Late summer and early fall are prime times to fish mud or other soft bottom for walleyes. With the introduction and popularity of side imaging and forward-facing sonar, down imaging has fallen into the background of the sonar world. Jason Mitchell, however, routinely switches on his down imaging when fishing a soft bottom because of a couple advantages it provides.
Mitchell explains side imaging and forward-facing sonar often don’t show fish sitting on a soft bottom. With down imaging, fish sitting in or on the silt or muddy bottom show up because of more accurate target separation. Often times when idling over a spot, Mitchell will have both side imaging and down imaging displayed on his sonar. He routinely finds bottom hugging fish show up on down imaging, but the same fish don’t show on side imaging and even 2D sonars.
Finding fish with electronics is key this time of the year, and forward-facing sonar and side imaging are all the rage right now. Don’t forget about down imaging especially when it can help find hard to see fish in the mud. It’s a great tool to have in your toolbox.
