3D Fish Locators???

I was just looking though the Wisconsin Sportsman magazine and saw an article on 3D technology in fish locators. It sounds great and from the websites I’ve went to they look cool and easy to use. Any of you guides or anglers use these or have an opinion???? Are they as good as they sound? Thanks for any info.

Yeah I’m in the same boat, never seen on until I saw an add, I’d add on of these to my boat in a second, but I’ll wait a year of so, just incase there are any bugs, and I want a color one.

I’ve been waiting all day for some responses. I know they are would be very effective and was wondering if anyone was using them or used them yet….guess I’ll keep waiting

Hummingbird has had some 3D technology for sometime now. Is this what you are refering to?

Yeah they were one of them or atleast that is the ad in the magizine that I was checking out was for Humminbird. I guess I had thought Eagle and Garmin had something too? or that was what I was told. Thanks again!

Eagle/lowrance has some “side-finder” views, along with Bottomline.

I just don’t see how they would work. Transducers are a “ping”, which bounce off the hardest object closest to them. So, if the bottom is 30 feet. And walleyes are all over at 29 feet deep (1 foot off the bottom). So, at an “angle of view, walleyes off to the side @ 4 feet from the straight line shot of the “ping” would be at 32′ away from the transducer……..thus being “2 feet” below the bottom……..What I’m saying is how do you spot a fish 32 feet away, when the transducer is “pinging” at 30 feet???

This is how I don’t think “3D” is very popular…….People think that fish “come from the bottom” to their graph/flasher……..when in all reality, it is the fish that is coming in from a distance….thus closing the gap from the fish to the transducer. So, as the fish closes in to your bait in 10 feet down, over 15 feet of water, when the fish comes into the 15 foot range at the angle, that is when the fish comes into view (appearing to come in from the bottom), when actually it is coming in at the same depth, just further away from the bait. As it narrows the “gap”, it appears closer……

Thanks Gary just when I thought I understood these locators Just kidding, I know what you mean and that is why I’m confuesd and wanted to hear more. I know they would be great for structure finding. Once I found the structure I’d switch to 2D mode anyway. I read a lot of article and stuff and not many have any good info on these…..

I’m not even going to pretend to know much about HOW these work but there is a pretty strong following, especially among bass and crappie anglers in the South. The latest technology is supposed to blow the old stuff away. The Humminbird Matrix 47 uses something like 11 separate sonar beams to generate a 3D image. Similar technology is used in the Humminbird 947C 3D . The new Humminbird Fishfinders are a far cry from the old Wide Eye that I was familiar with. How good are they? Time will tell I guess. I will say that since Johnson Outdoors (owns Minn Kota) bought Techsonic Industries (Humminbird’s old “owner”), things are looking better. We will likely see Humminbird become more of a player in the mid- to upper-range class fishinders. More competition is good for all of us.

If I hear any feedback of the new 3D units I will paost it but it’ll probably be a while before we start hearing about the results.

I have a Bottomline with a side view, which does come in handy when searching wing dams for active fish on or in front of the dam. I can slip across quietly in front of the dam and it displays how far, and to which side, the fish are. Not sure how accurate it is, but if it does not show fish on the wing side of the boat, I do not often catch fish from the upper parts of that dam. I need more practice to have complete confidence, and it is a 4 year old unit that came with the boat when I bought it last year, but it definetly has earned a spot in my boat this coming season as well.

One note of caution though… when fishing in a group of other boats, it is best to turn off the side view, or you will get some very unfriendly comments from those who are losing their display due to interference from your unit!

Not that I’ve ever had that happen, mind you. Just what I heard!

I can’t justify spending the kind of money the Humminbird 947C 3D commands as this would be almost 1/10th the price of my entire boat but I will be buying the matrix 47 as it seems like the perfect finder for me as I strictly fish in water less than 12 feet deep, hence I need a wider cone than 20 degrees most finders do.

As for the side finder, part, I tried for hours on end to visualize what the heck I was looking at here: Side Imaging Technology but I still can’t make heads of tails of this.

Anyone care to explain what I am looking at here? Even the text is not helping!