Garmin Side view Transducer placement 330 express

[Off the Hook]

i am considering new Garmin Electronics and want to go with thru hull transducer(s).

question i have is will i need to put a transducer on each side or on as close to center as possible?

anyone have experience with this?

thanks

 

[everwhom]

I put my GT51TH right on the keel. I find that while I can hold bottom at cruise speed, the actual sonar picture goes to pot so I could run over a huge school of bluefin and not know it. I originally mounted it without the fairing block and then I added the full block to try to improve the performance on plane, but that didn't make any difference.

I ended up adding a big Airmar B175HW as a 2nd transducer which does better at speed and gives incredibly resolution. I don't use the side vu that much, but that's mostly because I am mostly tuna fishing in deep water or fishing well known depth contours and not specific structure.

 

[grady33]

I installed flush mount B175HW too and everyone I’ve talked to said side view isn’t really helpful for offshore fishing which is what we do. Usually 120-2000 ft deep water.

 

[SkunkBoat]

If you don't mount it centerline Low on the keel, you will block out a side.

I have a Garmin side view transom mount between the motors. It works fantastically at slow speed looking for wrecks....like a photo almost.
I have not really found it to be great at finding bait to the sides. At least, it doesn't find bait that I didn't already see on a Traditional 50/200hz B744 thru hull
It doesn't work well on plane. It is a great backup in Traditional mode for all kinds of fishing.. Not a fan of the "ClearVu" mode.

I think its a definite plus on the boat since we do wreck fishing but its not my main transducer.
I'm looking to replace the B744 with a B260 1kw transducer to match to the old Garmin GSD22. That will run great on plane and give good detail in 1000'+ when canyon fishing