Should You Put a Side Imaging Transducer on the Trolling Motor?

You can mount a side imaging transducer on the trolling motor, but there are some tradeoffs to understand before you do. The main issue is that side imaging relies on steady, straight movement to produce a clear picture.

When you mount it on the trolling motor, the image is constantly being affected by the direction of the trolling motor head. Every time you turn left or right, you’re changing the direction that the sonar beam is pointing. The result is a distorted image, one that looks stretched, curved, or inconsistent.

Think about what happens when you’re sitting at the console and make a hard turn with your outboard while running side imaging. The image skews because the transducer beam swings in a wide arc. The same thing happens up front, just on a smaller and more constant scale since the trolling motor is always being adjusted.

If you fish shallow water stretches or around cover where you’re spot-locking, the trolling motor is probably moving back and forth constantly to hold position. That motion causes the side imaging to refresh in different directions every few seconds, making it almost impossible to get a clean, readable view.

For that reason, it’s usually better to mount the side imaging transducer on the back of the boat where it stays pointed in one direction. The boat’s movement through the water provides the steady, forward motion side imaging needs to build a clear image. Then, you can network that transducer’s signal to the front graph so you can view side imaging while fishing from the bow.

That setup gives you the best of both worlds, clean, accurate side imaging from the transom, and full visibility up front without dealing with the constant turning of the trolling motor.

So while you can mount a side imaging transducer on the trolling motor, it’s rarely the most effective place for it. For the clearest, most consistent side imaging, keep it on the transom and share that image to the front.