How I scan an entire Marina for Crappie!

I take you along as I use side imaging sonar to scan under every dock in a Marina. I finally found a school of fish.

[@2005Pilot]

Finally someone who does an Outstanding Job explaining sidescan! New Sub and I don’t even have sidescan….Yet! 👍👍

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks for the sub! 🐿

[@jamesyounginer5584]

YOU OBVIOUSLY TRY TO EXPLAIN THIS CLEARLY AND YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED!! LOL YOUR PRESENTATION IZ PRETTY CLEAR TO ME!! GONNA TRY WHAT YOU'VE SHOWN ME. THANX MAN!!

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Good luck Fishin. 🐿

[@jasonrojas8734]

Thank goodness I finally found someone that's not using Livescope. Fellow pontoon sidescanner here, also looking for crappie. SUBSCRIBED!

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you Jason! I do have active target but I fished a long time without it. I bought it to help me understand the fish better so I could pass along what I learn to my viewers. Thanks so much for the Sub and watching! 🐿

[@CatfishandCrappie]

Great Video Buddy! I never thought of using scan on just one side of the boat! Makes total sense!

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you Catfish and Crappie. I appreciate you watching brother! 🐿

[@chriswindom3892]

thanks....I like how you explain things..still trying to figure out all my electronics. your vid's help alot.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you Chris, I appreciate you watching! 🐿

[@briangmiller6]

You have the best videos God bless you

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank You, I appreciate the kind words! 🐿

[@donniedickerson8077]

Good job on the side scan

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks Donnie!

[@larryhobbs8769]

Good video 🐿. Your explaining of side scan really makes it look simple and easy to understand. Watching from Lake Murray SC.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank You Larry! I appreciate you watching. I need to get down to Lake Murray and scan some Crappie and Stripers.🐿

[@scotthenderson4376]

I'm going to try this for the first time this weekend. I feel up to the challenge now that I have the tools. Thank you

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks for watching Scott! Good luck Fishin! 🐿

[@The_Next_Cast]

Great video and thorough explanation! Thanks for sharing!

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you for watching, The Next Cast! 🐿

[@Trayman26]

Good job as always. I really enjoyed the side imaging.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks Trayman26, I appreciate you watching! 🐿

[@kyredneckoutdoors]

Squirrel man thanks that's just the kind of info i need.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you for watching KYRO! 🐿

[@slabbusterrtr7690]

Good show 👍

[@TheJJohnsonExperience]

Hey Squirrel, i've been working on how to really read through my sidescan and this was extremely helpful. Gotta get out on the water and run some tests now. :D Thanks for sharing!

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Glad it helped you out thanks for watching!🐿

[@badneed]

Please do one scanning banks for brush piles and crappie. Thank you.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Will do!

[@mikesampson5567]

Great video 🐿️. Sampy

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you Sampy. 👊🐿

[@mikesampson5567]

@@FishinwithSquirrel you're welcome My friend 👍

[@stevefine1704]

Great video. I bet those crappie were in a baited stall. A 50 lb sack of grain draws bait of all kinds and crappie hang there as long as the bait is there. Very informative video.

[@tjcamp3835]

Squirrel, i jut bought my first boat and plant o have 1-2 Hummingbird Helix 10 with side and down imaging and this video was awesome. I need to get them installed and get out on the lake and try this.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

You will love them!

[@crappiedayfishon1756]

Hey Squirrel , good vid buddy . i even learned a little . 😁

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks Crappieday! 🐿🤣😂

[@indianachrisUDX1313]

Nice tutorial.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks Indiana, I appreciate you watching! 🐿

[@indianachrisUDX1313]

@@FishinwithSquirrel You're welcome!

[@theguideschoice429]

Oh yea,one more thing. When you want to do some salt water videos, look me up. Trout reds and bass same area Capt. Vic

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank You. Definitely would like to catch some redfish. 👍

[@pgm1970]

Thanks! Can’t wait to see the lay down video

[@MegaGlennP]

Excellent video! New subscriber. I've used sidescan primarily for finding structure. This really opened my eyes for actually finding fish! 👍

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you for the Sub MegaGlennP! I’m glad you got some value out of the video. 👍🐿

[@danielpothier9990]

Another fascinating tutorial Squirrel especially turning off the transducer on the side not being scanned. It seemed obvious after you explained it but I wonder how many would not have considered the width between the pontoons. Including myself. God Bless

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you for watching Dan! I appreciate the comment! 🐿

[@CatfishWeekly]

Very well done video my friend

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you Mr Lyle! I really appreciate the comment sir! 🐿

[@steveshackelford4911]

Thank you sir

[@randy1ization]

good vid !

