Electronics

[Chris11]

Does anybody have any suggestions for an economical fish finder?

I am thinking about upgrading the Eagle Cuda and Lowrance which were on my boat when I bought it.

I am looking for something which will give me good views of structure, because I will be putting out some pallets this fall, and would really like to be able to pick them up clearly on my finder.

[catfish]

I love my Garmin 160 blue. It is about 250.00 new. A few weeks ago went with a guy and he had a Bottom Line it was a nice unit propably better then my Garmin.
keep line wet

[crappiehunter]

Does anybody have any suggestions for an economical fish finder?

I am thinking about upgrading the Eagle Cuda and Lowrance which were on my boat when I bought it.

I am looking for something which will give me good views of structure, because I will be putting out some pallets this fall, and would really like to be able to pick them up clearly on my finder.

I have had Humminbird, Lowrance, Eagle, and now Garmin. Garmin 240 model has been my best unit by far. Ease of operation and power are really great attributes of this unit. Crappiehunter

[slab_seeker]

I have been totally happy with my Humminbird Matrix 27 this summer. If you get a data cable you can link your current GPS to the finder. Also has other nice features.

[big "E"]

I use the eagle cuda and am not impressed , but the price was in my ball park so I'm stuck with it.I've heard Lowrance is about the best you can get.Why are you replacing it?

[Chris11]

I believe both are pretty old, and was just wondering what a step up might get me.

[big "E"]

I have sensitivity issues with my cuda.I'll roll over a brush pile and mark brush and fish , then circle back or reverse over it and nothing but a blank screen.This has frustrated me to no end , and should I ever have the chance(money) to change it , I would go with the Lowrance.

[Moose1am]

Big E:
If you are in 20ft of water and your transducers cone angle for the sound waves is 20 deg or greater you can be near the brush pile and see it on the depth finder but not be right over the top of it. If your cone angle is 8 deg or less then you would be right over the top of the bush pile when it shows up on the depth finder.

If you go to the depth finders web sites you can see some animated graphics that discuss how the transducers cone angles effect what you see on the bottom.

In general the 20 deg cone angled transducers show about 1/3 of the depth as the area under your depth finder. So if you are in 30ft of water you are seeing about a 10ft diameter circle of bottom on your depth finder. Anything that is inside that 10ft circle may show up on your screen but may not be directly under your transducer.

That means that you can go over the same path several times and see a different picture on your depth finder if what you are seeing is right on the edge of your transducers area of influence on the bottom. