Using both 360-degree imaging and forward facing sonar together can rapidly speed up your learning curve about an area .
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
A 360-Degree View
While forward-facing sonar has dominated the electronics discussion of the past several years , 360-degree imaging has plenty of fans , including both Ebare and Thrift .
Both say they couldn ’ t live without it . Thrift says he ’ d pick it over forward-facing sonar if he could only use one . Ebare can ’ t decide which one he ’ d rather have .
“ The cool thing about 360 is that it ’ s always working for you , no matter what depth you ’ re fishing ,” Ebare says . “ I use it to find scattered hydrilla out away from the boat when I ’ m flipping mats and also when I ’ m offshore looking for hard spots or rock veins . There isn ’ t a right or wrong way to use it .”
Thrift has learned that 360 technology works for him everywhere , and his two biggest pieces of advice are to find a color palette that works for you and to adjust the sensitivity as needed .
“ I like the amber color palette personally , but you have to find the one that makes it easiest for you to make out what you ’ re seeing ,” he says . “ I don ’ t adjust many other settings , except for the sensitivity . I ’ ll bump it up when the bottom is softer and turn it down when fishing a hard bottom ; those little adjustments will make a much clearer picture .”
Ebare utilizes the technology the same way but credits it for speeding up his learning curve with forward-facing sonar .
“ Using both ( 360 and live sonar ) simultaneously makes everything make sense to me because you can see everything from different angles and see how a rock runs or the ‘ spider ’ stumps with all of the roots ,” he shares . “ Everything comes together when you start to see different views and even helps for you understand standard 2D sonar and side scan much better .”
JUNE-JULY 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 71