Fish Finder

[tuneball]

I'm looking at buying a new finder and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what I should buy. My price range is $0-$500. I'm looking for a color screen and maybe real time sonar, dual beem transducer. Any suggestions on units that are tried tested and true.

Thanks in advance,
Tuneball

 

[mphy98]

Re: Fish Finder

You will get a lot of opinions on this here, I researched the death out of this one. I was like you going to buy around $500.00. Ended up around $850.00. Bought the Hummingbird with side imaging as well. Great Demo, hope it works as good on real time mode. I have heard a lot of bad things about Lowrance lately, mostly software issues that they have a hard time fixing. Go to lakelink.com and you will see what i mean. Not to tick anyone off here but that is what drove me to Hummingbird over Lowrance or it's sister Eagle.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish Finder

After much searching, I have settled on the Eagle FishElite 640C with the external GPS antenna.

It may not be the best unit but offers everything I want in a fish finder/sonar PLUS has GPS and takes the Navionics chips, and is at your $500 budget. I have had an Eagle sonar for years and have heard no complaints about the newer Eagles from locals, so I feel good about the unit.

I would suggest checking it out. "Better" units with similar features are hundreds more....

Sidenote: I am going to sell a 14' fiberglass Gamefisher boat with a 4hp Gamefisher 4 stroke on a trailer to buy mine- was thinking of offering it at $750. Does that sound about right?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Fish Finder

Had one on my last boat. Arguably the best $500 Fish finder on the market.

http://www.boatersland.com/sitcvs106l.html

 

[haskindm]

Re: Fish Finder

I just got a Humminbird 383C Depth finder/GPS combo unit. Have not used it yet, but am very impressed with the instructions/features for the price. The screen may be a little small if you are a die-hard fisherman, but the reviews that I read have been excellent. I have had Humminbird products in the past and have been very pleased with them. Well within your price range. $399 at Boater's World.

 

[tuneball]

Re: Fish Finder

I just got a Humminbird 383C Depth finder/GPS combo unit. Have not used it yet, but am very impressed with the instructions/features for the price. The screen may be a little small if you are a die-hard fisherman, but the reviews that I read have been excellent. I have had Humminbird products in the past and have been very pleased with them. Well within your price range. $399 at Boater's World.

Actually that is the unit i'm looking at buying. Did you buy the portable unit or fixed?

 

[whofan]

Re: Fish Finder

IF you can find this baby
http://www.iboats.com/Vexilar_Edge2...4908704--**********.218710683--view_id.170150
in the Edge 3 color version youve found a great true dual frequency graph.

Its a bit over your price but worth saving for.


heres the Vexilar site product, http://www.vexilar.com/pages/products/products_lc-507c.html


I have the Edge2 would not hesitate to buy it again.

I think you will do well with a Humminbird also.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish Finder

http://www.iboats.com/Vexilar_Edge2...4908704--**********.218710683--view_id.170150
in the Edge 3 color version youve found a great true dual frequency graph...... Its a bit over your price but worth saving for.

Yikes! $680 That unit really intrigued me, but $500 is a bit over my price right now, so that PLUS a GPS really would be a stretch. But I can see why you would want it.

I love some of the big-name network stuff with the touch screen and full integration GPS and charting, but when you add up the main components and a chart package it's more than the replacement cost of all my fishing equipment and a good used boat together

Anyway, the Humminbird 383C model doesn't take optional cards like Navionics, which makes a difference to me. Humminbird makes other models that do. My fishing buddy won't buy anything but Humminbird, but he has a bass tournament background. I don't mind the Eagle stuff, and other than some sputter I saw on the internet, don't personally know anyone who has either a Humminbird or Eagle that has anything bad to say about either. I am still using my Eagle I bought in 1995 so for me, I feel confident with Eagle.

Back to tuneball's question which was only about sonar- I think almost every manufacturer has a menu option to go to "flasher mode" a.k.a. Real-time Sonar. I have used that mode a few times, but actually prefer just switching off internal or automatic signal processing and playing with the gain when the standard "graph" mode is not showing what I want. Late summer in very fertile lakes sometimes has blacked-in my whole lcd screen, but the above "fix" let me mark fish again and not just the plankton blooms.

