***Lowrance Structure Scan and Down Scan images from the past***

Lowrance SA loant me their LSS-1 for the weekend again, and I had an absolute blast with it. I found it difficult to force myself to fish, all I wanted to do was look at structure. I eventually found the fish and just had to drop a lure on them. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

What an interesting weekend with the Lowrance StructureScan™ (LSS-1) on Inanda Dam. Due to the windy conditions on Friday afternoon, I was restricted to a little bay just before Joe’s Banks. Inanda Dam - KZN - South Africa

Step one was to turn the transducer around on the mounting bracket so that left was left and right was right. You have no idea how confusing this was when I first got to test the LSS-1.

Step two was to create a ‘known structure/cover’ and see how the LSS-1 ‘sees’ it. I wanted to use something light (branch attached to base to keep it upright), that will make it difficult for the LSS-1, because we know it works great on the big heavy stuff (like the stump on the left).

http://i33.tinypic.com/15i4uao.jpg

While in left and right side scanning mode, the ‘known structure’ was clearly visible in the water column, also note how clear the spawning beds are. Like dimples on a golf ball.

http://i33.tinypic.com/2q0ugm1.jpg

When searching from a distance, this light structure is not visible at all on the StructureScan, as suspected.

http://i36.tinypic.com/fc05yu.jpg

But once passed over in the DownScan mode with a split screen 200kHz view, it becomes VERY clear.

http://i33.tinypic.com/2j13r45.jpg

Saturday 14th:- The next exercise was to go over a known tree in Rocky Bay. Due to the water level having dropped by around five feet, this tree is now visible from the surface in the clean water and is in about 24ft of water. The tree and a couple of predators were quite clear in this 83Khz image. But I had no idea what I would find once changing over to DownScan …

http://i35.tinypic.com/soy889.jpg

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first spotted this tree in DownScan, the detail was just amazing, and not to mention the fry shoaling around the main branch on the left. The predators could also be seen hanging around the tree and in the tree.

http://i37.tinypic.com/hulmpw.jpg

After a couple of passes with a Norman DD14 Tennessee Shad I managed to pick up one of the fish a few metres off the tree. You can see the tip of the tree from the surface in this image.

http://i34.tinypic.com/124hlpk.jpg

Here’s another great shot of the fry in this tree …

http://i36.tinypic.com/2ldbvox.jpg

I then remembered another similar tree in Barbel Bay, so I headed off that way to see if the tree would be similar to the one in Rocky Bay. On my way there, slap bang in the middle of the bay, in 50ft of water I came across this showing on the DownScan and immediately took a waypoint (64).

http://i38.tinypic.com/fbkygx.jpg

I then changed over to 83kHz on the Broadband and voila, fish everywhere! I took another waypoint in this mode just to be sure (65). These fish seemed to be suspended above an old field of bushes in 50ft of water. On my second pass I noticed that they had moved down a little deeper. I threw everything but the kitchen sink at these fish and I could not get a nibble. I then thought it might be carp or bream, so the only way to find out was to send my camera down on video mode.

http://i36.tinypic.com/2i0ta49.jpg

Check out this video, unfortunately the original sound track got lost. It was quite classic, because you could actually hear when the camera’s seal went and you could hear it leaking. The Optio W20 is only meant for 3 metres maximum, and I sent it down to nearly 40ft!

YouTube - Lowrance DownScan


Modified by Fishton at 8:10 PM 11/15/2009


Modified by Fishton at 8:11 PM 11/15/2009

Very Awesome John! Thanks for putting this together http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

A lot of time and effort went in to your post. Great job and awesome pics.

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Looks great. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Awesome video, well done http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Hey Fishton, There is a menu in your HDS that has you Flip/Reverse the transducer. Here is how you get there......... while you are on Structure Page, Press "MENU" once, go down to "STRUCTURE OPTIONS", press the RIGHT arrow button or ENT. Go down to "FLIP LEFT/RIGHT" and press "ENT". That will fix you up on the backwards problem you have right now. I have use this LSS1 alot so far and I love it. Let me know if you need any more help. Thanks. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

after seeing the hb shots wondering why none of the low are really crisp side scan or down or is it just me i switched from hb so i hope its more impressive than the pics show http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MotorGuideAdvantage &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey Fishton, There is a menu in your HDS that has you Flip/Reverse the transducer. Here is how you get there......... while you are on Structure Page, Press "MENU" once, go down to "STRUCTURE OPTIONS", press the RIGHT arrow button or ENT. Go down to "FLIP LEFT/RIGHT" and press "ENT". That will fix you up on the backwards problem you have right now. I have use this LSS1 alot so far and I love it. Let me know if you need any more help. Thanks. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hi MGA,

When I received the LSS-1 from Lowrance SA the cable was in the front and the HDS default is set for cable aft. I turned the transducer around on the bracket, now I don't have to keep remembering to flip left and right.

When I first used the LSS-1 a month ago I did not know this, so you can imagine how difficult that was to try interpret. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif

are you saying the stick u put in the ground was dry when you put it down and now is in 20ft of water? 20 ft would put all the green tree behind u well under water as well.

Just trying to understand what i am seeing

Fishton,
I am trying to share some screenshots but, I can't figure out how to do it. Are your shots actual photos that are cropped or is it from a log file?




Modified by edowell at 5:07 PM 11/19/2009

Eric my guess is that they were taken from the unit. There is a setting in the main menu to turn on the screenshot mode. Turn that on and when you see something hit the power button. It will take the pic and save on the internal memory. The you just transfer it over to the card. You can have what ever screen configuration you want.

Well, mine won't look as good as Fishton's but I was able to get out there and check a couple of thing out. Right out of the box this thing is impressive. I really haven't messed with anything yet. I don't know that I will have to. I ran out to the lake and spent about 30 mins before it got dark tonight. I'll be back out this weekend.

Here you can see my initial pass after I took the boat off the trailer. As you can see we have four lanes http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif The curbs are not really crooked, I had just started to turn away, hince the crooked curb.
http://i50.tinypic.com/53nyap.jpg

These two you can see a fallen tree and standing timber. When I looked at it side by side with 2D it looked like stacked fish. All this time, I thought they were resident fish. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif
http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/wilzup...can_Timber.jpg

I think there are a couple of fish it the tops of the trees on the left. This is the first time EVER I have gone out and never picked up a rod! Boy, this is gonna be fun!
http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/wilzup...n_Timber_2.jpg





Modified by edowell at 6:55 PM 2/22/2010

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif Thats some awsome down scan pics. My excitment was calming down now it's going back up. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Also if the recording is on the unit memory you should be able to turn the screenshot feature on and capture it while playing the recording back.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tuckerabbi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">are you saying the stick u put in the ground was dry when you put it down and now is in 20ft of water? 20 ft would put all the green tree behind u well under water as well.

Just trying to understand what i am seeing</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is a branch I cut off, attached to a stand, tied a rope to the top branch with a marker buoy on the opposite end and dropped it on a suitable spot in a little bay. The base is merely there to weight it down and keep it upright.

Like fc said, it's just a screenshot. You can log and take screenshots at the same time on the same memory card.

Tip:- When logging for long periods of time (like when recording for DrDepth,do NOT use more than a 2G card, and use a GOOD one, like the SanDisk Ultra II or Extreme III.

Here is a good looking ditch I found while tooling around.
http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/wilzup/shot_8.png

Nice. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif Looks like you got the snapshot figured out.

Simply amazing work and I thank you for sharing with us. I have emailed all my fishing buddies to see your work. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

I love this one. I initially thought the round spots were beds but, we are in Nov! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eyes.gif
Hopefully you can see them but, once I zoomed in, you can see they are tires just as plain as day. That ledge looks pretty good too! Guys, I am having a blast. I have marked alot of new places to try.
http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/wilzup/shot_19.png

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fishin couillon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nice. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif Looks like you got the snapshot figured out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, that is a cool tool.

Keep them coming. I see what I'll be doing for my vacation. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif

Last one from my trip out today.
This one is in the back of a creek right at the end of a point. I can't quite figure out what it is but the fish sure do like it! Disregard my prop wash! I also provided the 2d version for comparison.

enjoy!
http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/wilzup/shot_2.png
http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/wilzup/shot_4.png

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Have you tried the overlay option yet.


Modified by fishin couillon at 10:35 PM 11/20/2009

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fishin couillon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Have you tried the overlay option yet.


Modified by fishin couillon at 10:35 PM 11/20/2009</TD></TR></TABLE>
Not yet. Maybe next time out.

Great stuff Eric ! Keep em coming... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eek.gif

very nice. is this a new unit or upgrade to an existing unit. If it is an upgrade, what units are included, and how much is it.

