Anyone out there with a Humminbird side finder? I have an 897 mounted on my trolling motor and the results so far are mixed.  I find boulders and solid objects well. I can find schools of baitfish and pick up larger fish, but I don't see planted brush as well as I would like.  Any comments or suggestions?

i dont really like the new side finder all that much to me its to hard to read like you posted you cant see bait or fish the easy, you would be better off buying a acuview camera, its about the same thing

How complicated are these units. Are there adjustments to improve readings. Do water conditions affect units.

Garnet

I can't find a listing of a model 897, are you talking about the 987si? If you are, then you have the wrong application for best results. The transducer needs to be placed on a non rotating surface to prevent distortion of the image in the scanning mode. Check this site for everything you need to know about it's capabilities. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/