 

[tuneball]

Re: Fish Finder

Hi Mark VTfisherman,

Do you know what other Hummingbird models take the extra cards? Also do you know if the factory map installed in the 383c is good enough to boot around on most lakes. Really all you need a GPS function on a finder for is to know your location and to mark hot spots, if the factory card will allow me to do that, I think it's good enough for me. What do you think?

Tuneball

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish Finder

I have a 797 with the base Unimap. It just provides an outline of most waters. No depth lines or info. Small waters may be missing, and have seen where the Susky river disappears in PA. Best to check for your local waters at a retailer.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish Finder

Do you know what other Hummingbird models take the extra cards? Also do you know if the factory map installed in the 383c is good enough to boot around on most lakes. Really all you need a GPS function on a finder for is to know your location and to mark hot spots, if the factory card will allow me to do that, I think it's good enough for me. What do you think?

Tuneball-
As imported_John_S indicated, the factory basemaps do not include underwater contour maps- that is what intrigues me, that's what the Navionics cards do. Basic GPS will record locations all right, but the underwater detail of what you are marking will be obfuscated.

Some waters I fish I have fished so often and so long I know about where structure and other underwater details are, like the ridge which comes up to 12' between 22' foot depths near shore and 24' deep towards the main lake on Lake Carmi- it's just about parallel with the "umbrella tree" before you pass the certain birch on Lake Carmi It holds walleye, ya think?

So to me, the small price upgrade to the Navionics capable units is hard not to justify. It will beat the photocopies with x's and check marks all over them and the truth is, I have still "lost" good structure and had trouble finding it in places. With the Navionics card you can find the underwater details you are looking for even on unfamiliar waters, and then record waypoints once you find the spots you need to remember.

http://store.humminbird.com/humminbird-products/gps-chartplotters/755c-chartplotter/prod406940-1.html
The price of entry is $450-$550 for either brand.

 

[whofan]

Re: Fish Finder

I on a budget would consider this if you could forego the color option;http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...e=9IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233

Or without the map card ability go with this;http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...e=9IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233

You can look at Lowrance/ Eagle as well. Based on my own experience with a 510c I had I can`t recommend Lowrance at this time.
I had a lot of software issues that never got resolved concerning shallow water operation with the sonar freezing up.

I`m not sure if this translates over to the Eagle line or not?

Use the Iboats mall as your first choice for shopping, they taken good care of me with any issues I`ve had.

heres a good Iboats deal,http://www.iboats.com/Humminbird_58...4908704--**********.813455296--view_id.340979

I used the Cabelas links as examples.

The 383 is nice but a little small for my taste. Humminbirds 500 series and up are a better deal in my opinion.

 

[roadrash]

Re: Fish Finder

i also was looking at that combo unit from humminbird in the 300 series but then realised that it was a single beam tranducer. just wanted 2 make sure u know this before u buy

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish Finder

....I had a lot of software issues that never got resolved concerning shallow water operation with the sonar freezing up..... I`m not sure if this translates over to the Eagle line or not?

I don't know- have no data. But I will let you know as I have settled on that Eagle unit and will purchase once the little boat sells

 

[timdan94]

Re: Fish Finder

I got the humminbird 580 gps fishfinder for christmas and it supports the navtronics cards. It has plenty of features for me and was reasonably priced at $350. here is the link for it.

http://humminbird.factoryoutletstor...nder-Transom-Mount-Transducer-GPS-Sensor.html

 

[SuperSkeet]

Re: Fish Finder

I spent the past week shopping fishfinders/GPS combos reading every review I could find and spent a couple of hours at my local West Marine trying them out. I finally came to the conclusion that I was better off buying the fishfinder and GPS separate as there was no combo in my price range that did everything well. I ended up with Garmin 400c fishfinder from Tiger GPS($302 shipped w/saltwater dual frequency transducer) and the Garmin Colorado 400c GPS from Amazon($295 shipped).

Update: I've been looking at so many GPS and fishfinder units this past week it's got me dizzy. After I posted this I rethought everything and wound up cancelling the 400c fishfinder and ordering the Garmin 440s combo instead. For the additional $175 ($477 shipped from Tiger GPS) it seemed like it was worth it for the GPS detail it had compared to the Colorado 400c. I bought the Colorado 400c handheld because I have 2 boats and the detail was better than other GPS/fishfinder combos I looked at like the Humminbird 383c, so I'll just use it for my small boat and enjoy the nicer GPS features of the 440S in my big boat.

