Best fishfinder for $200.00 (what do you guys use)?

[jldean23]

I have been looking for a good fishfinder and cant seem to find one, tried to google best fish finder under 200 and they are all old reviews 08,09 and one 2010. Grey scale or color doesnt matter i will be fishing for cats and striper, bass. I would just like a fishfinder that really shows fish and structure. One is a humminbird 561 DI or a 346c DI were these are new there is no youtube videos of them in action on the water hopefully one of you guys has one. Another is a Lowrance mark-4 di i think I really dont know which one is a good one.

This will be used in a river in shallow water 2-30 ft thanks guys..

Had to edit one that i seem to really like is a (lowrance mark 5x pro) seems to be the best out off the bunch hope someone has one.....Thanks

 

[muskiemike12]

I would go with the Humminbird 561. I have a 581 and its been a solid unit for me.

 

[lovedr79]

https://store.humminbird.com/products/600461/365i_Combo

that is the one i have and love it! kinda wish it was in color and had a bigger display but has a ton of features.

 

[jldean23]

Lovedr never thought i could get a decect finder with a gps so i havent even looked at the gps/sonar, does it show fish well and since it has a gps it will show speed and has a tranducer to show temp?? just my brother and dad had the lower model humminbirds and they sucked, i just want a good one that will actually help!!

had too edit the maps for that unit does not have the state WV so i guess the maps would be no use??

 

[tnriverluver]

Lowrance Elite 4X DSI, https://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Boating-Electronics/Sonar-and-SonarGPS-Combos%7C/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/Lowrance-Elite-4X-DSI-Sonar/1298538.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-boating-electronics-sonar-and-sonar-gps-combos%2Flowrance%2F_%2FN-1100517%2B1000003916%2FNe-1000003916%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104588280%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104794380%253Bcat104707080%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104794380%3Bcat104707080%3Bcat104588280
I have the Elite 4 DSI and Elite 5 DSI units with GPS. If you don't need GPS the Elite 4X is a great unit.

 

[jldean23]

On the elite 4x ppl say you cant see screen in daylight and that it doesnt show fish, to me that is the most important if i find a hole with structure i just want a fishfinder to show the fish.

And muskie mike are you saying just a 561 or a 561 di I have tried to find actual use online to see if you can even see fish on a Di fishfinder if a mark 5x pro shows arches better were it has a 16 display compared to a humminbird 12 grey scale that might be better, but lol on reviews some say they love the mark 5x and some say they hate it, and with the elite 4x ppl say it doesnt show fish at all maybe were it is a small screen hard to see them i dont know.

lol i just dont want like with my brothers when it marked a fish we had one of those underwater fish cameras and there would be no fish or a bunch off crappy would be on camera but not on fish finder....

 

[tnriverluver]

On the elite 4x ppl say you cant see screen in daylight and that it doesnt show fish, to me that is the most important if i find a hole with structure i just want a fishfinder to show the fish.

And muskie mike are you saying just a 561 or a 561 di I have tried to find actual use online to see if you can even see fish on a Di fishfinder if a mark 5x pro shows arches better were it has a 16 display compared to a humminbird 12 grey scale that might be better, but lol on reviews some say they love the mark 5x and some say they hate it, and with the elite 4x ppl say it doesnt show fish at all maybe were it is a small screen hard to see them i dont know.

lol i just dont want like with my brothers when it marked a fish we had one of those underwater fish cameras and there would be no fish or a bunch off crappy would be on camera but not on fish finder....

People don't know what they are talking about! Screen is very bright in bright bluebird skies and will show fish along with bait fish. They either have another type of unit or don't know how to adjust their settings. You can watch a 1/16 ounce jig and watch the fish bite it. I have pulled over many schools of baitfish and watched with amazement at the larger fish underneath attack the baitfish. On the DSI fishfinders fish are not marked with arcs but show up as lines as the fish move. Many do not understand this. There are many videos available on Youtube to help learn how to read these units. They are pretty amazing at showing grass as grass, trees as trees, limbs as limbs, rocks as rocks, etc ,etc

 

[lovedr79]

It shows speed and water temp. Shows fish great. I live the feature that u can even watch a jig working on it. Watch the tutorial video. The video shows the color version but it gives u a good perspective. And the gps is also cool. The stock version is better than I thought. U can also buy the lakes card for your region of u like.

 

[muskiemike12]

Dean,
If you want to view fish a standard 2D display is earier to use. DI is better suited for viewing structure. If you can get a unit that does both even better. Also remember that with any imaging unit, you need to be moving between 3-7 mph for it to work like it should.

 

[jldean23]

Thanks mike after looking and looking i seen some good reviews and it is a color display, plus i got it new for $218.00 with shipping the unit was $203.00, what i got was a Garmin echo 500c has a good display you can even see a 1/16 oz jig on it and it really marks the the fish well. It has a bunch of optios to mees with comes with temp but not speed there is alot of stuff you can mess with tweak it right. One thing that scared me was with Di is that i wouldnt see fish well, but this unit does show them well.

Seems most units on demo show good arches but when i would watch them in action on youtube lol never seen one arch, but on video with the garmin you could watch a line the fish come up and hit the jig and it was a crappie, i cant wait i just hope it gets here in time for fishin trip Sun. Thanks for all the help....

 

[PBRMINER]

I have a Humminbird Pirahnamax I bought for $80 last year. It works but is very basic. IMO the 560 series would be a better buy. A friend is giving me his 550 which is more like what I should have bought in the first place

 

[Wampuscat]

Elite 4x dsi after going through several cheap sonar units I have been blown away with the dsi. Wish I'd sprung for the bigger unit with gps now.

 

[Warhawk]

I picked up a new HB 570 on EBAY for $139. It's not the DI model, but it will work with the transducer that's already on my boat.