Helix First Use Report

[SkunkedAgain]

Last night I took a late run to the marina and met Jig Fisher there to try the cats, it had been blowing for two days and chilled right off from what it was, plus the water level was down close to a foot... Soooo I didn't have real good hopes for the run, but I was trying my new ff for the first time and that was kind of fun.  FF in general are kind of useless on Cutler due to 2-3' depth, but my new finder has the side imaging on it and that was really cool, it actually works in shallow water, at least to 40-50' per each side of the boat until it kind of blacks out... For a mud bowl like Cutler, I was amazed at how much we could see for structure and fish scattered around the sides of us... I'm far from being able to identify any species, but I'm really excited to have this new tool to work with... Was a pleasure to fish with Paul, really enjoyed the visit, even if the fish didn't cooperate... Water temp was between 44-46 degrees, which is at least 6 degrees cooler than last week when I got the last fish.. Paul, sorry we didn't get a better night for catching, but did enjoy going fishing with you and we'll have to do it again under better conditions..  

What works best for controlling glare on your screens and being able to see your ff display better?  There is so much detail on these finders I find I need to study things more close up to figure out everything that is happening almost like you need a sonar operator in addition to the skipper guiding the boat... Will be fun to learn how to use this finder... Guess I need to take Robert's course on sonar interpretations... Now that's a class I'd enjoy taking....  Anyway I'll see what I can learn and report back as I figure out some of the abilities in case anyone is considering new finders this might help them know if the finder is a good one for them... Later Jeff

[Jig-fisher]

Your new finder is very nice.  Great detail with the side imaging.  I knew it was going to be tough with the crappy weather, but that was when I had some time. I enjoyed the company and just swapping fish stories.  Your new motor ran well and putting my big body up front made it get up on plane really easy.  I was amazed at how shallow Cutler really is.  Finding good places to fish would be tough.  One thing that would probably help with the glare is to angle the unit into a more upright position.  That way you won't get the sky reflecting off the unit into your eyes.

Thanks Jeff for taking some time, bringing the boat, and getting out with me.  I really enjoyed it.

[SkunkedAgain]

Your new finder is very nice.  Great detail with the side imaging.  I knew it was going to be tough with the crappy weather, but that was when I had some time. I enjoyed the company and just swapping fish stories.  Your new motor ran well and putting my big body up front made it get up on plane really easy.  I was amazed at how shallow Cutler really is.  Finding good places to fish would be tough.  One thing that would probably help with the glare is to angle the unit into a more upright position.  That way you won't get the sky reflecting off the unit into your eyes.

Thanks Jeff for taking some time, bringing the boat, and getting out with me.  I really enjoyed it.

You’re most welcome and the tip on the screen I figured out tonight and it really helped. Only problem tonight was all the rain. Hey I really like that side imaging it shows so much stuff that I had no clue was around. Those Megas really are nice machines I like it more each trip. Played with the mapping feature tonight and it works well but not a lot of changes in depth where I was running around. I can’t believe how much they have improved the clarity in a couple generations of finders. I hardly ever used it on my old one, but I’ll be using it a lot on this one. Seen a fish tonight that had to be BLK’s 36”er it was way bigger than the rest of the fish I was seeing. Would love to have seen it. Might of been a carp, but who knows. Anyway sorry I didn’t know you were there tonight could have got you soaked. Thanks for the tips.  Later Jeff

[2knots]

Glad the ff test well, sorry the fish didn’t cooperate. I noticed in the pic you sent that you had the protective film on the screen still, that will add to the glare. Do a search for anti glare protectors for your ff, I found mine on Amazon and I think it was less then 10 bucks. Other thing that I’ve done on my old center console was to make a hood and use the 2 knobs on the Ff to hold it on. (2 gallon milk jug cut and spray painted black, bent to provide top and side coverage)

[fast_randy]

Wow, I had no idea that side scan would work in that shallow of water. I need to upgrade from my helex 5 without side scan. Thanks for the report Jeff.

