Fishfinder suggestions

[wcsd106]

Hi All,

I have begun looking for new fishfinders for my bass boat. Currently it has two Humminbird LCR fishfinders (One is a LCR4ID and the other is a LCR3000 or something)

I have no bad things to say about the older fishfinders other than they were made before backlighting and the screen lights are about worthless when trying to read the thing at night.

I am planning on replacing both of the Humminbird LCR units. One's transducer is mounted on the trolling motor (Easy to remove) and the other is mounted with a Thru-Hull transducer under the gas tank.. P.I.T.A but can be done as well.

I received a Humminbird 525 that I mounted on my Jon Boat for Christmas last year. I like the display but in the muddy water lakes I fish (water depth less than 5 feet most of the time) the unit reads the depth as 0.7 feet most of the time. If I get into water deeper than 5 feet the performance is outstanding.

The sales rep at Bass Pro Shops said that I should probably look at one of the dual beam humminbird units for my application and suggested the Humminbird 570 that gives 60 degree coverage as opposed to the 20 degree on my 525.

I have also been looking at the Lowrance Mark 5X that supposedly gives 60 degree coverage as well and comes in around $50 cheaper than the bird.

I know that Humminbird vs. Lowrance boils down to Ford vs. Chevy but I would appreciate any input especially from people who own either the

Humminbird 570 Here
or the
Lowrance Mark 5XHere

For what it's worth, I mainly fish for Largemouth Bass in Southern Illinois lakes such as Crab Orchard, Lake of Egypt, etc.

Thank You

 

[LX Kid]

Re: Fishfinder suggestions

My new Lowrance HDS-7 with fish finder, gps, chartplotter and sidescan expandable is the "bomb!" The more I play with it and learn to use the controls the more I'm loving it. The bright screen, colors and functions are fantastic. It's expandable to side scan and I'll be doing that in another month for another $550. I should have gone ahead and bought the combo unit and saved a few bucks. Yes it is pricey but to me it's worth it.

 

[John_S]

Re: Fishfinder suggestions

I think both displays should be able to see at night. If you are happy with the night performance of the current HB, the 570 should be similar. With my color HB, I have to put it on the lowest brightness setting to not cause night blindness.

While the lowrance unit looks decent, given the other unit is a HB, buying the 570 will allow you to swap head units between both set-ups.

For relatively shallow water LM fishing, I hardly ever use the FF to actually find fish. I am more interested in the structure. Narrow beam is better at giving detail than a wide beam for that.

Finding SM on rock piles, in 20-30' water, I still prefer the narrow beam, for both finding the rock piles and seeing some fish that are hanging very close. The wide beam is good for finding suspended fish. When they are on or near irregular bottom it is hard to see them using a wide beam. Most of the time the narrow beam is better at finding them among the rocks.

Overall, I have the 83kHz turned off, and only seldomly turn it on.

 

[LX Kid]

Re: Fishfinder suggestions

Check this out!

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/Broadband-Sounder-and-Ethernetworking/

 

[John_S]

Re: Fishfinder suggestions

Check this out!

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/Broadband-Sounder-and-Ethernetworking/

LX Kid,

I know you are very excited about your 1st fishfinder purchase, but unless the poster is willing to spend allot more that $200, the systems you are proposing are way off base for the use/budget planned.

Get some time on your HDS and gain some experience. While Lowrance is still a good brand, they have had issues with the newer, higher end product, and product support, since the new owner has taken over. Maybe they have most issues resolved now, I haven't been monitoring much over the last 6 months. If you go to any of the large bass fishing forums, like Bass Boat Central, and do some searching, you will find plenty of information.