Help me pick a new fish finder :)

[rolmops]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

You may wish to look into a humminbird 575.They are about $250 online.They are easily the best black and white (16 shades) with tri beam sonar capability.They are very hard to beat.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

You may wish to look into a humminbird 575.They are about $250 online.They are easily the best black and white (16 shades) with tri beam sonar capability.They are very hard to beat.

I was actually checking out the Humminbird's. I can get the 565 here locally for 289CDN. Is the 575 way better?
And could you tell me, does this unit work well in shallow water that I specified "that is a big concern to me"
Thanks!

 

[ronatim]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

hmm

Well I havent paid for the X96 yet. Can get an X135 for 280US shipped. But that works out to about 350 bucks after customs, insurance, exchange..
Is it really that much better though :S

As for the X96. Is this unit good in shallow water? like 3-6 feet shallow?

Don't except to see fish on any finder out there at those depth. if depth and structure are all you're looking for then the X96 is enough for you.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

hmm.. that is not good.

I wont be fishing in shallow water all the time. for the most part 6-8 feet with depth is 30+ft

So you are saying any fish finder is useless to me? "of course I want a fish finder to see fish! " but as well as bottom structure and depth!

 

[ronatim]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

hmm.. that is not good.

I wont be fishing in shallow water all the time. for the most part 6-8 feet with depth is 30+ft

So you are saying any fish finder is useless to me? "of course I want a fish finder to see fish! " but as well as bottom structure and depth!

In depth of 6-8 feet, your cone radius is so small (maybe 2 ft wide radius, maybe less), fish need to be deaf and stupid enough for your boat to travel right over their head and stay there. I really don't think you will see fish in those depth even with a elec trolling motor. you really don't NEED to see fish on finder to catch fish at those depth. just find the structure that you're looking for and start fishing.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Well I was just using those shallow water depths as a guess, when I say shallow I am refering to about 10 feet from shore where the pickerel/walleye and pike like to hang around in some places I am used to fishing. I am guessing the one lake I fish often is around 30 feet deep max, maybe a bit more. How big or a spread on the sonar would that depth give me?

 

[rolmops]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

I was actually checking out the Humminbird's. I can get the 565 here locally for 289CDN. Is the 575 way better?
And could you tell me, does this unit work well in shallow water that I specified "that is a big concern to me"
Thanks!

The 565 is a dual beam with the 20 degree and the 60 degree angles.The 575 has a tribeam with 20,60 and 90 degree angles.This will enable you to see fish to the side of the boat and not just under.Also,the 575 has 16 different shades of black/white coloring.
I like it because in deep water I can see the downrigger ball on the 20 degree beam,while at the same time there is a very good overall impression of the general area.
the 575 is the next best thing compared to side imaging.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Thanks for the input. But I think I am still going to get the X96. For some reason I am really diggin that unit and like Lowrance in general.
I am the high bidder on a new unit currently, so see what goes. I cant find the mentioned unit here in Canada anyway

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

I have 2 Eagle Cuda 168's I bought from Cabellas for $99 5 years ago. I fish down to 50'. They also have a thermometor readout which is cancelable if desired. They have worked fine for me.

Mark

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Thanks for the input Texas.

Looking for something with a bit better resolution and wattage though.

So I retracted my bid. I am going to eye out the humminbirds a little more. I do like the idea of better ground coverage the humminbirds have over the lowrances, I guess they do have the upper hand between the two from what I have read.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Thanks for the input Texas. Looking for something with a bit better resolution and wattage though. So I retracted my bid. I am going to eye out the humminbirds a little more. I do like the idea of better ground coverage the humminbirds have over the lowrances, I guess they do have the upper hand between the two from what I have read.

I am not sure what you mean by ground coverage. If you are referring to transducer "cone angle," that is a function of the individual units intent. I started to write a book, and then decided to do a quick search, and of course Eagle's website did a much better job than I could.

