Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

[drifter5]

I am thinking about buying a Humminbird 997c. All reviews that I have found are posted by the dealers selling them or freshwater fisherman. I am afraid that the waters off of Long Island will be too rough to get an accurate picture. Is it really worth the $2000.00 investment? I do most of my fishing in between 20 and 90 feet of water off of Fire Island. Wave height is usually between 2-4 feet.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

You might ask these people. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1

 

[coricluster]

Re: Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

il be honest with you. i have the 957c, and its an awesome unit....and if u are more into structure fishing then the 997 will be even better...i do alot of offshore/inshore and bay fishing here. and this is one of the btter units i have had. the GPS is super accurate and clear. the screen is soo bright and clear.

now the only thing i dont like about my unit is that when i go over 20 knots. it loses its gps speed, and stop reading depth. i have had 2 different transducers on it and that didnt help. i am goign to reposition it this winter as humminbird swears is owner error. all in all though as good as any furuno or garmin unit out there.

 

[ebear]

Re: Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

the 997 is by far the best purchase I have ever made for fishing. the area I fish in is rather shallow [6-16 feet] and spotted with rock piles that hold fish.So to find fish I have to find rocks. currently I've got it set at 150 feet so I'm seeing an area 300 feet across while cruising It'll show you a picture of the bottom like you've never seen. so if your looking for structure It's the best. as far as I'ts ability to read the bottom, the transducer has got to be set low and to the center of the hull otherwise it won't read well. basicly it's like any other transducer it has to have clean water with the exception this one needs 180 degrees of clean water. mine, the way it is set i'll get clean readings up to 12 mph from there it gets fuzzy. On the lo down and dirty side if you see a guy anchored somwhere, you can cruise by up to 240 feet away, see what he's sitting on and mark his exact spot. no joke. I could go forever complementing the 997. but to give a negitive. when you have a sd card in it it'll record a snapshot of a spot that you want to mark as a waypoint it'll take aprox 8 seconds to do this. when I'm trolling,to me it takes too long

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

If they ever get that delay problem fixed with the GPS, it will be even better.

 

[John_S]

Re: Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

With the large SI transducers it is hard to find a transom location that is good for SI (3-12mph) and 2D at planning speeds. There is a $25 splitter cable, such that you could add a seperate 2D transducer. Si on one transducer and 2D from the other. Then, each can be position optomized on their own.

SD screen save: My 797 only takes 1-2 seconds with standard SD card. While your screen is much larger, 8 seconds seems like a long time. You might want to try the newer video type SD cards.

 

[luisdiaz]

Re: Does anybody have an opinion on a Humminbird 997c?

I have a 797. Works great. The bigger screen of the 997 should make it better although the 997 is more powerful but at the deep your fishing wont need it. Also the 997 sucks more power from your battery. Kind of tricky the installation of the big transducer. As it was said above a split transducer should make it easier (I have only one).
Bottom line if i would get a new boat with a more powerful OB, would get also the top of the line in SI.