fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

[sailors hornpipe]

hi im a newbie - had boat out twice now1992 180 nitro fs 18 ft fiberglass with 150 hp johnston evinrude- it runs well and both trips were with a boat mechanic friend just to check what works and what needs fixing on my 18 year old boat also my first boat- i want to buy an affordable fish finder to go fishing but also for water depth so as a newbie i dont run up upon sand bars or rocks ect. i dont want to spend alot but also dont want to get a model so cheap that it wont have the features i need . to give you an idea im thinking 150.00 or less i dont mind gray scale as they seem most affordable - i was told by some that the grayscales are hard to see in daylight but others say they are just fine ( what is your opinion) and i was told by an experienced angler that i needed to buy a fish finder with at least 300 or more pixel resolution ( your opinion?) i would love to buy some thing more expensive but given the fact that my wife doesnt understand why i need one any way and complains about the price over 100.00 i think i better stick to the affordable grayscales ( girls dont understand anything important) so give me your input and do any of you use a grayscale and is it really hard to see in sunlight and which would you recommend under 150.00 again i just need one for fish finding ( MOSTLY CATFISH) ocassionly bass or other and for water depth- temp would be nice and speed capability a bonus- thanks for your thoughts.

 

[jtexas]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

three most important features of a fishfinder: resolution, resolution and resolution.

get the most vertical pixels per inch you can afford. 300 x 300 pixels on a 5" diagonal screen is about 85 pixels per inch -- I agree 100% with your friend, anything less than that is a child's toy.

Best value for the $$$ is the Eagle Fishmark 320, about $145. Had mine for many years, I don't think I could go fishing without it. Water temp is built-in. MPH is an extra cost option.

Only problem I ever have seeing it in daylight, is that you can't see an LCD display through polarized sunglasses from any angle except head on.

You'll only see the fish you're catching on the screen if you're fishing directly under the boat, and generally not at all in water less than 12 or 15 feet. And fish holding close to the bottom many times don't show up. But you can still locate fish habitat and schools of baitfish.

Note that your sonar won't look ahead and warn you of an upcoming sandbar though.

 

[Boatist]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

You do not say how deep you will fish so really can not answer if you need 300 or more pixels.
In general I would say most people do not need even 200 pixel.
It really depends on how deep you fish.
Example if you fish 30 feet deep then you will see about a 10 foot circle on the bottom.
30 feet times 12 equals 360 inches, so with 300 pixels each pixel is 1.2 inches.
So if a fish is 1.2 inches high you will light at least one pixel.
A 1.2 inch high fish is not a very big fish but even then with 4 times zoom would light up 4 pixel.
If you only had 128 pixels then fish would need to be 2.8 inches high to make sure the pixel lit up but with 4 times zoom if he is 3/4 of an inch it will still light up one pixel.

If your fishing 600 feet deep in salt water it is a different story.
600 times 12 inches is 7200 inches so with 300 pixels each pixel is 24 inches.
Even with 4 times zoom each pixel is 6 inches so here you need a much higher resoultion to see small fish.

Bottom line is Shallow water then vertical resoultion is not important at all.
Deep water it is very important. It deep water like 600 feet of salt water then POWER is very important.
In 600 feet you need at least 500 watts RMS of power or 4000 watts PeP power.
1000 watts RMS or 8000 watts PeP power would be even better.

Most times you will not see catfish on a fish finder as most of the time they are on the bottom and will blend in with the bottom.
Also they like to be near drop offs or brush piles or uneven bottoms.
Because of a effect called dead zone you will not be able to see them.
You can see the structure as you pass over it and suspect that catfish may be hiding there.

I also like to fish for Bass and Catfish but rarely fish over 40 feet for them so do not need a high resoultion or more than 250 watts RMS of power (2000 watts PEP).

Fishing for Bottom fish or Rockfish in deep saltwater then need a high resoultion and lots of power.
Hope this makes sinse to you.

 

[jtexas]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

hey boatist, if you see any 18ft bass boats while you're out there trolling the ocean depths, do 'em a favor and call the coast guard or something.........

That's a good write-up, I agree with everything you said but I wanted to comment on your statement: "Shallow water then vertical resoultion is not important at all." I don't doubt it must be so from your perspective, but to some of us freshwater guys, "shallow" means 3 feet, and having fished at 30 feet under a low-res unit I can tell you the difference is night & day.

