Great info from everyone, thanks.
Treeguyus, I do almost exactly what you do, 2050 Crestliner, gas kicker, ipilot with speed difference on the Ulterra.
When you say PS31 pointed backwards, do you mean off the terrova or do you have a PS31 on the transom of the Crestliner?
With boards running 80-100 ft out and 40-80 ft off boards do you think you could see cranks? That would be really cool.

I ultimately would really like to find a way to mark fish at speed (20mph or so) with a wider beam / coverage but seems like the market is not there yet or at least not for shallow water.


Quote Originally Posted by Treeguyus View Post
Let me say thanks for the vote of confidence. Have two boats with panoptix, one a Lund 2025 and the 2nd a Crestliner 17' all tillers.

2025 has a PS-30 on the transom and a PS-31 mounted on my terrova. The trolling speed of my gas engine is set about .5 mph below desired speed and use the terrova to make up the difference, facilitates steering with the terrova. Remember the steering is from the rear (tiller). I like 3d forward on the 31 and live vu. When I see fish forward of the boat I troll towards them or by moving the terrova with the wireless remote or I-Pilot link also I can point towards the shallow and see the distance to the weed line for example to anticipate change in contour or weed line and distance to it. The PS-30 will show fish as I go over them and will spot fish 15-20 off each side.

The Crestliner has a PS-30 on transom and a PS-31 pointed back wards. Always like the PS-30 for vertical jigging, the directional back on the 30 helps when trolling with down riggers watching baits close to the down rigger ball. The PS-31 pointed backwards is pretty darn slick. Can see a trolled crank bait on lead core with some fine tuning also can see how the fish react to the bait as it is trolled and very useful in determining depth crankbait is running at and adjust accordingly. Also on 3D when back trolling can lay out the contour before getting there, allows for precise boat control along a weed line for example or ledge. Added a Minnkota hand control trolling motor on the bow, thinking to a put a ps-21 on it. Can use it directionally when fishing from the bow. Or lock it forward when trolling.

Don't underestimate 3D for laying a basic contour either when back trolling or forward trolling. I have a da ducer stick on the 2025 but use it for DS/SS with a LSS-2 and 50-200 khz 455-800 kHz HDI, like the narrow cone angle with the 200 KHZ for pinpointing fish. But for trolling at 2 mph the stick moves with the LSS-2 so eliminates side scan effectiveness so I go with the 455 or 800 on the HDI ducer.

You will find as I have that using 2d will be less and less to find active schools. Time will help you gain confidence on what your seeing. 2D is history and panoptix is what to come.

Hope I did not confuse you. If so more then willing to speak on the phone to help.... simple answer the PS-30 and PS-31 works well for trolling. For some reason won't allow me to load photos. However search my threads you will see some of my photos....hey thanks for the heads up and hope it helps.