Best Fish Finder for this application....

Would LOVE to hear all your opinions here...

I freshwater fish exclusively. Most of the lakes I fish range in depth from 2' to around 300' . Bottom of these lakes ranges from sandy, to gravel, weeds, rocks, you name it. Some drop offs, others are rolling hills/ravines...


What is your favorite brand/type of fish finder for this application?

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

Depends on budget. Decent and cheap, I would look toward Humminbird.

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

It is truly mind boggling all the differnet options for fish finders out there today. WOW

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

Too open of a question for a good answer.
Maybe answering a few questions would help us give a better answer.
1. Aprox. budget?
2. Colour or B&W?
3. With or without chartplotter?
4. Straight fishfinder or with side & down imaging?

I personally have had good luck with the Humminbird line but I know others that swear by other brands.

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

superharmonix said:

It is truly mind boggling all the differnet options for fish finders out there today. WOW

Click to expand...

That is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Then after you buy the finder, if it is a combo (i.e. with GPS) you have to sort out the map options. FYI, I was in the same situation you are. I just ordered a 597Ci HD DI. It seemed to be the sweet spot for price for my needs vs. wants. ($569 thru Amazon, Sorry i-boats, but you weren't even close on price. If someone there can match that price, let me know. I can wait for it to show up in stock, as it is still quite cold here.)

http://www.bbcboards.net/ also seems to have some very good information.

If you can justify it, Side imaging is great as well, but another couple of hundred dollars or more.

TerryMSU

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

How deep do you really fish? I am suspecting that you don't fish the bottom more than 50', but you might be running downriggers. To see details on the bottom in 300' will requires some large zoom ranges. DI or SI of little value at that depth. But, don't think you are really fishing at that depth. So, to add to CanWoodsmans questions, what depth do you really fish at, and what species fish, and fishing methods?

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

Honestly, the deepest I fish is under 50', usually much more shallow (largemouth Bass,crappie). I am definitely budget conscious- don;t need side scan, color, all that jazz- just a "nice bang for the buck" finder for the bow. I have an OLD Eagle setup in the front now, with the transducer attached to trolling motor (32 year old trolling motor). I am gettign ready to put on my brand new trolling motor and thought, hmmmmmm maybe it's time to upgrade.
I am basically looking for something as stated above, but accurate (as I can get for the $$$)

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

superharmonix said:

Honestly, the deepest I fish is under 50', usually much more shallow (largemouth Bass,crappie). I am definitely budget conscious- don;t need side scan, color, all that jazz- just a "nice bang for the buck" finder for the bow. I have an OLD Eagle setup in the front now, with the transducer attached to trolling motor (32 year old trolling motor). I am gettign ready to put on my brand new trolling motor and thought, hmmmmmm maybe it's time to upgrade.
I am basically looking for something as stated above, but accurate (as I can get for the $$$)

Click to expand...

200kHz Sonar performance differences in freshwater less than 50' will be neglegible, between the name brands. Go to the store and find the best display for your eyes, larger and higher resolution is usually better. Also, go through the menus and see which is more intuitive to you. Coming from a Lowrance/Eagle experience, you might find their units more intuitive than HB or Garmin.

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

The funny thign is, the finder I haev currently mounted to the bow is old as I said, and I can not find any info about it online via Google, etc., so I posted a thread on it here:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=469755

...thinking if there's a place to get answers on this it's at i Boats, but quite a view views and no responses.

Best case would be to learn how to use the one on the bow, and fix my old Humminbird Dimension 3 Sonar... That one works most of the time but has a short in the wiring so I have to moves the wires around at times to get it to turn on or stay on. (PITA but alot cheaper than replacing/buying new! lol)

Plus, the Humminbird is already hooked up to a pitot and transducer works...so what to do? It would be grand if someone out here knows anything about that Eagle thread I linked above..

Re: Best Fish Finder for this application....

Superharmonix,

Your unit is made by Eagle, which was bought out by Lowrance. I went to Google and searched for eagle lcg 3d-100 and got many hits, including the manual. The manual has a date of 1987 so I assume that unit is about that old. You can likely find an equivalent unit in color for less than $200. With GPS, you might pay as much as $350for a low end unit. The main thing that this unit has going for it is the fact that it is a tri-beam sensor which lets you know what side the fish are on.

TerryMSU