what do you use for a fish finder.

[Salmonslayer2]

What do you use for a fish finder? Are you happy with it and does it find fish? I had a Lawrence X52 that came with my boat and was not too good. It was not good at finding fish finding bottom it was good. I got feed up and I went to sportsman wherehouse and look at some fish finders. I went home and ordered one. I shop online saved $100. I ordered a Humminbird 777C2 FishFinder.5" TFTColor, Display 640V X 480H Ultra-High Resolution. Maximum 4000 Watts Peak-To-Peak (500 Watts RMS) Power Output. It’s an Ultra High Resolution, High Performance Color Fishing System. It cost me $450. Ouch! NOw I better find fish.
Good luck Fishing
Larry

[adobe wall]

What do you use for a fish finder? Are you happy with it and does it find fish? I had a Lawrence X52 that came with my boat and was not too good. It was not good at finding fish finding bottom it was good. I got feed up and I went to sportsman wherehouse and look at some fish finders. I went home and ordered one. I shop online saved $100. I ordered a Humminbird 777C2 FishFinder.5" TFTColor, Display 640V X 480H Ultra-High Resolution. Maximum 4000 Watts Peak-To-Peak (500 Watts RMS) Power Output. It’s an Ultra High Resolution, High Performance Color Fishing System. It cost me $450. Ouch! NOw I better find fish.
Good luck Fishing
Larry



I've owned two Humminbird depth finders and both were only slightly more effective than a rock tied to a string.

I just sold my Humminbird Matrix 27 and bought a Lowrance....go figure. I've fished with enough people that had Lowrance units to know that they were orders of magnitude better than the Humminbird I was using.

A buddy's Lowrance would pick up wobblers when we were fishing for fall chinook....awesome to see the lure and know exactly where you were. Really surprising how far aft of the boat the lure could be and still show up.

I'm not sure of the model I just bought but it's a Lowrance dual beam unit, color, built in GPS and I bought the chart chip too. Used a 10% off card I got from Fisherman's at a CCA meeting.

regards, aw

[Salmonslayer2]

I herd that you can jig for fish and watch the fish take the jig. That would be great.

[Blind Bobber]

I am on my second Huminbird. The first is the DX 200 which I converted to portable for my small boat. I most recently bought the 535. It has moisture under the screen but is just out of warranty. Transducer field of scan is very narrow. Also fish and depth alarm are way too quiet to be heard over my motor. I can mark fish and mainly use depth reading.Unit seems very adjustable. Humminbird had the largest readable numbers for depth readout of any I looked at. I really wanted a GPS combo but were priced way out of my league being a father of four who does social work. I hear Garmin is very favored here in Northwest. Renmember that seeing a fish does not mean you will catch a fish. You can just see what you are missing. Best of luck.
BLIND BOBBER:cool:

[FallRiverGuy]

I have a Humminbird Matrix 27 and it meets my needs.

[Doc_Rhen]

I have had two Hummingbird units and am not really impressed, they are ok but not great. My dad has a Garmin that works well but the beam is really tiny. I feel like a Lowrance is a step-up from the Humminbird. On any finder if you get some of the settings off, you cannot see any thing. Most of the really serious koke fishermen that I have talked to recommend Furuno color units, but then you will be in the $1000 range.

[FallRiverGuy]

Doc,

I am curious why the serious kokanee fishermen you know like the Furuno. Is it due to more power and better resolution, or is it the cone angle?

[bwild]

Eagle 480 DF. Does just ducky for me. I could've bought the Lexus (Lowrance) but I decided to by the Toyota (Eagle).

[Doc_Rhen]

Doc,

I curious why the serious kokanee fishermen you know like the Furuno. Is it due to more power and better resolution, or is it the cone angle?

I believe that it is a combination of cone angle (about 45 Degrees) Power (600w and available 1kw rms) and screen resolution along with some interesting abilities to adjust gain and filtering to improve visibility on screen. They all seem to say that you can see the difference between a koke and all other fish on the screen so single arches can be positively identified as single kokes and not wandering trout.

[twisted lines]

I use a lot of brands of depth finders, Eagle is a good lower end, garmin has great resolution without color, and use a furuno in my own, I like to see where the boat next to me is jigging! but they can't usually catch fish either........I need to find a new place to anchor!

