Side scan or not

[freddie]

My understanding of the sidescan is that it doesn't work well in the shallow water on the western end of the lake. We had it on the old boat but rarely ever used it. I'd imagine it'd be great for finding perch schools in the deeper water but it's not a necessity by any means.

I've always heard the opposite. Side scan is helpful, but not when you're typically in 25+ foot of water. Shallow water, areas with structure or reefs is where it's helpful. It's hard to see fish marks on side scan in 30 some feet of water IMO. Downscan is a different story though.

Have side scan on my personal boat (got a great deal at the time) but don't use it on Erie.

[Hoytman86]

The argument that I heard was that the sidescan can only do out to the side of the boat as far as it can go down. It makes sense to me. I've also seen a lot of the opposite after searching for reviews. Some people love it for shallow water. I guess the best way of saying it is that it may be just as effective, just not as efficient in shallow water because you're convering a narrower path than you are in deep water.

I'm no expert on the technology and am about 3 years removed from researching for my own install. I'm just relaying the advice I got from members of this forum at the time. The consensus at that time was that it wasn't a necessity for fishing Erie.

[Eriegardless]

I've contemplated this same question. I already have my new units just haven't installed them yet. I do have the side scan transom mount transducer but thinking of scrapping it for a chirp thru hull. Definitely want the thru hull for performance while running. If I go that route it eliminates the need to drill holes and clutter up the transom.

Interested in this conversation...