the transducer? Bob

Use the cursor on 2D sonar to mark the fish, and the waypoint will show up back in history where they actually were.

[bobcoy]

That might be the way to do that. Not sure how accurate that might be, but will try that. The only issue might be it will turn out to be the same as the button, but a way to do it if you happen to see a fish after you have passed by. On Solix or Apex you can backup the sonar screen. Still have to be concentrating on the sonar screen to notice the small speck a fish is at 40MPH. I will have to setup a test run from a known spot. Maybe a marker and make a waypoint standing still and then run by it at 40 and see if the mark generated from the backed up screen turns out to be close or not. I will post it when I try it. Bob Might be a while though. Bob

[Enduro67]

Thanks for all the replies.. I bought a XP 14 HW and am waiting for dealer response on where manufacturer typical mounts them at.

I guess I should have specified that Im typically trolling for walleye over a open basin...I'm not looking for individual fish....on Lake of the Woods or Erie I'm looking mainly for concentration of bait with fish mixed in to set up a trolling pass. I can see them pretty good at slow planing speed but its right on the verge of coming off plane so not a good speed to be running at. I also loose depth / bottom when running full throttle so want to improve that as well.

[Wayne P.]

Thanks for all the replies.. I bought a XP 14 HW and am waiting for dealer response on where manufacturer typical mounts them at.

I guess I should have specified that Im typically trolling for walleye over a open basin...I'm not looking for individual fish....on Lake of the Woods or Erie I'm looking mainly for concentration of bait with fish mixed in to set up a trolling pass. I can see them pretty good at slow planing speed but its right on the verge of coming off plane so not a good speed to be running at. I also loose depth / bottom when running full throttle so want to improve that as well.

Read post #2 here: Installation & Networking Information Resource (bbcboards.net)

Anything less and you may as well leave the transducer laying on the deck.

[plunker]

That might be the way to do that. Not sure how accurate that might be, but will try that. The only issue might be it will turn out to be the same as the button, but a way to do it if you happen to see a fish after you have passed by. On Solix or Apex you can backup the sonar screen. Still have to be concentrating on the sonar screen to notice the small speck a fish is at 40MPH. I will have to setup a test run from a known spot. Maybe a marker and make a waypoint standing still and then run by it at 40 and see if the mark generated from the backed up screen turns out to be close or not. I will post it when I try it. Bob Might be a while though. Bob

This absolutely works, this is by far the most underutilized fish catching feature there is. I don't use it a lot at 40 mph, more like 20 or 7 mph, but it definitely marks fish or structure appropriately back behind the boat in history. Works on helix and solix.