[@theguideschoice429]

Great video I am subscribe and watching. Love the nickname, mine is choupique (look it up)😂Can you do some more locating videos with your Lowrance please. Maybe a shallow water one. I’m an Old bass fishermen from the 80’s converted to inshore Charter Captain. Trying to locate SacALait in the rivers & shallow canals in the swamp on my off days. Catching some but I Just don’t see them on sides imagining an. I’m guessing they don’t school up so much in the rivers way down here .🤷🏻‍♂️ Capt. Vic

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank You for the Sub and Watching. I have a few other videos posted on Side Imaging but I think the water depth was around 20’. The next time I scan for Gizzard Shad in the shallows I will be sure to hit record. 🐿

[@catfishregulators2727]

Awesome video bud

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks Catfish Regulators, I appreciate you watching! 🐿

[@shiny_popcorn]

So I finally understand the open water area as being the black area. I was confused about that, thank you. But I'm still confused on the land area. It looks like the fish are on land to me

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thanks Shiney, I have another video I hope will clear up what you are seeing on side scan in laymen terms. Appreciate you watching! 🐿

[@shiny_popcorn]

@@FishinwithSquirrel Awesome, I'll go through and see if I can't find it

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

I haven’t posted it yet. I still have some editing to do. Hopefully I can upload it within the next two weeks.

[@shiny_popcorn]

@@FishinwithSquirrel OK, well I will be looking out

[@jasonstokley7274]

The black area is the distance from the boat to the bottom of the lake. Let's say he's scanning 60ft and the lake is 30 ft deep. In reality, hes scanning only 30 ft away from his boat. You have to subtract the depth of the water from the distance shown on the graph, and that is the true distance to whatever your target is.

[@waynehouska2550]

Thank You Squirrel for the info. I wish they had this back in my day. That Lowrance is awesome. Thank You for sharing. Stay Safe!! How many fish did you catch??

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you for watching Wayne! I didn’t even fish for those fish, I went Catfishing, marked a few fish but never got a bite that afternoon! I should’ve just stuck to crappie and stayed right there. I’ll go back though! 🐿

[@terrygrasty4371]

How does stained water an muddy water affect the side imaging on seeing

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

I fished Keowee with clear water up to 6 feet visibility and Clark’s Hill Lake when it is Chocolate milk. Sidescan works great on both. Side and down imaging are not affected like 2D. Thanks for watching 🐿

[@351cleveland8]

Squirrel 👍

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Thank you for watching and Sharing 351! 🐿

[@351cleveland8]

@@FishinwithSquirrel no problem man 👍

[@tmise50]

Excellent tutorial! Are marinas/docks good year round?

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

I usually find fish under the same docks Year round. Sometimes they bite and sometimes they don’t. Thanks for watching!🐿

[@jimduggan1614]

Great video! maybe a dumb question so i assuming that the boat/transducer is at the far right edge of the screen correct?

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Not a dumb question at all. You are correct, it’s at the far right of my screen. if I would have chosen right scan, it would have been to the far left. If you have a 7. Inch screen, it really makes a difference. It’s like magnifying the screen 2x. Thanks for the comment! 🐿

[@garysword5073]

Good information! However the reflection and glare coming off your control unit made it difficult to see what you were actually seeing

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Gary, thank you for the feedback. I will try to do better. The next sonar video I film like this I will record off of the sonar unit instead of my GoPro! I appreciate you watching!🐿

[@yakin_n_bassin8203]

Very informative, great vid... can u explain how those lines in the black are boats and docks? I jus can't wrap my head around how that is

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

I will do do a video with some underwater footage, hopefully that will better explain what sidescan is picking up. Thanks for the video idea! 🐿

[@yakin_n_bassin8203]

@@FishinwithSquirrel that would be so awesome... and I found one of ur earlier vids that helped explain it more... keep it up... gotta subscriber outta me

[@terry796]

Good video. Question, when you said the fish were out I think you said 50' or so, you don't subtract the water depth from that number to say how far from the boat they actually are?? Thanks!!!

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

The fish are the distance it says on my graph from my transducer which is mounted on the left (port) side pontoon, therefore it’s the exact distance from my left side. My pontoon is 8’ wide so if I pass them on the right (starboard) side they would be the 8’ closer than my graph is indicating. Hope this helps! Thanks for watching!🐿

[@jasonstokley7274]

Yes you do.

[@joshuaadell5721]

Where do you get a livewell like that?

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

My live well is a super bait tank.

[@harryduncan6699]

First crappie are scan distance minus depth…..not 44 feet to your left. 40 ft. Minus 18 ft. depth so crappie are 22 ft to your left. To test, say your depth is 25 ft and set your scan to 15 ft. to your left, all you see is the depth….nothing to your left. Your scan range must be greater than your depth, and thus your distance to your left is minus your depth. The same if you are scanning both left and right….scan distance minus depth.

[@FishinwithSquirrel]

Harry, thanks for the comment, but scan distance minus depth is actually an incorrect myth. I have a video in the works where I am addressing that myth. I took a range finder with me to the lake, sunk an anchor tied to a big marker buoy with coke bottles suspended coke bottles to emulate fish. I think you will find it very interesting. The black (water column) is displayed on the screen until the sidescan beam finally hits the bottom of the lake at 45° angle confirmed by Lowrance) hope this helps. 🐿