First boat... need fish finder suggestion

[deezdrama]

Need a fish finder but know nothing about them and never used one before.

It will be going on a 15' aluminum smokercraft bass catcher.

Those sonar ones look cool but cant decipher what im looking at... probably be easier for me to read the ones that just show little fish on the screen. Color would be nice but not neccessary, some gps options would be nice like speed .

Trying to stay around or under $200

Any suggestions?

 

[ccm]

I have a Lowrance Mark 5X graph. It's a nice easy to use graph. It has the fish ID function ( shows the little fishes ), it also has some things to where you can fine tune it to your style/situation such as manual mode, fish alarm, depth alarm, along with a few other things. What I like most about is it's user friendliness. It's real easy to go in & out of menus & change settings. With the manual I was able to learn how to use all of it's functions in one fishing trip. It is not color & does not have GPS but it does have a hook up w to where you can put an additional speed/temp censor. I've seen it run anywhere from $100 - $160 according to where you purchase it at. Here's the link to Lowrance's website https://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder/Mark5xPro-en-us.aspx It goes to the Mark 5X Pro which has dual frequency at the same price as the regular Mark 5X. There are quite a few other graphs on their website that you might want to look at too.

 

[DrNip]

I have the Lowrance Elite 4x DSI for $169.99. I like it but wish I would have spent the $50 more for the version with the better transducer and had DI in addition to sonar. For GPS I downloaded a $2.99 app on my phone.

 

[deezdrama]

Ya i was just thinking that it would be dumb to worry about gps when i have it on my phone.

I have an app "Fishing and hunting solunar time" and it has a great gps map.

Ok so... i dont need color either, just a good cheap unit

 

[deezdrama]

Our citys lake is good size but pretty shallow , i think the average is 8ft but can get to 20ft, some of the basins are only 2ft.

Is there a certain type of finder that i should be looking at that can scan wide angles for shallow lakes?

 

[JimInMichigan]

I'm in the same boat, but was trying to stay at $100.

I think I'm going to get the PiranaMax 175 ( $91 at WalMart )

Humminbird PiranhaMAX 175 Dual Beam Fishfinder:
•Tilt and swivel bracket design
•This Humminbird fishfinder is backlit for night time use
•Waterproof construction
•Temperature sensor
•2-1/2" target separation
•4" 240V x 160H 16-level grayscale display
•Dual 200/455 kHz beam
•600' depth capability
•1600W peak-to-peak power
•2-year limited warranty

Not a bunch of money, so if I decide to upgrade later, I wont lose much on it's resale.

 

[deezdrama]

I literaly just got done looking at that one at walmart. I needed four light grey seats to complete my new carpet/seating project and they only have 1 ..... arggggg

 

[JimInMichigan]

deezdrama » 20 Jul 2014, 21:34[/url]"]I literaly just got done looking at that one at walmart. I needed four light grey seats to complete my new carpet/seating project and they only have 1 ..... arggggg

try walmarts online, better choices. And free ship to home if your order is over $100.

 

[deezdrama]

I just got the lowrance elite 4x hdi since it was the best unit i could find locally and didnt want to wait for online shipping since i just recarpeted whole boat and installed new seats,wirring, gas tank and lines and i been working for 3 days on the boat and am ready to wrap it up and get some fishing in.

Any suggestions for what settings to use for shallow water?

 

[mgros483]

If you guys are looking for a good gps app for fishing, check out Navionics USA (They also have US & Canada). It's $10, but it's definitely, definitely worth it. Very detailed maps. Also they have an online mapping site for free, it's not as detailed but I use it all the time when I'm at work and daydreaming about fishing. Here's the link https://www.navionics.com/en/webapp-limited Once you get zoomed in to where you want to be, hit the button on the lower left of the map (looks like a wifi symbol) and you get even more contour detail. I have the navionics chip in my sonar unit, and it's way more detailed than the web app, but I think they limit the zoom function on the web one since it's free.

I have the Lowrance Elite-5, it's really a nice unit. I'm sure the functions are about the same as the Elite-4. I can't remember my settings off the top of my head, but I can check it out when I get home. Definitely learn the sonar view instead of the Fish ID, it's pretty simple to figure out and you can really tell what's under you. The one thing is, if you are in under 10' of water, don't expect a whole lot of info on the screen, there's a lot of 'noise' in the first 5-6 feet most of the time.

Make sure you test where you want your transducer by using a piece of wood or aluminum or something with a clamp prior to making any holes in your boat, they can be kind of finicky to get set up so they don't lose signal on plane.

 

[jethro]

Shallow water is always a problem with fish finders. The best thing you can do is get a side scan unit, but you are talking minimum of $700. For best shallow water performance, bump the gain/sensitivity down and you won't get as much surface clutter. You won't mark a lot of fish in shallow water, but you will get a good idea of the bottom structure and hardness.

 

[deezdrama]

I took it out yesterday on the water and played with it a little bit

Whats weird is it says on the box that the included transducer is for regular sonar only and a different hdi transducer is required for downscan, but in the settings i enabled downscan and it showed (to the best of my knowledge) downscan images! Hows that possible?

I quickly found out most of the lake i fish is 3-8 ft and i think cause its shallow i just get surface noise. At one point i found 15ft depth and on the screen it actually looked right and even think i saw a few fish arches.

If anyone has anymore suggesstions for me to get the most out of this i appreciate it

 

[mgros483]

Yeah, it's never going to look right in 8' of water, at least from what I know. What you saw in 15' is what you're looking for. Plus your "cone of view", for lack of a better term, is quite small at that depth so it doesn't tell you much as far as fish goes.

I'd say you have a good depth finder in that lake, but are all set up for deeper water when you get there,

 

[deezdrama]

Ya, my home lake isnt the best for fishing anyway... guess its time to find some better waters that arent too far away

 

[deadkitty]

You can actually now pick up a budget side scan with gps, color, and down imaging for $300. The humminbird 398ci si is a pretty sweet little package. I plan on picking one up as my main finder and moving my garmin echo 200 to the bow on the motor up front for a nice jigging view when I'm up there.

 

[deezdrama]

Argggg.... wish i would of known

 

[deezdrama]

Well... took the boat and the new finder on a much larger lake today, my home lake is 8ft on average and went to a 20-50ft lake.

Wind was blowing and the water was like the ocean... lol, i was in 20ft and heading to deeper water when a 3 foot wave came barreling towards me, i barely got the boat turned around in time to ride it back like a surfer lol, i stayed in the 20ft after that, lol.... ended up soaking wet n freezing but had fun, the lowrance x4 hdi worked great, saw lots of fish and baitfish but nothing was bitting.

Oh... glad the bilge pump works as i launched the boat forgetting to plug the transom, i noticed when my new carpet on the floor started getting soggy.... doh!