I have personally used side imaging for the last three seasons and can easily say it s worth the price of admission for several reasons 1.
Side imaging sonar kayak.
You can scan a larger area as opposed to standard sonar or down imaging.
Side imaging is a special type of sonar which looks out up to 240 feet either side of the transducer up to 180 degree coverage it produces a display which is very detailed showing actual features on the bottom of the sea river.
Side imaging sonars also referred to as side scan sonars are a set of sonar system that was developed to create an image of large areas on the seafloor effectively.
In kayak fishing side imaging technology comes with greater depth finders and is more expensive than the down imaging and 2d sonar.
With side imaging you are able to scan a larger area compared to what is achievable with down imaging.
Following this a brief explanation of what a side imaging fish finder is should prove helpful for many of you.
Side imaging sonar can produce an image of the bottom up to 80 feet on either side of the boat.
Humminbird helix 5 di gps g2 best cheap down imaging fish finder for kayaks.
If you are installing in a kayak a great power source is a nocqua lithium battery.
A fish finder that leads me to catch more fish is a fish finder i want in my boat or my kayak and i expect you do too.
Lowrance hook2 7 tripleshot great price and full of features including down and side scan plus excellent mapping.
This sonar device emits conical or fan shaped pulses down towards the bottom of the sea across an extensive range perpendicular to the path the sensor follows through the water.
If not your best bet may be an arm that hangs off the side of the kayak to attach the transducer to.
I ve had my humminbird helix si on the pescador pilot for the last two seasons but found the side down images so grainy and noisy they were basically useless.
Only after using side imaging on a boat did i realize what i was doing wrong on my kayak.
Side imaging does work on a kayak.
Very small and lightweight and will run that thing for days.
Kayak fishing already puts us at a disadvantage since we just don t cover as much water as a regular bass boat.
Some newer hobo kayaks have a mounting plate underneath for side imaging transducers.
Freeman adds with the most advanced signal the sonar goes from 455 to 800 megahertz up to 1 100 to 1 300 megahertz for three times the detail.