Looking for perfect fish finder

[Deleted User]

I have the Lowrance LMS-160 Map. I like it and it has more features than I know how to use. If your looking for a unit w/o GPS, Im sure you can get a better unit for less cash.
Good luck

Fool :cool:

[Small Fry]

I hope I dont step on any toe's again. :shocked:

But I have been thinking about upgrading aswell. What kind of money am I looking at for one with a GPS? With my bad eye's a big screen is a must.

Thanks for letting me butt in Soccerfan. :smile:

[HOGTIDE]

I would go with Lowrance or Eagle given a choice of brands. Mostly all good reports on these names. I have had upper/ mid price range units in both of these and never had a problem.

Unless you are looking for extreme depth performance or want to integrate GPS and mapping with your DF you will find that these days, even the cheapest models offer incredible capabilities. By the size of your boat I assume "off-shore" is out of the question, so any mid-range DF should suit your needs.

I presently have a Lowrance X-65 that does more than I need. My only negative experience brand-wise has been with 'Interphase' on my Boston Whaler, which insisted on leaking no matter how many times I had it serviced.

Cabelas would be a good place to get a good feel for comparing costs and models.

[ 07-24-2002, 08:47 PM: Message edited by: HOGTIDE ]

[Lured In]

I have a Humminbird 400TX and it is a solid system. I will be getting a Lowrance next time though. I will probably go up to around the $700 range. I believe the one I was looking at is the 16x or something like that. I has multiple transducer options and is upgradeable to the GPS model.

For the money the 400TX has served its purpose and is still going strong. Look around and like you are doing ask others.

[blubeast]

When I bought my 15' Sylvan several years ago, I bought a basic, cheap Hummingbird wide100. I suspected it might get hard treatment and need to be replaced. The unit has survived very nicely... inspite of rough treatment. It meets my needs for that boat. I have had to replace a couple of transducers due to rough launches.

When I got my big boat, I too wanted a charting GPS... so went with a Raytheon dual beam depth finder and separate Raytheon charting GPS... it had the best viewing screen of any I saw... nice features for a reasonable cost.

You might also search prior posts... both depth finders and GPS units have been covered before. Good shopping.

[boater]

i "was" a lowrance fan for years, but the quality of there product went down hill when they moved there production to mexico, i wouldnt touch another lowrance product with a 10 foot pole, have had way to much trouble with the junk.

[Small Fry]

Boater
What are you useing now?

[Thick-N-Thin]

If you have a hand held GPS with NMEA capabilities several fish finders can use your hand held as the reciever. I use a Bottom Line tournament master fish finder. I just plug my Garmin GPS into my fish finder/plotter and saved myself $300. If your looking for a large screen the Bottom Line is the ticket. I think it was $700 without the GPS reciever and a $1000 with a GPS reciever.

[ 07-24-2002, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: Thick-N-Thin ]

[soccerfan26]

I am looking to purchase a fish finder for my 16' boat and wondered if anyone had any suggestions. I was mainly looking at humminbird 300 or 400. If anyone has any suggestions or knows of another good fish finder models such as lowrance I would appreciate any info. Thanks for your time, Parke

[ReelMcCoy]

I started out with an Eagle Ultra II 3-D this worked well untill I ground the bottom of the transducer on the launch. I now use a Humminbird Wide 100 portable on that boat and it it works well for what it is.

On my big boat I have a Garmin 235 and an Eagle Ultra III 3-D they both work great. The Garmin was the high end at time I bought it and has some real nice features. The 3-D sonar is great for looking at the edge of channels.

The sled has a Lowrance LCX15mt. This is another high end GPS/Sonar unit. This thing has incredable resolution and lots of power. The only problem I have had is it does not want to read shallow water. This is a problem as it is on a sled after all. And I do use it in less than three feet of water. I have been in contact with the factory about this problem. It took them two and a halve weeks just the answer my e-mail. The answer was to go to there web site and down load the latest software and install it . The down load and install where easy but as I only did it yesterday I don't know if it solved the problem. They did say if this did not fix it then it was a problem with the unit and I would need to return it for repair. I hope this is not the case as I seem to be living in this boat on the weekends.

[HOGTIDE]

...good ol' boater :rolleyes:

[Deleted User]

soccerfan26,
I would suggest you save your money on the fishfinder and use your cunning to read the water and guess where the fish might or might not be. I have found that this is a much more rewarding technique. The "old school" method is the way to go. Leave the TV monitor at home or better yet, at the store.

FF

[Lepper]

I have a raymarine on my boat and it seems to do an excellent job. as for Gps, I just bought a nice hand held and I have a mount and power hook up for it in the boat... it works really well as well..........
dave

[TeamYeeha]

The Lowrance Color 16 has GPS and all the power you will need. I put a chip in mine that shows all the bouys like a naut. chart and swear by the Lowrance products.

Yeeha

ffitb

[Killertraylor]

I've got a Lowrance X-85 - a real popular higher end unit. I also have the LMS-160 which is their global maping unit - both work flawlessly. The Lowrance X-85 is probably overkill for your use - get the next model down that still has the great high resolution screen of the X-85 (compare the pixels in the description in Cabelas). I think Lowrance came out with a few newer models that are less expensive and have the high resolution screen. Boater's comment is the first and only negative thing I've heard about Lowrance.

[boater]

hogtide, heres a link (http://thehulltruth.com/6/ubb.x?a=frm&s=382602711&f=426607031) to another site where people have had problems with lowrance, you have to just scoll down the list and look for them. also, i am on my 2nd X-85 and the speed sensor dont work on this one, before that i went thru 3 X70-A3d`s, i know of a few other people that also have had problems with lowrance, i just have had my fill with them and perfer not to buy them anymore, sorry if i offended anyones depthfinder :rolleyes:

[k9jeff]

I have a hummingbird 300tx and really like it a lot. It was easy to install and I placed it on top of my console. I purchased a $9.00 cover from cabella's and put it on it when I travel. Its a solid unit and its easy to operate. I would recomend it. It has a lot of features that I use in rivers and lakes and the display is easy to take out when not in use.

Thought I would give my opinion.

[timinthegorge]

I put a Humminbird Panorama on my last boat and I loved it. My brother in law is now enoying it.....

My new 19' Alumaweld Stryker, that I'm picking up tomorrow, has the Lowrance X-71. Looks good, but I'll have to report when I see it perform.....

Great luck with whatever model you choose.... Tim ;>)

[Lepper]

ooooo new alumaweld stryker..... what color?? I picked mine up a month ago and LOVE IT!
dave

[ReelMcCoy]

TeamYeeha I read your post about the X16.
This is the same as my X15 except with color. My question is about the charts. I have the Lowrance mapcreate 5 but have been looking at the Navionics MMC chips. I want a chip that shows the depth lines like the paper NOAA charts. Which MMC module do you have. Does it show the depth lines. Where did you get.