The structure scan is an add-on module to the HDS units. It is not built into the units like the HB units are. Cost is $599. You can have up to 3 hds units connected to the box and the images will be displayed on all three unit. As for the units you have the HDS 5, 7, 8 & 10. The structure scan will not work on the older units.

Ok, i received my LSS on Tuesday and i installed it that night. All in all it was simple, like always, the "hard" parts are running the cables. It was pretty much straight forward for installation. Even a blind man can do it. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif Here are some pics of installation along with some screen shots. One other note, make sure you have enough gas. I ran out of gas idling and running around. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif Good thing i was by the landing. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

First, as you can see i have a skeeter. So to make sure the ducer cleared the spoons, i took some ribbon and ran it across the width of the boat which in turn gave me the area where the ducer needed to be.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259184430
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259184483

For ducer installation, i bought some marine lumber (plastic board) and made a couple 3"x3" pieces. Glued 2 pieces together (1" thick) and glued it to the hull. To make sure it stayed, together i screwed the two peices together then screwed the ducer to the block. Reason for all of this was i didn't want to drill holes in the hull and maybe in the future i'll get a jackplate and will mount the ducer to it.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259184255

Here are the units:
HDS 8
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D720/ry%3D480/

HDS7
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D720/ry%3D480/

Next installed the box. I think the worst part is finding out where to mount it. I opted for the rod box. I have since redone the box to make it removable. Use some marine plywood screwed down to the rodbox and some ss screws and wingnuts. I can remove it when not in use.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D720/ry%3D480/

That was pretty much it. Very simple. Now here are a few screen shots from this morning. I found it very simple to operate. The problem is trying to look at all the screens at the same time. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif These shots are taken in the local river. It's very bare as far as structure goes.

On the left is a big tree laying on the bottom, which i never new was there.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259184903

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259185052

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259185101

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259185181

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...g?t=1259185350


Modified by fishin couillon at 5:55 PM 12/26/2009

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

oh damn i didnt do that thing with the ribbons to check everything off http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif great idea! i think my installation is messed up now. i did the step installation and put the transducer on the right side of the transom. im gussing it is going to be cut off now http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/mad.gif well see tomorrow when i bring it out...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tillerybass &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> great idea!</TD></TR></TABLE>Well it wasn't my idea. I was watching Doug V.'s videos on his HB installation and he also has a skeeter and had done this. So i have to give him the credit. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Fish, great shots!! Do you think those are all bait fish in the shots or weeds??

John.

Ps. My LSS-1 should be here Friday. I hope!!

Great pictures!!! My next assignment is to teach myself all about screen-shots. I installed the LSS yesterday and took it out today... marvelous!!! I have a lot of work to do as it does so much more than I even thought about trying today (will be keeping the manual with me... probably for a long time!) and I have to learn to see what is there! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by John Hagins &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Fish, great shots!! Do you think those are all bait fish in the shots or weeds??

John.

Ps. My LSS-1 should be here Friday. I hope!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hope to see more pictures and descriptions...


Modified by drifter106 at 7:09 AM 11/26/2009

Fishin....have you tried the downscan overlay, yet? I noticed in the one photo that is looked like your downscan view and 2D sonar was a bit off.

It looks like you're getting some great results. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Jason

this is killin me haveing to wait till mid dec http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif cant wait till it comes http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Santa1.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by John Hagins &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you think those are all bait fish in the shots or weeds??</TD></TR></TABLE> I have to say bait fish. My sonar returns didn't show anything "coming up" from the bottom and the oxbow i was in is "bare bones". I was second guessing myself also but i have never pulled up weeds will fishing in there. Also i could have been a bunch of trash (leaves, etc.) as the river got to flood stage last month and the water is muddy as hell.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jaystein21x
&raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Fishin....have you tried the downscan overlay, yet? I noticed in the one photo that is looked like your downscan view and 2D sonar was a bit off. </TD></TR></TABLE> I did try it. In those pics i don't believe i had it on. But it did work pretty good considering where i had my SS ducer mounted in relation to the 2d ducer. It's a neat feature.

Fish, what do you mean by "so the ducer clears the spoons"? What are the spoons on your skeeter?

TIA

Mike

It's the big things that stic out the back end of a skeeter. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif I spelled it wrong not "spoons" but "sponsons", i believe.