Does side imaging sonar enable you to catch more fish?

[cd1]

I'm just starting to look at these new and expensive and cool side imaging units.  I certainly feel the pull of the dark side calling me when I look at the pics these units provide...but when I step away from the computer and toward my wallet a little voice in my head asks me "how much more productive will this gear make you?"

If we hold everything constant and change only the sonar unit from a fairly basic color finder to a top of the line side-imaging unit...will a fisherman see a significant increase in catches?  Or will he just have a really cool toy to play with when the fishing is slow?

Any insight is much appreciated.  I love the idea of these things...I just need some real world feedback as to what I should really expect after I buy one.

[-Bryan-]

They may not help you catch fish, but they sure will help you see what everyone else is missing...the "what you can see" is as good as a camera and way easier to employ.

[coldfront]

speaking specifically about bass (largemouth)...

from my experience, what it does do is this...it helps me accurately and completely visualize what's actually going on on the bottom and with the cover/structure relationship.  This DOES help me catch more fish as it allows me to more quickly and efficiently identify what should be the 'prime' areas...

I have never been one to 'mark' fish and try to catch them...or vacate a spot if I don't see them on my sonar...as most often, given the smallness of the beam, most fish aren't 'seen' anyway...


Again, how this technolgy has helped ME is that it's allowed me to accurately visualize how the bottom contours lay out, small rocks/stumps/etc that may be there, whether they're on a 'break' or not...  and this allows me to more accurately place/work my offerings...

[DougV]

It's like anything the more you learn how to use the data to your benefits the more it can help. I have countless success stories of how Humminbird Side Imaging has helped me and hear more daily. Here are a couple articles and journals where if it were not for Humminbird Side Imaging Technology I would not have succeeded on these days...

2007 FLW Stren Championship on Mobile Delta:
http://www.724outdoors.com/Fishing/journal_detail.asp?wID=54&iArticleID=2051

New Twist for Locating Pre-Spawn Bass:


If you believe in what it is showing you and understand what it is showing..it's probably the most powerful tool that has changed the way I fish forever. I rarely use 2D sonar anymore (Except for Vertical Fishing). The details and coverage area of Side Imaging is the biggest asset to me. My specialty is fishing extreme shallow waters - it's what I know and understand and 2D in my opinion is useless except to tell me depth - where as side imaging is my eyes under the water and allows me to look to the sides and forward and in shallow water - less than 3' alot of times is where I'm fishing...