Eagle or Humminbird ?

[surge006]

Looking to get a basic fishfinder i was looking at two i found for same price on sale 1st is eagle 320 and 2nd is humminbird 525. Can anybody tell me which one i should lean toward for i have absolutly no clue. Or any others that are compariable and better. I want it for fish of course but more depth, water temp, and speed. Thanks.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

Looking to get a basic fishfinder i was looking at two i found for same price on sale 1st is eagle 320 and 2nd is humminbird 525. Can anybody tell me which one i should lean toward for i have absolutly no clue. Or any others that are compariable and better. I want it for fish of course but more depth, water temp, and speed. Thanks.

I'm a diehard Eagle/Lowrance fan so my opinion would be bias
Well, except for Garmin of course

 

[JB]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

On SONAR, I am with Boss. Garmin is my GPS guy.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

On SONAR, I am with Boss. Garmin is my GPS guy.

JB, not to go left feild but i went Garmin on the GPS too

 

[surge006]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

Thanks i ended up reading alot of not so good info on humminbird well only really the fog problem and i live in new england so huge prob already with moisture in morn. I found a lowrance x96 that looks to be decent so i'll prob shoot for that.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

I just needed a basic unit as well for depth and temp. and smaller size was important for my needs. Found Eagle Cuda 300 at Bass Pro for under $90. You won't get accurate speed on any unit that doesn't have GPS. I use a hand held Garmin for this.

 

[relstabw]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

I have used Lowrance for years with no problems. As a plus many Eagle/Lowrance parts are interchangable so if you want to start with Eagle and upgrade later you probably can.

 

[surge006]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

oh so if i go with one without gps the speed wont be accurate ?

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

oh so if i go with one without gps the speed wont be accurate ?

I have to disagree with Jeepman on the speed thing -
I've had a couple of Lowrance units that read within 1mph under 30mph & 2mph over 30mph of my GPS
Of course it you want "exact" go GPS

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

oh so if i go with one without gps the speed wont be accurate ?

What will you be relying on for speed if not the GPS?

Normal boat speedo through a pitot tube will vary from boat to boat and may be accurate at some speed but not close at others. You won't have the speed registering on your unit though.

Paddlewheel attached to the transom will be better. The unit will read the speed but it won't be as good as GPS.

 

[John_S]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

Paddlewheel attached to the transom will be better. The unit will read the speed but it won't be as good as GPS.

For slow trolling the paddlewheel giving true water speed can be more accurate, especially if trying to gauge how deep the lures are running. Also, some gps units bounce around at these same speeds and provide only land speed. Paddlewheels are fairly accurate upto 30mph. Pitot tube is worthless for trolling.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

Only time I figured a paddlewheel would be better than a gps is running in current. Once I'm over 1 mph, I think the gps is as good as it gets.

Willing to be shown I'm wrong though.

 

[John_S]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

Only time I figured a paddlewheel would be better than a gps is running in current. Once I'm over 1 mph, I think the gps is as good as it gets.

Depends on the accuracy of the gps, type of position lock, and number of updates per second, for how stable it is a low mph. If it was always accurate enough for trolling, they would probably get rid of the input on combo units.

 

[surge006]

Re: Eagle or Humminbird ?

Im not gonna have a gps cause i cant afford a finder/gps and the boat speedo dosnt work so yes i was gonna buy the transom wheel for the finder for speed.