 

[Floatsum]

Re: Fish Finder

I'm so completely confused about GPS / chart plotters / and all the details,,, I've quit looking for now.
What gets me is the charts. Some advertise they have "XXX", but danged if I know what they're talking about. By that I mean the amount of detail on their charts. Do they cover my area? Are they all Zoom in and add detail or do they just get bigger without added detail?
Then I notice it appears some can be loaded by PC? I don't have a clue about any of that and how it may apply to my wants.
I keep looking and searching,,, But just cant find a "Idiot's Guide to GPS" anywhere. And that's what I need first.
Some seem to have memories that may remember marked fishing spots,, others don't mention anything.
I'm too confused to even look any more for now. I need a break from it and try again later.
Me hates bein' stupid!!!!! :redface:

I even went to the local Boater's World. I think they were stupider than I am. One guy was smart enough to say, "It comes with a booklet that explains everything when you buy it." Great, too late then if it's not what I want. I asked to see 4 different "booklets" to compare? Then he told me they were sealed in the boxes and couldn't do that! Big help they were!

 

[tuneball]

Re: Fish Finder

Thanks for the replies,

I've finally made a decision and i'm going with the Hummingbird 586c, brand new 2009 model. It's not a GPS combo, as most combos from Hummingbird only offer US costal maps and some inland, but nothing specific, I live in Canada so that would be useless for me, and I already have a Garmin handheld, with maps of most of the lakes in Manitoba. But for $400 it's a good unit that comes with a dual beam transducer and a 4.5" color screen.

Thanks again

Dan

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish Finder

I'm so completely confused about GPS / chart plotters / and all the details,,, I've quit looking for now.....What gets me is the charts. Some advertise they have "XXX", but danged if I know what they're talking about. By that I mean the amount of detail on their charts. Do they cover my area? Are they all Zoom in and add detail or do they just get bigger without added detail? .........Me hates bein' stupid!!!!!

You are not stupid.

But don't worry about all the details. If you don't understand some features, you probably won't use them.

I would suggest getting in a boat and fishing with someone who uses a GPS and ask a lot of questions and learn something. The stuff you don't care about doesn't have to matter to you.

That's the way I do it--- if I don't know about- or want- it I assume I don't need it. There is always so much bigger, better, more technology stuff out there I can't "conquer" it all and often I can't afford to either

1] All base maps are zoomable, but without the ability for add-on cards like Navionics you don't get underwater detail, which is what I want for fishing
2] All the GPS units allow you to record locations (waypoints) to return to later and save routes so that you can retrace your path at another time.
3] Add-on cards are available by region, basemaps are generally nationwide and some worldwide. http://navionics.com/HMPremium09Catalog.asp

Don't feel dumb- I was in your shoes about a year ago. Now, I have used several units, observed GPS use with other fishermen, read up a lot, and I'm finally ready to purchase. Along the way I have learned there is some stuff I just plain don't need (like PC integration) because I don't have a new enough computer to use it. Although the idea of managing my trolling routes is intriguing, I don't have an interest enough to commit the time to learn technology I won't probably use.

I have come to a point in life where I don't really have to masterr everything. All I really need is "tools." That's my take on it

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish Finder

This spring, I am going to breakdown and buy the Navionics NE Premium Lakes 2008 edition. The 2009 has not changed one lake (in NY) according to the Navionics website. I have heard the same from others who have checked for other states. It is best to check before spending the extra $50 for latest and greatest, which may have neither for your fishing area.

A number of times I have viewed the Navionics chips at Cabela's and BassPro. If you view the HD lake maps, they have allot of info. Unfortunatly, they are usually only a dozen or so per state. Generally, always bigger waters. Most small and many medium size lakes, have very little detail. It is also hard to learn, explore, or plan a trip for a new lake on a small screen. I prefer the PC or paper chart for that. Most rivers are only outlines, even with Navionics. Google Earth or other online mapping/sat data is more helpful.

Humminbird has some S/W for interfacing and chartplotting with Google Earth. While I have downloaded it, haven't tried learning or uploading to my unit. Navionics offers S/W that does same, but you pay anther $100+ for the planner.

I just want to buy one map, and use it eveywhere, PC, chartplotter, or print. Be able to update it and add crib notes, along with waypoints and markers. Oh yea, I want free updates, too!