Best "budget" fishfinder???

[JSGOLD]

Me and the wife want a fish finder for our old boat, but money is scarce and we want one that would be good for a beginner/user that we could use for a couple of seasons or more until we can afford a better one(if needed). I know you get what you pay for but want to stay in the 150 or less range. I have seen several that had decent reviews but wondered if any of you have had any luck with these in that price range. We have a 16' Starcraft deep v aluminum and fish 95% of the time is two local lakes that range from 6-12' with some 20-40' areas near the dams. We will occasionally go to larger lakes that are 80-150' but not often. We do pretty well without anything but an old depth finder but would just like to see if we can improve our catch.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

my personal choice is anything humminbird. they have models in your price range and of course WAY higher. Any brand name will give give good results in the depths your talkin'

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Eagle and Lowrance also have models in your price range. Go to Cabelas, Bass Pro or any sporting goods store that sells fishing equipment and look at the various models. Have a sales person explain the features. They buy it here on IBoats.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Garmin echo may have some color screens in that range.

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Thanks folks. I am looking at Hummingbird 561 and one possibility and Garvin Echo 200. I don't see where Iboats offers the 200 though. I have seen mixed reviews on the 561 on sites that have feedback star ratings. hard to figure out the way to go. I would like to order from Iboats if possible. One thing that concerns me is that whatever I buy there will be no way to test until spring. Do these folks have decent warranties? Has anyone used the 561 or the 200?

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

OK so after looking again I see that Iboats CAN supply the Garvin echo 200. I guess it;s between the Garvin Echo 200 and the Hummingbird 561....Any votes or experience with either or either customer service?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Go to Cabelas, Bass Pro or any sporting goods store that sells fishing equipment and look at the various models.

Very good advice, play with them and see how you like the menu's, screens, size of numbers on screen, layout, etc. Check out the Lowrance Mark-5x as it's close to the Humminbird 561, but with better screen resolution, 480x480 compared to 320x320.

I like Eagle and had 3-4 of them, but they are being phased out with Lowrance products being recommended as replacements on Eagle's website. I have a Humminbird 180 on my jon boat which works decent, but has annoying screen flicker at the lowest light setting. Not sure I'll but another Humminbird because of that issue. It wasn't noticeable in the store, but in the dark it bugs me.

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Well the wife kind of pushed me for a pick as it is my Xmas gift so after a lot of research I went with the 561. I did not care for the garvin 200's screen and the Lowrance Mark 5x looked good but I saw some low marks on it on another site so I opted for the 561. Frankly opinions seemed to vary on these things anyway so considering it is a beginners unit (for us) I am sure it will do for now. We bought it from Iboats also. Now will have to figure out where to mount the darn thing.....I know it normally would go on the dash where out depth finder is but I spend little time in the drivers seat. Most of the time I am either sitting in the extreme rear operating an 8hp kicker motor or in the nose running the trolling motor.....Well, plenty of time to figure THAT out with winter here.....

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Most of them will work fine . I am still using a old hummingbird I got 15 years ago. It shows you the depth and bottom contour and that's what you really need to know.

Give me a ring sometime and come on over to beach fork some time, I keep mine slipped there.

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

Thanks MH...Might take you up on that sometime. Never been to Beach Fork.

 

[cetsa]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

I would go with HB 561 DI - Fish Finder Reviews ? Review of Humminbird 561 DI The resolution is lower than Garmin Echo 200 but you get down imaging.

 

[island drive]

Re: Best "budget" fishfinder???

I was wondering, since I'm going to focus on Walleye here in CO, any recommendations becasuse of low light?