Fish finders, which one

[Lives_to_fish]

I have been wanting to upgrade my fish finder and am willing to spend $400-500.
What do I need to look for? How is distance log used?
It seems the X85 is popular, what about the high end humming birds?
The 885 talks up the windows programming option, is that really something that is used?

[Kerry]

I have a high end Hummingbird and it is SH@*

[zipper]

Purchased the Garmin 240 with speed and temp from Cabela's - less than $350 with micro mount. Very nice machine.

[TH]

I also went with the Garmin 240 with speed/temp., it plugs into my Garmin hand held GPS.. pretty nice functions.

TH
www.thcustomrods.com

[Jellyhead]

Rob,

I have a Lowrance x-65 at the helm, and an x-85 at the bow of my bass boat. They are awesome. When I fish deep water bass, I can actually see my lure on the screen and know I'm in the fish. You can't go wrong with either one. Get the speed and temp feature and you can use your distance log. If you get the transducers set up right you can have good acurate readings up to 55mph.

Stay away from Hummingbird, Eagle is a good choice too, they are exactly the same as a Lowrance, just a different name.

Aaron

[onstep]

Good topic. I just ordered a new 23 super vee and have been trying to figure what finder to put in it. I've looked at the 85 a bunch. 3,000 watts of power great pixel count, water proof unit. All the right stuff. However, I decided on the new Lowrance X 15. The unit has a signicantly larger screen and pixel count. It compares to the X 16 paper graphs. It is a GPS compatible link and will do more than what I want. For the base fish finder, which is what I choose, look to spend about 695.00. It was more than I wanted to spend but that unit should be worth it.

[WheresMyBobber]

I can't reccommend a specific finder, as I too am about to start shopping for a new one. But I will say that I liked my old Eagle a lot better than my current Hummingbird, and probably will stay away from Himmingbird in the future. Just my personal preference.

[Jim]

I believe it depends on what type of fishing you are doing...I can tell you without any doubt that for what I do...prmarily salmon and Steelhead in the rivers...bottomlines sidefinder is incredible. I cannot tell you how many fish it has caught. Two weeks ago fishing the Lower Wynoochee at its mouth. We hadn't hit a fish...sidefinder lights up...they are 29 feet off the "wrong" side of the boat...in the frog water...down went the drift rods out came the bobber and jigs....little over an hour later we have 4 fish in the boat and everyone is pumped!! I have story after story...

Well thats my .02....have fun...I will be buying one also for my new boat...no question for me!!

BOTTOMLINE

Jim

And no...I am not a pro staffer for them...

[Jeffhead]

I have an older Lowrance X-55A that the newer models are the X-70 and 85. It is a good unit. I bought it when I was just fising in the salt chuck, lots of power and good resolution. If I were to buy a new one today now that we have a sled and fish the rivers also I would get one with sidefinder capability, see the fish in the holes without being right on top of them. I know that Jim Bain who guides and posts on this board really likes this feature and says that it does put him on more fish. I have another friend who used to guide who set up a finder to use as a sidefinder just for that reason. If you get one with only vertical capabilities when you are in the rivers it will only be good for depth of the slots and holes. Most of the things that you will mark will be leaves and other junk floating by, not fish. Just my .02 worth.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff
PS,
I WOULD NOT buy any Hummingbirds!!!!!

[Lives_to_fish]

Thanks for the info, it's great.
Keep it comming!

[nivtup]

Well I like the question, so I thought I would throw my personal spin on it.

I fish Sturgeon a lot, some saltwater.

What is the best finder for me?

[jet]

I have one of the newer Raytheon units and I love it it comes with speed and temp all in the same transducer, their is a side look option that sounds interesting. It can see fish on the bottom and pick out structure. I can tell the difference between sand bottom, mud bottom and rocks. The pixel count and power rating is much better than Humming bird but not as high as $500 units ( I can see fish on the bottom) It did not cost ad much as Lawrance units and it comes with all the features.

Jet~~~

[Fish4Fun]

When I bought my new boat I upgraded the electronics too. I went with the Bottomline Tournament Master HR. This has the transducer that will look down and 120 feet both sides of the boat. Also has speed and temp too. Since I use the boat to fish everything from Sturgeon to Perch I have had a chance to use it in different settings and it has always produced superior results. It will do an excellent job for Sturgeon, as well as trolling for Salmon. Shallow water fishing with the side finder is great, you know just how far over from the boat the fish are traveling. Again an invaluable tool for shallow water Sturgeon in the summer.

