How many of the Champ family members are using the new fully loaded electronics?

[bassin butch]

Kicking around buying a H-Bird 898 with side scan and down scan. For those with the higher end Low or Bird units: sell me on how the technology works for you.

More fish or the same?

Where did it shine the most?

"Yep me bride is an keeper mates" she said : buy what you want.
This is it:
http://store.humminbird.com/pr...Combo

Butch

[kris_tx]

I plan on buying some next year. I'd like some input as well.

[bled1]

I have an HB 798 and love it!!! I move it from the console to the front. One of these days my plan is to get a 998 for the console and use the 798 up front. Certainly easier to find fish with these units.

[Mocatt]

IMHO,
Hummingbird has a great LCR/side imaging but, there GPS is/was SLOWWW when processing (I heard they improved there antenna on the new ones). I currently have a HDS7 console on the and a HDS5 on the bow. The reason I went back to lowrance was because of the quality of there GPS. I had the side imaging on my Hummingbird and used it quite often looking for brush piles under docks, ditches, humps, and so forth. They are also great for finding fish but, you don't know what type of fish your showing. The problem I see is people spend more time playing with there electronics and not fishing.

[csmetreyeon]

I'm running a HDS 10 on the console with the structure scan and love it but like was said before you can see the fish all you want but no way of telling what it actually is with that said I don't really use it to find fish but more for finding brush piles or other structures!

[Gunnar]

I went with the Lowrance HDS-8 + LSS side/down scan this spring:

* Very impressive out of the box with proper transducer installation
* The down scan is almost like a camera and will clearly show all kinds of structure (cribs, trees, brush, tires, stumps etc.)
* Regular sonar is high quality and can be run side by side with the down scan - You get an immediate understanding based on what you were used to looking at previously on regular sonar
* Down and side scan can show fish, but it takes some getting used to. They show as white marks (not as arches) and can be hard to make out. Bait balls however are easy to see
* These are pre-tournament tools for me... Have to put time into an area while leaving the rods in the locker.... It has not substantially improved my catch ratio, but has greatly improved my understanding of certain areas and structure... I hope to improve its use in and during the 8-hour tournament time frame to make adjustments in presentations because we all know that just because the fish were there (or should be there) yesterday does not mean they will be there come crunch time.... Not there yet, but I am not disappointed in the investment...

Here's a few pics I posted previously:

Known sunken boat – So called Lady of the Lake from the 40’s in 32' FOW..


Random crib that should hold fish...


Bait Ball...

[kris_tx]

On the image with the bait ball, is that it to the left on the side imaging? I can see a sort of elliptical shape there with not much density.

[Gunnar]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by kris_tx &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">On the image with the bait ball, is that it to the left on the side imaging? I can see a sort of elliptical shape there with not much density.</td></tr></table>

Not sure on the side image.... If you look at the first crib shot, it split the crib in half & actually shows a shadow on the down scan... so, I'm not sure why the bait ball only shows on the down scan and is not split like that on the side scan... As far as I know, down scan is exactly that (shoots straight down) while the side scan shoots out side to side and maybe the side scan could not pick up the bait ball? Anyway, the middle line is the track of the center of the boat....

[hopalong1954]

I have a 797si on a ram at the console and love it, my catch ratio has definitely gone up. now I can see the structure and know what is around it, last tourny found some deep fish in 90 degree water and got the limit by drifting over it. with the down image could know when the bait was there and be ready for hookset.
much better than just sonar.

[kmed2]

i have an h-b 998 that came with the boat and i am impressed with it
i have always used lowrance --i have hds-8 at the bow and on the gps map it shows me running over points and islands
the hb is right on track
as far as sonar i dont know which way i would lean now to replace one

[bucketmouths]

have 798 at the wheel and 797 up front and the short time i've used em i love it...it can distract you from fishing but to understand structure and finding the "spot on a spot" its awesome the last few weeks ive been doing alot more cranking in deeper water due to my confidence level in whats there.... having two and having them linked is great. I was throwing a crankbait in 10fow and felt it banging off the rocks i was marking to the side and i felt it hit something big and as soon as i got snagged i looked down to see i crib on the unit....popped it free and hooked up right after i came out.

[scotty34]

I am running a 798csi on ram on bow with a weevee guard on my fortrex and a 898 on ram at console.
Once you get everything set up you eliminate a lot of dead water with SI.
Scotty

[ChampRunner204]

I have a 997 on dash also have 332C I like the Lorance map view better. Guess because It's what I'm use too. 997 shows some great shots.

[Hookset Rods]

I run a HB 1197 on the console of my 181 and love it. Get the biggest screen you can and never look back.

[Blue198]

Humminbird 997.. Love it

[Radeleur]

I realize its a bit old thread, but I went with the 898c....

Looking back...I should have gone with the 1198c...Get the biggest screen you can possibly afford...you'll thank me for it later

But the Humminbird is absolutely awesome...Oh, and definitely get the WeatherSense module when you get one. I love the ability to glance and see what the barometric pressure is doing real time right on my graph.

The other big thing that I really liked is the ability to record...I can approach a bank of dock, start recording and later when I get home I can watch it and adjust the setting to really get a good look at what was recorded since Humminbird records the raw data. What I mean is...lets say I wanted to adjust the SI Enhance settings: Contrast, Sensitivity, Sharpness, etc...I can do that while playing back the recording without altering the raw data from the recording.

Another great feature is the simulation mode. When you first start the Humminbirds' you can go into simulation mode..and make adjustments to 2d Sonar, Down-Imaging, and Side Imaging and it will save them for when you go into normal mode. This is great for making the most initial adjustments before you head out to the water. Plus, if you have any questions doing it this way, run inside, hop online and get the information you need.

Doug Vahrenberg is one of the Humminbird Pro's and has a load of information on his website about setting up your Humminbird units...Proved indispensable and saved me a bunch of time.

http://dougvahrenberg.com/

[axis]

I do not own either of the side/down imaging units. A friend of mine has a HB898 and I have used it. The side imaging is nice, but I have not used a Lowrance to compare it against. What I don't like is HB's gps map. I like Lowrance's gps map view much better.

[Radeleur]

My partner has a FX20 with Lowrances and had a 206 Champ before that with Lowrances...so I have had the benefit of using both....

One other major thing I forgot to mention was the assignable hot buttons on the Humminbirds'. They are awesome. Also, you can cycle forward or backward on the views by pressing either view for forward or exit for back. So lets say you find a view you like, for example, map and side imaging split screen...all you would have to do is press and hold one of the three hot buttons and that view would be stored for that button. If you later decide you don't want that view but another view, just repeat this procedure.

[bigfish1259]

I'm running Lowrance HD front and back, love them, 2 of my buddies run the 998 and 997 Hummingbird which are just as impressive. What I like about the Birds is the down and side imaging is built in, as where with the Lowrance you have to purchase the LSS-1 box separately...

[BassinBarrister]

I recently had HDS 5s with lake insight installed at the console and bow. Each has a separate transducer. Also had LSS-1 installed. All are linked by ethernet. I'm still learning but the downscan/sidescan is great for showing exactly what's down there. I went with the smaller screens because I'm not a tournament guy (except the Champion Tournament). They work fine for me, even with the split screen. The Lowrance menus seem easy enough to work with.