Fish Finder Recommendation

[Diamonddave952]

Greetings Fellow Boaters and Anglers-

I want to start dropping hints to my wife that I want a new fish finder for Father's Day. My problem is there are so many brands and features out there (e.g dual beam, thru hull transducer, water temp, Hummingbird, Lowrance, etc...) that I am not sure which options are really useful and which just sound useful. I would like a unit that is relatively inexpensive (below $300), easy to use and has good reliability. I have never owned a fish finder before so I don't have anything to compare against. Any recommendations (or lessons learned) on buying a fish finder would be truely appreciated!

 

[jtexas]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

My opinion, the three most important features in a fishfinder: resolution, resolution and resolution. Get the most vertical pixels per inch you can afford.

Best value for the $$: eagle fishmark 320 - handsdown favorite on my local fishing board, I've been using mine with good results for 3 1/2 years now. Lot of guys like the fishmark480, better resolution for a little more money. If you can afford color, get color, but not at the cost of resolution.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Fish Finder I think is something you should take lot of time to Study and pick the one that meets all your needs. So much depends on how you are going to use it.

Vertical resoultion is very important if your going to be fishing deep (400 Feet) but if your a bass fisherman and will never fish over 40 feet deep then Vertical resoultion is just not that important.
As you go deeper then Vertical resoultion and Power become more and more important. As you get older then Screen size becomes more important.

If you fish Deep Salt water them Power and Dual frequency are very important along with vertical resolution.

Eagle units made along side Lowrance are very good units. Many unit have less power than a same type Lowrance.

In the land of 10,000 lakes how deep do you fish?

Also if you take care of your unit then they will last a very long time. Example My 1981 Fish Finder working as good today as when it was brand new, so take your time and decide what features you want or need they shop for a unit that matches your needs.

Good place to start.

http://www.lowrance.com/en/Support/Tips-and-Tutorials/Sonar-Tutorial/

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I recommend you get color if you can afford it. Also, water temp is pretty useful.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I recomend any finder that has the name Lowrance on it.

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I'm actually looking for a fish finder too.... Bought the boat last year without a finder on it. I'll be fishing salt water, 90% of the time in depths under 100 feet, and 10% of the time in depths from probably 200-300 feet...

Vertical resolution still a primary concern for the fish finder?
I was looking at garmin finders, but most of the middle models say "for freshwater use only." does it really matter or should I shoot for the high range?

Does anybody recommend any articles, or fishfinder buyers guides out there on the internet?

Thanks!

 

[jtexas]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Salt, up to 300 feet, you'll need more power. That lowrance tutorial linked above is about as good as I've seen.

I agree with boatist mostly but my experience is, fishing for freshwater stripers & white bass in 19 to 35 or 40 foot depths, I routinely drop lures to and catch fish that I see on the graph. Much shallower than that, it's more of a fish-habitat-finder. I've used low-end units and they are more like children's toys than actual tools. You need to be able to distinguish a school of baitfish from vegetation.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I've owned a few Eagles and really like them, Lowrance is a step up from there. Don't know about Humminbird, but I'd stay away from BottomLine.

I have an older Eagle StrataView 128 on my jon boat and really like the side viewing transducer. This sonar not only marks fish below the boat, but off to the left and right. On my glass boat I have another Eagle (can't remember the model) but it's 15 years old and still kicking. I did have to replace the transducer and power cables because the plastic plugs on the end of the cables were dry rotted, but other than that, it's been a great unit.

I bought a BottomLine 480Max last fall so I didn't have to keep glancing down at the dash to see the depth while trolling. One of the main reasons I bought it (rolled the dice) is because it can display the depth in BIG numbers, something other lower end ($100-200) sonars didn't have. The 480Max was $70, so I'm not out too much if it burns out.

The best recommendation I can make is to go to a BPS or Cabelas and play with the display models to find the one you like after narrowing down your options online.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Fishing salt water much different than Fresh water. First you need more power. The salt, plankton, air bubbles all make it harder to get a sound signal to the bottom. My unit for example 192 Khz 20 degree and 3000 watts Peak to Peak power (PeP) or 375 Watts RMS.
375 watts RMS = 3000 Watts Peak to Peak.
This ratio hold true divide the PEP power by 8 and you will have RMS power.
So when comparing units make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
My unit works good in 100 feet of salt water but deeper than 150 feet I would no longer see bottom fish even with the sensitivy turned up. I know they were there because we caught them. So I added a 192 khz 8 degree transducer and can see bottom fish to 400 feet of salt water.
What is the difference? With the 20 degree transducer the pulse was spreed out over a wide area but not as strong anywhere. The 8 degree transducer the same power is focused in a much smaller area so get stronger returns. Like a spot light compared to a plane light not focused in a small area. The spot light you can see farther but not as big an area.

What the manufactures tell you is depth up to 900 feet of salt water. Well I devide that number by 8 also and expect to see fish down to about 112 feet.
What they really mean is you can see bottom in the best Sea conditions if there is a big flat rock on the bottom down to 900 feet.
What they do not tell you is that fish you want to catch is built lake a stealth fighter. He is a soft wedged shaped fish that will not send that echo straight back up to your transducer. Instead most of the sound echo go off to the side and only a very small amount of signal echos back up toward your transducer. So take what they tell you and devide by 8 and you will be close to how deep you can see fish. In salt water power is very important.
Most saltwater unit will be dual frequency 200KHZ and 50 KHZ. The 200 KHZ frequency will give you more detail. You can see lots of small fish in a bait ball. The 50 KHZ penatrates much deeper but the return is not as detailed. That bait ball will look like one big ball instead of lots of small fish.

Most Saltwater units will come with dual frequency transducer and more power. Lowrance and Garmin also come with a narrow cone angle.
Example Lowrance Single frequency unit will come with a 20 degree 200 khz transducer that they say can see UP TO 60 degrees, NOT TRUE but that is what they say.
The dual frequency transducer from lowrance are 12 degree at 200 Khz and 37 degrees at 50 Khz. This is like the spot light to let you see fish deeper.

Garmin is very close to the same.

Salt water unit you want the most power and resoultion you can afford.