[Salmonslayer2]

This is what I'm getting a Quadrabeam For full 90 degree coverage from side to side.

http://www.humminbird.com/uploadedImages/Humminbird/Leading_Innovation/Technologies/Sonar_Technology/quadrabeam_plus_diagram_large.gif
Features

DualBeam PLUS™ 60˚ and 20˚ beams scan below the boat
Two fan-shaped 35˚ beams look to the sides
Shows whether fish are to the right, left or below the boat for cast placement
Unique display shows you two separate views, below and to the sides
Scans an area equal to TWICE your depth, revealing more fish and structure

[Jimmy]

I have a humming bird Matrix 27 and never had any problems. I am not one to jig but I tried jigging for browns once at East Lake out in front of the white slide and I could see my jig on the fish finder down to 30ft. Just my :twocents:

[Half fast Toyn]

"orders of magnatude".... now thats a term you dont hear everyday.

Lawrance LCX 18c here. Burned out one transducer but she still works like a charm. Turn off the video game features (fish symbols), turn it up and use it to see what you are missing.

[adobe wall]

Got to try the new Lowrance out today, it's LMS-527cDF iGPS. Fantastic unit. Works perfectly at speed (neither of my two Humminbirds ever did) and the resolution was phenominal. Didn't catch any fish though so I can't say the money was well spent- yet.

Humminbird has not yet built a transducer mount that will allow you adjust the beam angle (this is pretty important, as my first try with the Lowrance had me getting half-arches). The Humminbird transducer mount also does not have any means of adjusting the tension it takes to kick the transducer up and out of the mount. My routine was pretty much the same- run out to where I was fishing then take the boat brush and push the transducer back into place.

Orders of magnatude better. Yep, that's about right! :wink:

regards, aw

[Splash]

OK, I'll be odd man out. Mine is a Raymarine DS500x. Sure wish for the play money to get a Furuno.

[Jedcraft]

Slayer,
I've had good luck talking with the local retailer about an internet price and most times they will match it(including the shipping). Plus if you have problems they are local and might help you better. Also most local retailers will have techs that can walk you thru minor set-up issues/features. All I'm saying is give the local retailer/taxpayer a shot.

[wsuweston]

I use a cheap eagle one. Cheaper the better in my book. Seems like no one wants to steal a cheap one.

[moknots]

Dhoh.... I could have had a V8, I mean a Quadrabeam. Sounds like a wonderful concept. I have two Lowrance 337c units (great power, great resolution, gps, and dual frequency) -- love 'em, but overkill for freshwater lakes! And yes, you can see the jig, and the baited hook 10" below it. Scary good. Wouldn't have a sonar without gps input for true trolling speed.

This is what I'm getting a Quadrabeam For full 90 degree coverage from side to side.

http://www.humminbird.com/uploadedImages/Humminbird/Leading_Innovation/Technologies/Sonar_Technology/quadrabeam_plus_diagram_large.gif
Features

DualBeam PLUS™ 60˚ and 20˚ beams scan below the boat
Two fan-shaped 35˚ beams look to the sides
Shows whether fish are to the right, left or below the boat for cast placement
Unique display shows you two separate views, below and to the sides
Scans an area equal to TWICE your depth, revealing more fish and structure

[Pickles]

I have the 787c2 with quadrabeam. Last year at Drano, we fished three rods, one out the back and two out the sides. The Humminbird was able to track all 3 3oz lead droppers while trolling. At all times you knew how far your lead was from the bottom. If you wanted to know which one was yours all you had to do was jiggle your rod a little and the lead line would move on the screen. I have heard a lot of negatives on this thread about Humminbird, but today's Humminbird is not the same as those made during the 90's and early 00's. In 2004 Humminbird was aquired by Johnson Outdoors. When this happened, they totally revamped the Humminbird line! In my opinion there is no better bang for the buck! :twocents:

[SilverBullets]

Another vote for the 777c2 with quadrabeam !! Went to color last year, from a black&white eagle 480. Can see the rigger balls now on the screen,& so much more area! Now I can really see the fish i don"t catch!!!

[Salmonslayer2]

I decited to upgrade to a 787c2 with quadrabeam. I sent the other back. I should get it any time Larry

[Half fast Toyn]

The Eagles have the same look and feel as the Lawrance... no so sure they arent owned by the same company. I do like that new super wide screened Humminbird... might be my next purchase.