Lowrance Down Scan / Hobie Pro Angler.....will it work?

[J Bass]

ive heard mixed info about the situation...id love to go w the DSI but if im gonna have to buy extra stuff just to make it work right, ill pass.......can someone please help? Thanx

[ronaultmtd]

I have the Elite 5 DSI- Used it for the first time Saturday- until the battery started to go, it worked like a champ- The images of tree limbs and stumps were very distinct and clearly visible on the screen- fish were pretty hard to see as they are small dots, but they showed up as well- the DSI is not a great fish finder but it is a great structure scan- and it was on auto- I guarantee that after I get used to using the different menu pages and fine tuning the settings it will be even better
PS- I used the Mad Frog Liberator mini mount to get the transducer in the water- slick mount-swings out of the way and with it mounted on a scotty electronics mount in a flush mount- I can take it out and store it in the hatch having a completely slick clean cockpit if I want to-

[daddyg]

I have the Elite 4 I DSI I'm putting on a Hobie PA. To run the transducer outside the boat I used the Liberator mount it swings up and out of the way if you get in close to exposed structure. I ordered it threw HOOK1.

[Pinch]

I have the Elite 5 DSI- Used it for the first time Saturday- until the battery started to go, it worked like a champ- The images of tree limbs and stumps were very distinct and clearly visible on the screen- fish were pretty hard to see as they are small dots, but they showed up as well- the DSI is not a great fish finder but it is a great structure scan- and it was on auto- I guarantee that after I get used to using the different menu pages and fine tuning the settings it will be even better
PS- I used the Mad Frog Liberator mini mount to get the transducer in the water- slick mount-swings out of the way and with it mounted on a scotty electronics mount in a flush mount- I can take it out and store it in the hatch having a completely slick clean cockpit if I want to-

I would argue that the DSI is in fact a great fish finder. You can clearly see fish on that thing. I use a through hull application and have no issues. I can see a 1oz bucktail bouncing off the bottom in 60 feet of water. I have seen rock feeding on pods of smaller baitfish. I have seen schools of rock, specks, and yellow perch clearly. You can also tell the difference between certain fish by the marks they make. I have the Elite 5 dsi and I love it. It stops alot of the guess work as to what under the yak i.e. trash vs. fish.

[ronaultmtd]

Like I said, Pinch- once I learn it will be even better

[Pinch]

Change your surface clarity to clean up the screen. When fishing shallow turn clarity up, when deep turn it down (or off). I use the Sepia color during the day and the green gradient at night.

[J Bass]

so do u think the thru hull set up that the pro angler comes with for Lowrance would work? i was trying to avoid getting the transducer and mounts for it if i can get away with it........THANK YOU GUYS for the help and info, im very new to this ,as in i dont even have the PA yet but its a definite that its gonna happen. I plan on doin ALOT of fishin and havin some fun with some tourneys and stuff...so i may have a few "dumb" questions along the way.....thanx again for your help , its greatly appreciated

[J Bass]

the Elite 5 DSI is the exact one i was looking at...

[HokieDJ]

How does it perform on the pilings? On the Elite 4, the sonar goes nuts once you are close to the bridge pilings.

[Jaspratt]

I have the elite 5dsi, never have problems when I'm to close to big structure. Never herd of that happening before, my transducer is mounted on the bottom of my outback with goop and it produces crystal clear readings.

[HokieDJ]

So you can see the structure below the pilings like big rock debris if they existed? That would be money to use it on CBBT looking for togs and sheepies.

Does anyone else have issues with 2D when they get close to the piling? Maybe it's a setting I have to do on the Elite 4.

[ronaultmtd]

Last Saturday at Wheatly Lake- I found sunken trees- clearly visible- you could see the trunk and individual limbs- not a blob, but a tree- logs were logs and rocks were rocks- I got next to the overflow pipe near the dam and could see the edge of the pipe on the screen- the surface clutter was just a setting I needed to clean up as advised by Pinch-

[Memory Maker]

J-bass .......... the only DUMB question around here is the 1 you don't ask ............everybody has something to learn and everybody has something to share .......... it just getting people past the fear of thinking something that may be dumb that keeps people from posting ......... here, we are all Yakin Bros so there should be no fear ....... Ya got a question ..... ask it ....... nobody's gonna think it's dumb and it could help a bunch of other people here ......

[the_kegs]

Installed an Elite 4x DSI in my Trident 13 last weekend and have been amazed at the detail you can make out. Not only can you see structure like rocks, you can actually see the the surface structure of the rock itself. So much so that you can tell the difference between natural rock outcroppings and rip rap material. Was so amazed by the DSI and what I was able to see that I spent the day glued to the screen re-learing my local lake instead of fishing. I second Pinch's take on ablity to see fish and settings. Fish show up as blobs, not arcs but you can definitely see them. Outside of suface clutter and color, the only other type of sensitivity adjustment you can make is contrast. Lowrance DSI's do not actually have a sensitivity adjustment, it's mainly accomplished through adjusting contrast.

[ronaultmtd]

The bigger screen of the Elite 5 DSI is even easier to see and like you I was mapping out Wheatly Lake last Saturday- I still managed to put seven trout in the boat...I only kept my limit of five- and it is pretty amazing detail- every time I saw tree limbs close to the surface, I got my lure hung in the tree and had to go retrieve it- the fish are not the traditional arc symbols and that is something I have to get used to, but you can see them suspended among the tree limbs and around the stumps/logs on the bottom- what is neat is the gradual color changes that show the different temp layers in the water- the Mad Frog liberator setup for the transducer is great- Thanks Memory Maker for suggesting it to me-