Is this resolution good enough? My Fishmark 480 reading bait and fish; Lake Champlain "Inland Sea" actual screen; wish the photo was better, but it's the only one I have.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Which one is that mark? the Fishmark 320? ETA: Oops I see it is the 480. Not bad!
What I ment by bottom coverage was exactly that, but more so my question was, what kind of converage I would get with a dual 20/60 at around the 15-30ft depth.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Which one is that mark? the Fishmark 320? ETA: Oops I see it is the 480. Not bad!
What I ment by bottom coverage was exactly that, but more so my question was, what kind of converage I would get with a dual 20/60 at around the 15-30ft depth.

about 10' @ 30'

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Is that decent?? I had a fish finder on my old thundercraft back when I lived down south but really only used it on the river to watch my depth, never really fished with it. So honestly, I am kind of a newb to fish finders... :redface:

ETA:
I should mention when I am fishing I will mainly be using the Minn Kota.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Anyone have the Humminbird 718? pretty feature packed unit for the money, also GPS capable! 2400watts, 16 level grey scale 5" display.. hmm.. This is such a hard choice

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Thanks for that link! very informative

I am not sure what you mean by ground coverage. If you are referring to transducer "cone angle," that is a function of the individual units intent. I started to write a book, and then decided to do a quick search, and of course Eagle's website did a much better job than I could.

Is this resolution good enough? My Fishmark 480 reading bait and fish; Lake Champlain "Inland Sea" actual screen; wish the photo was better, but it's the only one I have.

 

[dan t.]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

I have a hummingbird 210 portable which I use on my 8 ft inflatable. I have used it in both fresh and salt water. it works good up to 100 ft . $120 at Wallyworld

 

[ronatim]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

Northwoodslivin,

I'm from Western Can as well and i know exactly what you're trying to do with the finder. But I'm afraid that you will be some what disappointed with the performance when you bought your sonar.

I was like you 2 yrs ago with my fish finder, thinking it will show me exactly where the fish is and i'm gonna catch that very fish. and i was disappointed.

with 2 yrs of use, i might have seen 5 fish arches on my fish finder at less than 12 fow, If fish can feel a rattlin rap, they can sure feel your elec motor as well.

Pike don't usually stay under your boat, they chases your bait from far far away, and you'll only get the walleye under your boat over maybe 15ft by vert jigging.

I find fish sonar perform best when trolling in water over 25ft in depth, when i see a school of fish arches on my screen while trolling cranks or bouncer, i can tell my wife to get really and usually we will get a few.

Have fun buying your fish finder.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

.... thinking it will show me exactly where the fish is and i'm gonna catch that very fish. and i was disappointed....with 2 yrs of use, i might have seen 5 fish arches on my fish finder at less than 12 fow...

While you can catch fish you see on your sonar, and I have done just that, the primary use of sonar is in being able to discern structure, bottom composition, the presence of baitfish, and even weedline transitions. You do see fish, but you won't catch them without the right presentation, and probably shouldn't expect to be able to watch your lure hover near a fish in 12 feet of water and then have it grab the lure or bait right under the boat. They might grab it just after the boat passes however....if you give them the right bait or lure. The screen shot of my sonar which I posted earlier shows a lot of fish down 80 feet. We didn't catch the gamefish, but we sure caught a lot of white perch that deep LOL. We did, however, catch several salmon in the top 15 feet.

Knowing where fish are is key to catching them, but a sonar is a sonar- a fishing tool. Although often it is called a fish finder, that is not its best name. It is a Sonar: sonar lets you see fish, bait clouds, bottom density, weeds, underwater ridges and other structure, and water depth under your boat. Things that are harder to figure out with a weight on a string, for example, or a big jighead.

You won't be disappointed with your sonar if you don't expect it to deliver what it cannot. You will be ecstatic with it if you learn how to use its features for what they were designed for, and use that information to develop your dynamic strategy for catching fish. Simply seeing fish is not a guarantee you will catch them.

 

[northwoodslivin]

Re: Help me pick a new fish finder

All very good points guys. Thank you for giving me a bit of insight to my situation.

With that said. I see some fish finders advertised as working well in shallow waters, now some of the ones I have seen that say so have a cone of 14 degrees verses a 20 degree cone? This kind of confuses me as, wouldnt a larger angle cone cover more surface if the sensitivity was cranked up over a smaller cone angle?

What would you guys recommend me get? "I am not going to be fishing shallow water lakes ALL the time, and as I said, I have never had a sonar in the lake I fish alot so I honestly dont know the true depth but I am sure it is at least 30 feet or more in the deep ends"

I also want a sonar that isnt going to go all crazy on me going over rock bottom "lots of rock in the lakes here, lots of the back lakes are also tea stained water from trees etc"

Having a very hard time trying to pick out the "right" finder for me:redface:
I do however want a finder that has a good resolution "at least 320x320"

Should I go for a single beam or a dual beam? eyeing out a humminbird 570 locally here, there is also a humminbird 550 which is a single 20 beam.. then there is the cuda 300, which looks decent but I am not sure if it is decent decent for me