best fishfinder for the money?

[jwz4]

Just wandering what yall think the best fishfinder for the money would be if you could only have one on your boat, and where would it be located on the boat front/back. I'm looking to put one on a 16 foot aluminum boat that I want to setup for crappie fishing. It will have a motorguide wireless trolling motor so not sure if mounting to the trolling motor is possible. I went over my budget on the trolling motor so wouldn't like to break the bank on the fishfinder.

Thanks for you thoughts...

[majflyboy]

I just bought a HB788ci, combo from Bass Pro for 650.00. Haven't had it long but like it so far. Lots to learn with those things.

[GCD]

They're all good nowadays! It depends on how much money you want to spend, having said that... there are a few important considerations!

1. Multiple beam transducers will give you a bigger pic of the bottom by covering more are with the sonar, single and dual beams are ok but have limited performance in shallow water.

2. You may want to keep it simple if this is your first sonar unit, some of the newer and more expensive models have so many functions that they can be overwhelming to a newbie.

3. If you're going to fish a lot of shallow water your may not want to purchase a unit with more than 2400 watts of power. The high powered units are great for detail and definition, but can spook fish in shallow water. This isn't that important for long line trolling or casting, but if you jig directly beneath the boat or bounce bottom directly beneath the boat it can make a difference.

This is just my opinion and others may disagree... but hey!.. you asked for it!

[Dhawk]

The high powered units are great for detail and definition, but can spook fish in shallow water.

How is this? Do the fish sense or somehow feel the sonar?

[crappiepappy]

How is this? Do the fish sense or somehow feel the sonar?

.. sense the sound wave ping, put out by the transducer. It's still an ongoing debate as to whether or not this "spooks" fish. I'm skeptical that it does ... since I've caught many different species of fish, in very shallow water (<5ft) with the depth finder running (on either/both ends of the boat).

... cp

[fultondalecrappie]

Every now and them I can hear my 797 ping.

[crappiemax]

They're all good nowadays! It depends on how much money you want to spend, having said that... there are a few important considerations!

1. Multiple beam transducers will give you a bigger pic of the bottom by covering more are with the sonar, single and dual beams are ok but have limited performance in shallow water.

2. You may want to keep it simple if this is your first sonar unit, some of the newer and more expensive models have so many functions that they can be overwhelming to a newbie.

3. If you're going to fish a lot of shallow water your may not want to purchase a unit with more than 2400 watts of power. The high powered units are great for detail and definition, but can spook fish in shallow water. This isn't that important for long line trolling or casting, but if you jig directly beneath the boat or bounce bottom directly beneath the boat it can make a difference.

This is just my opinion and others may disagree... but hey!.. you asked for it!

I think this is very good advice.
I can feel my "ping" from my lowrance when it's out of the water. I've ran over shallow structure and saw tons of fish on the graph on 1 pass, gone over it again and found nothing. I wondered if it was the boat that sppoked the fish or if it was the DF. That being said, in shallow water most people don't fish directly under their boats so it really doesn't matter.
If I only had 1 DF on my boat, I would want it on the TM. I want to know where I AM (front of the boat)at all times, NOT where I WAS (rear of the boat).

[BigD]

So can you get a good fish/dept finder for around $150.00? I will be fishing 5 to 18 feet. All I want is for it to see the drop offs, some structure, and a fish symbol.

I don't need to see great detail because I do like the feeling of the unknown to some degree. But finding ledges / dropoffs / large tree like structure / water temperature would be nice.

Also, I have an aluminum boat and would like to install the ducer on the inside floor.


D

[crappiemax]

So can you get a good fish/dept finder for around $150.00? I will be fishing 5 to 18 feet. All I want is for it to see the drop offs, some structure, and a fish symbol.

I don't need to see great detail because I do like the feeling of the unknown to some degree. But finding ledges / dropoffs / large tree like structure / water temperature would be nice.

Also, I have an aluminum boat and would like to install the ducer on the inside floor.


D

I would look for the most power in the price you can afford.

I WOULD NOT install the ducer inside on an alum boat. If you don't want to drill the transom, clamp a piece of 1 x 4 to the transom and mount it to it.

Just my opinion

[skeetbum]

Under $200 my vote goes to the Hb565. It gives 3 times the coverage as those around it in price, and with HB you can buy a new machine, contact HB by phone and trade the skimmer transducer for a trolling motor mounted version. 565 has a 60 degree cone, compared to 20 in a lot of others. Cabelas had them for $169 last week in the store I was in in St.Louis.