Fish 4 Fun

[Doubletake]

Can anyone give some reasons for the dislike of Humminbird? It seems like a lot of dissatisfied customers, just curious.

Thanks

Doubletake

[Trout,myster]

Lowrance! I have an Eagle (older 9500) on my bow motor, not too bad, but the LMS350A with GPS is excellent. Newer Lowrance units have better resolution yet.

Get the highest pixel count you can find with the features you want (split screen, bottom lock, etc.). Leave the fish ID feature off...it's junk on any depthfinder. Learn to use it in manual mode for best performance.

Humminbird? Had one once, that was enough. Performance is poor, resolution isn't very good at all and the thing (at least mine) was a piece of crap that never did want to work right.

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Troutmyster

[nwjetboat]

I have a Lowrance X-85, works great, very good resolution, and the transducer is easy to set up to work at speed. Had a Bottom Line, mostly because it's made here in Idaho. Very good unit, large screen and excellent resolution. Only gripe with it was the very large transducer is hard to set up to work at speed, and is prone to breakage. The X-15mt and X-15ct from Lowrance look mighty nice.

[SureSet]

DT- I once had a Humminbird TCR101 portable unit. Went through batteries like crazy then one day (2nd season), it just gave up. Sent it back to have it serviced. That took 3 weeks and they charged me a set service charge but didn't bother to replace the screen which had a few scratches. The thing worked for another week then died again. Sent it back again, with a note about my displeasure. The second time they did replace the screen (after I told them to) and the power circuit. What do ya know, after that it worked and my batteries lasted. The reasons to skip on a Humminbird in my mind are Poor Quality & not allot of "Customer" in their "Service".


SureSet

[fishbait]

My current Lowrance is over 15 yrs old. never a problem. They make a top quality product..
Have used the new x-15 . Nice nice unit. If you are serious about your fishing, step up to this unit and you will not be disappointed.

[Rippenlips]

Ya, I bought a Hummingbird and I just don't trust it. I haven't heard anything bad until now, but all this talk makes me think I bought a piece of junk. I had an old Eagle on my first boat and loved it.

[Beer Waggin]

After I ordered my boat,I purchased a Lowrance X85. I wish I would have done a little more research and found out about the Bottom Line side finder models, of course I didn't know you people at that time. I either don't know how to set it correctly, or it has problems. I fight it every time I go out. I have the Lowrance video that explains how to use it, and have re-read the manual many times. I just helped install another one in a friends boat and placed the transducer in a different location, so we'll see how that works. Fisherman's has been no help! ARRRRGGG! Just keep throwing money at it I guess!

[mudsucker]

well doubletake i to had the same ? as you did about hummingbird...i have 4 hummingbird units ..2 older units and 2 newer ones one is a 3d unit and i have never had a problem with any of them. i have also never had or used any other brand of depth sounder

[This message has been edited by mudsucker (edited 02-09-2001).]

[backlash]

I once had a Hummin' Terd errrrr. Hummin' Bird, could'nt find much use for it, so when it was time to upgrade boats, no question... My current ff is a Bottom line Tourn. Master. It is way too easy to use and I can read the screen from across the boat, I have seen where bottom line has some new units out and I'm not sure if you can still buy the older models but they are definetly great units for the $$$$$.

[highwater]

I have a Lowrance X75 at this time, when I bought it I wanted the X85 but the store I was at was out of stock, so I got the X75.
It was 3 or 4 years ago. I have speed and temp, I think it is a great unit, been happy with it. I would buy another one to replace this one if I needed to do so. You can set the windows up the way you want, has alarms, very clear or good resoulution. Good luck, many to choose from.

[Biteme]

I currently use a bottomline tournement master hr and it is a great machine super high resolution and able to pick sturgeon out of the mud. Alot of people will tell you that you cant use a depth finder for locating sturgeon and this is true if you use a humminbird. I have owned several bottomlines and would say that if you want performance rather than a dash ornament stay away from the lower end models (performance is about like humminbird), and invest in the upper end models, I have also owned apelco (raytheon) 365 and for the $200 price range this is a excellent unit with lots of features. vertical pixels is the key as well as transducer power. If I dont see fish on my bottomline I usually dont catch fish

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Dennis H.