Need Help With Fishfinder

[Beachbum49]

I have a 21' Wellcraft CC and fish mainly in Galveston (Texas) West Bay. It is fairly shallow throughout (2 - 10'). We will occasionaly fish East Bay which is a little deeper and once or twice a year go offshore in the Gulf with a buddy boat. The wife is constantly bugging me about running aground. I have been reading and studying the various brands and models of fish/depth finders on the market and am now more confused than ever.<br /><br />My understanding is that I need a 20 degree cone, 200 megahertz unit. The budget is set at $600 or less. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also I have heard that transom mount transducers aren't worth a flip if you are going faster than trolling. Is a thru hull the way to go?<br /><br />Thanks for any enlightenment y'all can give.

 

[neumanns]

Re: Need Help With Fishfinder

Beachbum I'm no expert here but sounds like you may be looking for a flasher as well as a fishfinder. Flashers give a much faster read and respond quicker in general. As far as location of the transducer I would think that proper installation (no air pockets or turbulant water) would be more important than location.

 

[Ross J]

Re: Need Help With Fishfinder

I've been using a Hummingbird wide 100 for 6 years now and can't fault it except for the occasional fog up.<br />Otherwise it was cheep, efficient, quick and easy to operate.<br />I know folk have a problem with Hummingbird but I can't fault them by my own experience!<br />Depth reads down to 2' and cone is only 14 degrees, but it still id's fish accurately. The last section being speed, I cruise between 15knts and 20knts and only in the roughest weather do I loose signal or if crossing somebodys wake (air under the hull).<br />Ross

 

[Boatist]

Re: Need Help With Fishfinder

Beachbum<br />Well the key is to figure how much power you need. What is the deepest Saltwater you want to see fish in?? As far as transducer, if your boat has has a area where you can shoot thru hull then test that location and if works good then attach shoot thru hull transducer there. If can't shoot thru hull then put it on the transome. To see fish do have to be going slow but to see bottom good to at least 50mph but have to mount in a good place.<br /><br />If you fish Saltwater deeper than about 300 feet then get a dual frequency unit. As an example my 192 Khz unit with a 20 degree transducer can see rockfish down to about 150 feet of saltwater. With a 8 degree transducer will see rockfish to 350 feet. To see fish deeper than that need more power or a 50khz transducer. My unit is 375 watts RMS or 3000 wats peak to peak. With the 8 degree transducer see bottom out beyond 900 feet of saltwater.<br /><br />I like Lowrance/Eagle and Garmin. For Deep salt water no one better than Furuno.<br /><br />100 feet of saltwater Eagle Fishmark 320 $200 or with speed and temp $239.<br />350 feet of saltwater Lowrance X97. $400 with speed and temp $440.<br />500 feet of saltwater Lowrance X98DF $420 with speed and temp $460.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Need Help With Fishfinder

Excellent summary by Boatist. My boat use is very similar to yours and, after a lot of looking, I went with the Eagle Fishmark 320. I've been very happy with it and can't believe how much they've improved over my old 12 year old Eagle.