The first time I saw Panoptix LiveScope™ I was completely blown away. As fishermen, we have always tried to envision what it looks like under the water in 3-D and that’s exactly what Panoptix LiveScope is. It’s totally changing the way I go about my fishing.
Panoptix LiveScope is basically real-time 3-D forward and down scanning sonar. There’s no denying it’s a game changer – no matter what type of fishing you’re doing. With Panoptix LiveScope, I don’t have to pass over fish to know they’re there. I can clearly see them swimming way out in front of me and cast right at them long before I get to them.
Fishing with LiveScope is different. You’re going from 2-D to 3-D so you really have to open up your mind, get into the picture and be there. When you first start using it, get around something familiar. Rotate your trolling motor side to side slowly. Go over the top of the boat ramp to see what riprap and rock look like. Take a look at something you can see running from above water into the water so you can understand what it looks like under the water.
You can look out as far as 90, 100, 120 feet and even further with LiveScope, but the closer you pull that view in, the more precise things are going to be. I like to run my LiveScope at 40 to 60 feet. Where with other Panoptix sonars, I looked at 80 to 120 feet. LiveScope just gives you a much better view of what’s underwater.
When we went to Lake Oahe – it has so much soft bottom – that the big thing there was finding boulders and rocks. When you can look out and see the boulders and rocks and the fish clearly positioned above them, it made fishing so much easier.
