Fishfinders

[fishpatrol]

I'm looking for any input on a good fishfinder, nothing fancy, but one that works. I fish the rivers primarily, but I may venture into the ocean on a flat day with my 21' sled.

I know lots about Furuno, Simrad and Raytheon and I don't need $$$'s worth of gear to find a ledge in the river :whazzup: . But I don't know squat about Garmin's and Eagles and the plethora of other brands. I just want a simple monochrome display bottom fider.

Anybody have dislikes or likes on these things? I'd like to get out of the store for less than a couple hundred bucks!

[bait boy]

Lowrance has some good units for a reasonable price I think. Garmin also has its fishfinder 160 and 240. I think for the price nowadays look for pixels and signal power and try to fit the most of both into your price range...

Good luck

[Keta]

I've never had a bad experiance with Lowrance/Eagle products. I have a LCG 2400
now and it does everything that I need it to do. It is not in the same class as my Raytheon V7000 but I don't need to read the bottom in 999 fathoms. :grin:

[spinnermaker]

I would go with lowrance or eagle I have had both very good products made by the same company.

[k9jeff]

I have a hummingbird 300xt, I like it alot. THe ony thing I have to do is push the on button, it does the rest. It also has the side finders on it and displays temp and optional speed. I dont have speed nor do I need it.

Simple to install, and the display unit pops off easy.

I have it on my sled and it works fine..... :cool:

[TideRunner]

fishpatrol...............Time after time I hear good things about the Lowrance/Eagle FF's. One of those would be my next one. As for the Humminbird I have, it works well. I must say though that I had big problems with it after buying it. Let's just say that the third time I got it back from the factory it finally worked, and that's because they gave me a different unit. I cannot write here what I think about Humminbird's customer service/relations/warranty. They just stink! I think the product is good, the company is junk though.

[FishinBob]

Garmin has a new unit out. 240 Blue. Dual freq and comes with speed and temp. Been using it 6 months and it has performed perfectly. It'll run $250 at boaters world. :smile:

[Deleted User]

I have always found that reading the water, talking to "old timers", putting in the required time and useing the "fishing savy" side of my brain is the best and most rewarding method of finding the fish. There is no substitute for trusting yourself and your instincts. :cool:

FF

[TundraIII]

I have a Lowrance x65 with speed and temp and a Hummingbird 485(?) Tri-beam. I like them both for different reasons. I especially like the Hummingbirds wide screen, it makes for easy reading and the quick release makes for easy storage. Do your self a favor and keep your depth finder screen covered when not it use during sunny days, and check the position of the transducer before each and every trip. Those out of the box plastic mounts dont always hold your transducer in a level position. I ended up going to a local builders supply and buying some stainless mounts and they work great, no more tightening and wondering if they are level.

[Deleted User]

oh yeah dont forget to take your eyes off of the monitor once in a while, stop looking at all the stuff on the screen and see what your surroundings look like too. When fishing its nice to enjoy the fishing. Thats why I leave my T.V. at home. :smile:

[Deepslayer]

FF has some good points there. But when your fishing new water and there are no old timers around or they have lock jaw, :grin: a fishfinder can help speed up the learning process. :whazzup:
,Ed

[WaterDog]

What do we need fishfiders/depth finders for anyway? :rolleyes: It’s not like you want to target a specific depth or anything. :sleep: Heck just use your oar or anchor to determine the depth and just SWAG it. There is nothing better than using the tried and true trail by error (put in tons of hours) method. :hoboy: I like nothing more than to go to a new stretch of river or lake and have no clue where the drop offs , shoals, points and holes are. :rolleyes: I find it tough to read the 1 or 2 foot changes in depth in twenty or thirty feet of water. Maybe my water reading skills arent that good. :tongue: Guess I need more time on the water or need to find that oldtimer to help me out. graemlins/idea.gif

Uh ho, ifish might be concidered a fishfinder. graemlins/eek13.gif Guess I'll turn off my monitor.

Oh, BTW I have a Lawrance X85 and I like it. Great resolution and featrues. But then again I don’t really use it. :wink:

[Deleted User]

Hey WaterDog!!!
Nice to see that you are still around :cheers: I haven't seen a post from you in a while. I hope all is well :smile:

FF

[Deleted User]

oops, sorry waterdog :whazzup: I mistaked you for my bud firedog, and I havent even had a beer yet today. I must be gettin' old.

FF

[WaterDog]

:cheers:

[boater]

ive been a diehard lowrance user for years but after my X-85 does **** up i`m switching to bottom line, i realy think the quality of lowrance went down hill when they shipped the factory to mexico, it took me 3 units till i finaly got a good one.

[Keta]

friendly fisherman,
Try fishing kokanee or lake trout suspended at 50-120 feet in 200 feet of water with out a sounder? Or locating the top of a underwater hump in 40 fathoms and trying to stay off of the dropoff to avoid catching rockfish. Try trolling off of a ledge in 70 feet for browns.
No mater how much you know about the water you are fishing it helps to see. We had sounder problems once and missed the reaf by about 100 feet and let all of our line out and didn't hit bottom. :depressed:

[ReelMcCoy]

In have three Eagles 3Ds, one Garmin 235, one Lowrance X15 MT and a cheap Humming bird portable. My only complaints are with the Eagle and Lowrance and that is some times they have a hard time tracking bottom in less than three feet of water. This can be important when running new water in my sled. Other than that they all work well in displaying bottom contour and depth. I am more interested in structure than looking for fish as I generally have the fish ID turned off and just look at the raw sonar data. :cheers:

[Deleted User]

Hey Keta,
Actually, I have fished all of those scenerios in the past and without a fish finder or sounder; I even had success at times too. All on my own :grin: It just takes more time doing it the "old fassioned" way. And remember sometimes people catch fish by "accident" while expieramenting and learning the water. I still stand by my statement that there is no substitute for trusting yourself and your instincts even in unfamiliar waters (heck, maybe especially in unfamiliar water)! I truly believe learning to find the silver bullets on ones own without all the hi-tech assistance will always be the most rewarding expierience.

FF

[Killertraylor]

Lowrance X-85 is great - beautiful crisp hi-res screen, measures depth at 50+ mph and has every feature you'll ever need. It's a bit spendy at $350-$400, and I think I saw a new Lowrance unit with the same hi-res screen for about $250 recently. Fishermen's carries their entire line.

[Deleted User]

Hey WaterDog,
I just reread your post on this thread. I guess I missed your real point last time. Do you work at GI Joes? :grin:

[WaterDog]

GI Joes :whazzup: :rolleyes: Nope.

I was just funnin' ya but I think you finally got my point. :blush: Maybe you got lots of time on your hands so the gosh or by gollie method is for you. :tongue: I'm headin out to new water this week. My "fishfinder" will come in handy. :grin:

Killer, glad to see your around again. :cheers:

[Deleted User]

ok :cheers: