November 30, 2009
I know that it has been awhile since my last story, but I’ve been waiting for a very special 
piece of equipment to show up so I could talk to you about it first-hand. First, though, an update on my dear wife, Darlene: she’s been in intensive care with low blood pressure. She was able to come home for Thanksgiving but she’s back in the hospital again with stomach problems. She is one tough lady! Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
My column’s been a bit quiet lately, but I knew that Lowrance was coming out with the LSS-1 Structures Scan Sonar Imager and I wanted to feature it. Last week, Darrell Rollins, Lowrance super tech, came out to spend four days with me to install the new unit in my boat and bring me up to date with all the latest changes on the HDSunits. He also updated all my displays.
Over the weekend we did Rick Grovers’ Anglers Marine’s Bassathon, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to Friday. After Darrell installed the new unit in my boat, we went 
to Lake Castaic with the lowrance reps, including Mike Campbell. At first I was a little skeptical but when we turned the Scan on and compared the 2D sonar with the down scan it blew me away. This new Sonar Imager leaves no more guessing. The 2D showed images of possible trees, possible rocks and possible bait or fish, but the Down Scan left NO doubt as to what we were looking at.
It shows the fish in the trees – you can actually tell what fish look like in the trees! It also shows blades of grass on the bottom, that’s how detailed this thing is. Rock formations are clearly defined. In addition to the Down Scan there is also a Left and Right Scan. This feature will show fish on the walls. Depending on what side your boat is on, just set the Scan on Right only or Left only.
I know – this thing is fabulous! But there are a few things you should know. The StructureScan only works on HDS units. If I was going to buy a new unit I would purchase the HDS8 for the console and the HDS7 For the front. I recommend the 8 or 10 for the console because this allows you to put four windows up at once: screen left, right scan, down scan, 2d sonar and chart. That’s quite a lot of info at your fingertips!
Before I head back out on the water to play with this thing some more, I want to say I have been teaching sonar interpretation for 40 years and this new technology is by far the best that I have ever seen. If you have any questions about this new scanner and I am sure you do, email me at pamiovino@yahoo.com or call me 818-848-6180 and I’d be happy to talk you through things.
P.S. Try this new unit with it’s down-scanning for winter spooning and get a real eye-opener into the world of deep water spooning.