[SkunkedAgain]

Glad the ff test well, sorry the fish didn’t cooperate. I noticed in the pic you sent that you had the protective film on the screen still, that will add to the glare. Do a search for anti glare protectors for your ff, I found mine on Amazon and I think it was less then 10 bucks. Other thing that I’ve done on my old center console was to make a hood and use the 2 knobs on the Ff to hold it on. (2 gallon milk jug cut and spray painted black, bent to provide top and side coverage)

Thanks Alan, You have good eyes to pick up on the screen protective film, but you are correct it is still there, only reason I dared wipe the rain off the screen last night...  I'll have to check Amazon for the protective screens, I know they are really needed in a fishing type setting... I'll have to try the hood idea too... however, changing the angle made a huge difference...  I learned a lot about the area I was in last night that I never knew, there's a lot of rock down there, where I assumed it was just a mud bottom... Not a lot of fish, but where they were, they were all congregated together.. and a lot of the areas I used to fish didn't have any fish around them, so wouldn't have done me much good to fish there at least last night...  Hopefully this new finder will help me fish in the more productive areas... Anyway looking forward to getting you out on the boat to give the cats a try... Let's hope for better weather so the fish get more active and it should make for a good trip.. Later Jeff

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Wow, I had no idea that side scan would work in that shallow of water. I need to upgrade from my helex 5 without side scan. Thanks for the report Jeff.

Randy, I watched a lot of In Depth Outdoors last season on the ice (check out youtube) anyway, they were using the Mega 360 on the ice in shallow 4' deep areas and seeing out to 90' around them... This let them find a lot of fish in shallow water without having to punch a million holes and wait for them to settle down after the noise of hole punching... anyway it kind of sold me on the tech because I fish so much shallow water and it's the only way to use a fish finder in shallow water and have it show you something... So if you are thinking about he 360 I think you have to have a Helix 8 or bigger for it to work if I did my research correctly... So far I'm loving it, no buyers remorse so far...  You're welcome for the report, probably more to follow... Later Jeff
PS... I did notice the regular 2D fish finder is a lot better than the 788 model that I upgraded from as well... it really shows bottom features better and picks up fish right on the bottom...

[Cowboypirate]

I can't wait to see more test info on your new toy.

[SkunkedAgain]

I can't wait to see more test info on your new toy.

I can't wait to get out and try something new... A manual didn't come with with the finder, so I guess I need to get on line and find one... There's so much stuff hidden in sub menus that I'm going to need to study to figure out how to do things... Depending on which screen you are on, you get different options on the menu button... So I need to figure out more about how things work... Anyway I'll keep trying to post as I learn something new that I think is cool or nice to have... More later... Jeff

[fast_randy]

I got my Helix 5 ice model two years ago. It was frustrating learning it, because like you said Jeff, no owners manual. I too had to go on YouTube to learn it. Then I saw a guy in Bosie had a new transducer and a used transducer trolling motor mount for my Helix 5 for $40. So I bought them and could use it on my boat. But I know I can't upgrade it to side view, So I am looking at new unit's.

[SkunkedAgain]

Good luck Randy, hey there is supposed to be a new live scope type option for Humminbird coming out in May so may want to wait till that rolls out, it could reduce price of existing stuff or be the tech you want to get... Not far off, so might be worth the wait... Good luck... Jeff

[RockyRaab2]

I hear ya. I just put a second Helix 7 on my boat. The one on the console has side imaging and GPS, the one I just put on the bow has GPS but no side imaging (which would be really confusing with the xducer mounted on the trolling motor!). Lake contour cards and CHIRP down imaging in both units, so there's a whole lot for me to learn.

[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds like a nice system Rocky... I seen a video on YouTube that shows how to network your finders and you can get full capabilities of one machine to show up on the monitor of the other machine even if it doesn't have that capability... So you could put your side imaging on your bow unit... If you can figure out all the hook ups anyway... Good luck with it... J