East Lake Report 8/15 and Fish Finder recomendations

[pontoonbandit]

First, thanks to the guys that sent me info about East Lake via PM. I followed the advice and did catch my biggest Brown so far this summer. It wasn't a monster, but a nice fat 18 incer. Nothing like the monsters some of the masters catch here on the board, but I was happy with it. Caught 7 fish on saturday. It started off really cold, the camper, truck and boat were completely covered in ice Saturday morning. Now another question, the boat I bought this year came with and Eagle Mark 320 fishfinder, I have adjusted this thing in every possible way, and I really think it's just a piece of junk. I was told a good fish finder is a must and I couldn't agree more. What would you all recomend for a decent not gonna break the bank fish finder. I'd like to have one that I can see my downrigger balls with and really be able to find and hug the drop offs. Anyone have one they are especailly happy with and works well for them in the lakes here in Central Oregon?

[Doc_Rhen]

Every one has a different "break the bank" point. I have been looking at this question for several years and I think that I am going to go to a Furuno FCV-585. I will be into that for about $1600. They make one with a smaller screen the FCV-620 which should go just under a grand. Color is very helpful. Look for the Maximum RMS (many give weird peak to peak values) wattage, and maximum Pixels that you can afford, both allow for detailed graphs. I have had 2 Hummingbirds and so far have not been overly happy with them. My grandpa ran all lowrance on his commerical fishing boat and they seem to be really good units, but I have seen several bashing threads on here mostly about the modern lowrance service. The guide service that I used a couple years ago also used lowrance finders which definately told him every thing he wanted to know to put us on the fish. My father has a garmin unit on his sled which seems to work pretty well.

[Klamanite]

First, thanks to the guys that sent me info about East Lake via PM. I followed the advice and did catch my biggest Brown so far this summer. It wasn't a monster, but a nice fat 18 incer. Nothing like the monsters some of the masters catch here on the board, but I was happy with it. Caught 7 fish on saturday. It started off really cold, the camper, truck and boat were completely covered in ice Saturday morning. Now another question, the boat I bought this year came with and Eagle Mark 320 fishfinder, I have adjusted this thing in every possible way, and I really think it's just a piece of junk. I was told a good fish finder is a must and I couldn't agree more. What would you all recomend for a decent not gonna break the bank fish finder. I'd like to have one that I can see my downrigger balls with and really be able to find and hug the drop offs. Anyone have one they are especailly happy with and works well for them in the lakes here in Central Oregon?

Glad to hear it worked out for you....... Congrats on your biggest Brown :thisbig:

I started off similarly almost 4 years ago, but with a lot of persistence, patience and some very helpful mentoring from the Trophy Trout Hunter gang, I have been able to enjoy some successes I hadn't thought possible. It's an awesome feeling to get your personal best and then to continue trying to better yourself on every outing thereafter. Whether it be by numbers caught, size or species, it's still a personal goal and very rewarding when you achieve it. Keep after it, it looks like you are doing the right things. Soon enough, the numbers and sizes will start increasing as you gain more and more experience :applause: