What are the my best option for fish finder for crappie fishing for 14ft Jon Boat

[mechanicworkman]

I have a 14ft jon boat and finding the crappie have been wooping my butt and locateing them have been a big problem for me I am thinking of investing in a fish finder I have a Max of $400 for a complete system.

I have been reading and from the sounds of it the fish finder and transdcer are sold seperately on alot of them I am wondering if anyone has some good recomendations on models with good crappie locating capeabilities that have worked well for other people.

Most of the water i have been fishing in is between 3ft & a max of 50feet. with most of the water being 25feet in depth and under. I have heard about hummingbird seems to be a good overall choice but would like some perspective from others that fish for crappie often using them.

[jimp]

I had a HB prianha max on my boat and neve could get it adjusted/tuned to show anything close to the Lowrance that came with the boat. Bought a cuda 300 and it works much better, just MO. The camps are split as whether HB or Lowrance is better, look for one that has the features you're after and in the budget.

[mechanicworkman]

I have never had a fish finder before but really my two biggest concerns is are I would like to have it attached to the boat and be able to drive the boat and hopefully see the fishs under my boat and at what depth they are holding and second I need one that tells the depth of the lake or the amount of water under the boat i have heard the color ones are much better but the price starts really going up when I look at that I would rather have one thats black & white or what ever they are calling it and get more accurate data than have the color. I have heard that and i dont remember the model but a hummingbird some people said told the depth great but couldnt locate fish to save the things life. they bought it and used it for a week and it was saying there was no fish there and then got mad bought another better more expensive one and ran them side by side the new one finding fish the old one still saying no fish are there

[mechanicworkman]

So definitly using it to tell the depth of lake and actually locating fish is second and third if it could show what structure is down there too would be nice. I dont know if doing those things well is a shot in the dark for $300-400 price range! but if any people out there have had really good success with doing this appreciate the help in advance!

[beagle man]

so many choices, do not know where to start, color yes, gps not to important if your not fishing a lot of different lakes, or lakes not known by you. all the fancy functions, not to important unless you just got to have them. there are lots of good finders out there, garmin is great, Lowrance/humminbird great, just for starters and in your price range a good black/white unit will be fine. go to garmins web site and check them out, the more you look and learn the better off you will be. there are lots of good used ones out there so check the want adds and e/bay. good luck

[crappieken]

mechanicworkman - Sent you a private message.

[Jign4Slabs]

I have been testing the new Garmin Echo series and they are proving to be outstanding for the price. I have been testing the 150 and the 200 monochrome as well as the 550 color and like all of them for the price. They come with everything you need to get going unless you want a speed indicator which you buy separate. I have been finding suspended fish and using the depth finder to track my jigs and get them at the same level as the fish. You can see them at Bass Pro if you are interested.