It's not just about how many pixels an object lights up...unless you have it set to "fish-drawing" mode, everything looks like a box. Fish ID mode is ok for entertaining the children........

 

[John_S]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

I think I learned this in this forum, but would have to do some extensive searches to find it.

While screen resolution was once equivelent for sonar resolution, it is not the case with most modern sonars. Fish arches are not to scale in horizontal or vertical.

If you look at the specs on HB units from the low-end 300 series to the upper end 1100 series, the target seperation spec doesn't change. It is 2.5 inches for all. Vertical pixels is all over the board: 240, 320, 600, 640, etc. More expensive units may have lower vertical pixels. I didn't go check Lowrance units, but suspect you will find the same.

Today, screen size and pixel density determine how much detail you could see on the screen, or how "blocky" it will look.

Here is the prior thread: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=330309&highlight=screen+resolution

 

[sailors hornpipe]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

ok so to answer some of your questions guys i will be fishing in fresh water local lakes and checking around i havent seen any lake with more than a 60 ft bottom - i found a fish finder / gps for 199.00 it is the eagle cuda 350 s/map fish finder with mapping gps /200 khz skimmer /800 watts peak to peak power / 240v x 160h / super twist 16 level gray scale - its in my budget and wife approved for fathers day / b-day(june 23) present - will it do the job for me or am i going to be dissapointed - again i only want to pelasure fish and find my way around as a newbie so i figure it will work - any advice

 

[ChampionShip]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

If you're fishing shallow your best bet to get ANY kind of fish to show up on your graph would be to slow down your 'ping speed'. But they're right, it's hard to get dialed in less than 15' deep.

-Champ

 

[jtexas]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

ah, combining b'day & fathers day, good move.

I'd love to have GPS....but that looks like small screen to split between GPS and sonar...otherwise, looks good.

 

[Boatist]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

Sailors
I think that Eagle unit will meet your needs. However 5 years form now you may wish you got a color unit.
I would add that a I believe a GPS helps me catch more fish than a Fish finder dose after you find some good spots.
Both units help some.

jtexas
I also agree with most of what you said. I will never ever use fish symbols.
In 3 feet of water have you ever seen a fish?
Higher resoultion does make the image look nicer for sure.
In shallow water under 20 feet fish do not make much of an arch as they are in the transducer cone for such a short distance with a 20 degree cone.
I fish the ocean more than the inland lakes and rivers today but have done a lot of Black Bass, Striper, Catfish, and Sturgeon Fishing.
Even won one large Tournment with my partner at my favorite lake.
Won enough money we had to enter as a Pro for 3 years before we could go back to amateur.
We used the Fish Finders more to find structure than fish and also to find the depth of the bass for current weather conditions.
Out here in California Summers can find Bass in 3 to 6 feet of water at first light and in the spring.
By afternoon on a 105 degree day they will likely be 25 feet or more.
Lots of good point made in this thread.

 

[jtexas]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

agree, I do wish I had color...but I'd rather have the GPS.

I'm a sucker for action, so I've all but given up on black bass in favor of white bass & stripers. I don't know, in the old days in Louisiana I could catch largemouths but nowadays I've kinda lost the feel for it. I think the transplanted Florida strain has pretty much edged out the bass we used to have -- way bigger, but way less aggressive. I can remember when a 5 lb bass would go to the taxidermist.

 

[sailors hornpipe]

Re: fish finders grayscale? do i need 300 or more pixels?

the more research i did on the eagle cuda 350 s/fish finder /gps -the more i liked it -i mean for pleasure fishing and being able to mark and find in the future my fav fishing spots is excellent and most importantly being able to find my way back to the ramp - having only been out twice to drive around and do matainenance checks - i realize just how disorienting the shoreline and lake can be to a newbie- i realize that the 350s eagle cuda is not the most powerful fish finder nor the best gps - but for a guy on a budget its perfect - yeah the picture may be grainy and the screen really small but im going to buy it with the intention of -in a few years buing a nicer one after i learn to read and operate a basic model and to see if i stick with the hobby- so ill let you know how it goes and yes igave the wife the one /two punch ( figuretively speaking) the old fathers day is sun 20th and my b-day is wed 23d of june so i guess i get the fish finder half of the unit for fathers day and the gps half for my b-day / i normally dont condone retail stores making up or exaggerating holidays in order to sell merchandise but in this case more power to them and may the force be with me!!!!!