need shallow water fish finder recommendation

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njlarry

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
330
Looking to replace the digital depth finder I have now with a B/W basic fish finder. The Humminbirs Pirrana series would be fine but I have read that they are not really intended for depths below three feet.
Any experince, recommedations would be greatly appreciated.
 
Silvertip

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,762
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

If you need this for showing water depth, I question the usefulness as if you are going at any speed at all you will be in too shallow water before the locator tells you how deep it is since the transducer is at the back. If you need it for fishing, I also question the need since for depths below three feet you can see the bottom. It will show you the same thing you can see with your naked eye --assuming you are not fishing in brown water. Any low end Eagle or Lowrance will work for you. They can be had for less than $100 and even cheaper if you get lucky on E-bay.
 
tashasdaddy

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
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Messages
51,019
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

i'm very happy with my Piranha 20. no probs in shallow water, other than i don't pay attention to it, till the alarm goes off.
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Staff member
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Messages
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Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

need shallow water fish finder recommendation intended for depths of three feet.
Click to expand...

Ayuh,....... Polarized Sunglasses.......
 
E

eastern27

Seaman
Joined
Mar 4, 2008
Messages
63
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

njlarry said:
Looking to replace the digital depth finder I have now with a B/W basic fish finder. The Humminbirs Pirrana series would be fine but I have read that they are not really intended for depths below three feet.
Any experince, recommedations would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
At 3ft. with a normal narrow beam transducer your cone will cover an area about 1ft. in diameter. Good sunglasses and a stealthly approach.
 
jtexas

jtexas

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 13, 2003
Messages
8,646
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

I know of no depth finder that will claim any accuracy in less than 3 feet. For one thing, you'd have to be certain that your boat floats the same depth all the time (load never varies), and I'm not sure the piranha series has a correction for depth of 'ducer.
 
N

njlarry

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
330
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

The channel to our marina runs 3 to 6 feet and the water is dark brown cedar water so the sunglass idea won't help. It's only a foot deep on either side and you can't see the bottom there either.
A finder accurate in that range would be helpfull.
 
dingbat

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,484
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

It sounds like you need a gps to navigate by more so than a depth finder. As already stated you'll run around before the transducer sees the depth change if the unit is "accurate" or not.
 
jtexas

jtexas

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 13, 2003
Messages
8,646
Re: need shallow water fish finder recommendation

ya, I was just thinkin "GPS". that or else a trusted friend on the bow with a long pole. :D
 
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