Wayne P.

This screen shot shows the shadows to the far right of this school of bass since most where high in the water column.

Excellent choice.Take the time to fully learn how to use it before applying it to fishing.

Yes. Additionally since stuff blocks the sonar pulses, including fish, there will be a shadow opposite the transducer. Those fish have a shadow on the bottom next to them.

There were sales going on around Christmas by several dealers, I think you missed those. Typically a marine electronics dealer sells below MSRP unlike the big box general sporting goods stores like Bass Pro. The Elite with CHIRP units are new so they certainly won't be "On Sale". Don't think you will find a cheap CHIRP. You may find the discontinued non-CHIRP models on close out sale somewhere. Do a web search for the Elite-7 HDI if you want that discontinued model.

No matter what technology is applied, the transducer has to have water contact when on plane. ANY unit can perform properly when installed correctly for the craft it is installed on. The Lowrance transducers are the most hydrodynamic of any brand. Anyone that cannot get high speed depth with one doesn't have it installed so it can. It just takes minimum common sense to do that--instructions are included. All units that have GPS will display GPS speed if you select it as a digital readout. The only negative I have seen for those models is the slow processing of mapping at speed. That can be negated some with the choice of a map product.

Yes, the HDI units are a combo 2D and Down Scan with a transducer that does both. The DSI units they had were Down Scan only with no 2D sonar.

Even if you have limited stuff to see, fish and weed edges are handy to display. This is a shallow featureless cove showing 200' of coverage. There are submerged weeds and a couple of small fish on the right side and a good size bass on the left side.

Yes, that is an issue. You have to be around stuff to see stuff.

No except for the Chart Speed. That was whatever the GPS speed was. I change the unit settings according to how the screen looks if I want to improve the image at that location. I don't pay attention to what the numbers are, I just go by how it looks. I don't use the same color all the time either. Some others show stuff better for me according to the subject and ambient light. If you are a "set it and forget it" person, you won't get the best performance. The units are very adjustable, use the adjustments.

Sort of for waters I am not familiar with. If you don't pass directly over a "subject" it will show where it is as long as it is within the range you have selected, and you can pause the screen, move the position curser to that subject and save a waypoint for it. There is a Casting Ring feature that you set the radius for that will be put around all your waypoints. Then you just position your boat on that ring and cast to the center of it, you don't have to see it displayed on your sonar. Of course if you pass directly over it, any sonar will show it. This is a tree on a stump/log pile that I passed directly over--it shows on both sides of the SI view. This time when I passed by that area, the tree was on the left: In either case, I could save a waypoint for it and return directly to it anytime I wanted to. Actually both of those times I wanted to, so I could take those screen shots as examples. I had found that a few years earlier and saved a waypoint for it. I do stuff like this to get examples for topics like this to help others decide what technology suits their needs/wants. I have an example of the Casting Rings in the Screen Shots topic above when used with the 360. Post #126

There are no bad ones. Get the one that does what you want at the price you are willing to pay.

I know one, ME. I use it to tell where the rock pile, brush pile, creek channel, stump, ect is in relation to the boat. 2D sonar just shows them within a circular area "somewhere" under the boat. That circular area is larger as the depth inceases. Just takes practice to do that. After all, both are just sonar pulses that measure distance from the transducer. As long as the subject is within the sonar coverage, it will be constantly displayed on the right side for 2D and at the top for SI. "It's so easy a cave man can do it" BTW, Humminbird Side Imaging works quite well to 200' and those models have 2D sonar also and blended Down Imaging generated from the two SI pulses. You just choose how you want stuff displayed.

There are several Elite 7 Chirp models. The one with X in the model name does not have GPS/mapping. Refer to the Lowrance web site for the details of each model

There is Watermelon Red Magic. It has black, red, gold, green, purple, and blue flakes that the fish can analyze and bite which color they like best.

What is "DEEP" to you?

ZERO difference I use both in all situations. Whichever bag I pick up, I use. I have more that a couple dozen other colors that are interchangeable too. I mostly buy plastic worms by their flake count for weedless wacky rigging since they are softer than solid colors. Open hook rigging, Tx rigging, Carolina rigging, or with a jig, it makes no difference what color. If a certain color gives you confidence, then use it. I have confidence in the presentation, color is not a factor. I keep a list of Zoom colors I have used and most I still have some of each. Just bought some new flaky colors a couple of weeks ago that had a Limited Edition sticker on the package. Don't even know what the colors were, didn't make any difference, they had lots of metal flakes in them. Baby Bass, Mardi Gras, Green Pumpkin, Watermelon Purple, Watermelon Red, Watermelon, Watermelon Candy, Red Shad, Cotton Candy, Pumpkin, June Bug, Limeaid, Bubble Gum, Smokin Blue, Green Pumpkin Green, Green Pumpkin Red, Bait Fish, Moccasin Blue, White, Seedless Watermelon, Seedless Pumpkin, Junebug Red, Red Bug, Yellow, Lemon, Lemon Shad, Red/ Black Core, Natural Blue, Cherry Seed, Icicle, Green Pumpkin Blue, Watermelon/ Chart. Tail, Cinnamon Purple, Watermelon Magic, Green Pumpkin Magic, Margarita, Green Pumpkin Gold, Watermelon Gold, Smokin Purple, Green Pumpkin Candy Red, Watermelon Slice, Gooseberry, Watermelon Red Magic, Sherbert, Black, Gourd Green, Chartreuse Pumpkin, Electric Blue

The HDS 7 is a 2D unit that will support Side Scan and Down Scan if you add the LSS box and transducer. A Touch unit just needs the LSS transducer for Scan.

You might get a discontinued 898c HD SI Combo for that price on close-out sale. Or a pre-owned one. Close to that price for the current model 899ci HD SI Combo I'll PM you a list of dealers to check with for a new one and pre-owned source also.

Good catch. The thermocline was just forming at the 15' level.

Bubbles:

Sonar records echos from stuff that reflect the sonar pulse. You may have fish following your jig as you move it, they create lines on the display also. Air/gas bubbles reflect sonar pulses too and would be recorded on a slanted line like you jig does since the depth changes as the screen scrolls.

The shape of the sonar pulse is like an inverted cone. It is the size of the transducer at the transducer and larger as you get away from it. As you reel in, your presention has less coverage. I would guess when it stops drawing the line, your presentation is not directly under the transducer. Just the way sonar works.

No current in the first picture. It was on the same lake as the picture I sent you and preditor/prey post.

You can rig up a Side Imaging unit on a float and pull it along when wade fishing. Just depends on how much you want to spend on technology. The size of the craft makes no difference.

The HDS-8 with LSS Once you learn how to use Side Scan, all the other stuff will seem elementary. The bigger the display with that technology, the better.