Need info on fish finder.

[pugman30]

This is my first post to the board. I have really enjoyed reading all your posts. I am in the process of buying a fish/depth finder, but I am really unsure what to get. I need something that is simple to understand and not a headache to operate. The deepest water that I will fish is around 50ft. By the way , I am from the East Texas area and am really dissappointed to see that the Texas board is very inactive. Thanks for you help. Pugman

[Big Zig]

Do you have a price range that you need to stay in? Garmin 160 and 240 have done all I've asked them to do.

[Don G]

This is my first post to the board. I have really enjoyed reading all your posts. I am in the process of buying a fish/depth finder, but I am really unsure what to get. I need something that is simple to understand and not a headache to operate. The deepest water that I will fish is around 50ft. By the way , I am from the East Texas area and am really dissappointed to see that the Texas board is very inactive. Thanks for you help. Pugman

I have owned Eagle, Lowrance & Garmin units. I just upgraded to the Garmin 250. It may just be me but I think the Garmin units are much, much easier to use. The fewer the buttons the better off I am..LOl.. I also have a Garmin 76S GPS that I really like.

Garmin also has a great support staff for questions you might have....

[CrappiePappy]

take into account that with a depth finder, with a 20deg cone angle transducer, in 50ft of water ....... you will only be seeing bottom contour in a circle that is about 16-17ft wide (at 25ft the circle will only be about 8ft wide). Just imagine a "cone" with 20deg angle sides - and realize that your transducer can only "see" what is INSIDE that shape !!

"Simple and easy to use" generally implies that a unit is of the "lower end" scale ..... and that you will most often use the "automatic" feature, rather than the "manual" settings. That's pretty much how I use them ...LOL!! I use them to find depth, bottom composition, depth changes, submerged structure, and suspended schools of baitfish or the depths of concentrations of fish.
I've used Eagle and Lowrance units for about 30yrs ... and I'd buy another one tomorrow, if I needed a new one. Garmin units are supposed to be another good brand. Either one will have a unit to fit your needs and price range. Go to their websites and look over their models, read the specs on them, and look thru the downloadable manuals (to get an idea of how they work and what you can expect them to "show" you).
Most all units come with a transom mount transducer - but be aware that a transducer on the back end (transom) of the boat (when you're in the front) won't show you what you are sitting over - but what your motor is sitting over! You may want to opt to placing the transducer on the trolling motor (brackets are usually included to do this)......... luck2ya ........cp

[fishin3]

I just put a two depth finders on my boat. The one I use to run with is a Piranna and the one on my trolling motor is a Piranna Max 20. I like both of them very well. The Max 20 has a duel cone on it standard. Maybe this will help you some. Both of this are Hummin Bird. Dad used that brand for years and I seem to keep the family tradition going.

[slab_seeker]

I have been using a Hummingbird Matrix 27 all summer and it is the best unit I have ever owned. It has a lot of access. options to choose from too. The best one is that with the right cable you can connect your handheld GPS to it and view the gps on your depthfinder. Not difficult to learn to operate. It has a split screen and a dual beam transducer. For me there is nothing better than a dual beam transducer.

[crappiehunter]

I liked my Garmin 240 so well that I bought a second one to be placed on the trolling motor.

This is my first post to the board. I have really enjoyed reading all your posts. I am in the process of buying a fish/depth finder, but I am really unsure what to get. I need something that is simple to understand and not a headache to operate. The deepest water that I will fish is around 50ft. By the way , I am from the East Texas area and am really dissappointed to see that the Texas board is very inactive. Thanks for you help. Pugman

[pugman30]

Thanks for all of your replies. I don't like to say I have a "price range" because then it always comes back to "you get what you pay for" Ya'll have been a lot of help. Now I just need to do my homework. Thanks again. Pugman

[Big Zig]

Thanks for all of your replies. I don't like to say I have a "price range" because then it always comes back to "you get what you pay for" Ya'll have been a lot of help. Now I just need to do my homework. Thanks again. Pugman

Hope the Mrs. doesn't see this - I'm a firm believer in that mindset, but.........you don't want to pay for what you're not going to use either.




Who said that????? (Lokking around as if I don't know) :D

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

Hey Pugman, I highly reccomend the Eagle 320, or 480. They are around the $200 price range, and are awesome. The only better detail I have seen, is on the higher ended Lowrances', and PinPoints'. Eagle is made by Lowrance BTW.

I mainly use a portable Eagle 320. This has it's own battery mounted to the carrying tray which the unit mounts to, and the unit is angle adjustable. It comes with a suction cup mounting transducer. This makes it easy to mount exactly right, with no drilling! I love that. I also mount a second transducer to the scag of my trolling motor. I just drilled a hole through the skadg, and mount it there with a bolt and some lock nuts. Since the unit is portable, I can just plug it in at the front, or in the back of the boat.

I have used several different Garmin units, but I remain unimpressed. Too pixlated for my tastes(not enough detail) and they do not mark nearly as many fish holding tight to structure. They do have better RMS power than my unit, but they are definitely my last choice for fish finding capabilities. They do however, have awesome GPS functions and capabilities.

What ever you decide to get, try to get as many vertical pixels, and as high of a RMS power rating you can afford. A dual cone angle is a big plus too. Temp is a real important thing to me, but it may not be for you. Also, the better gray scale your unit has, the easier it will be able to distinguish just what you are really looking at down there.

I spend a lot of my time fishing transitions of a soft bottom, to a hard one. I also think it is important to know if that is a weed bed I m looking at, or just a magnificant stump. Lesser powered units without gray scale will not give you the heads up on this. Hope this helps you narrow the field!

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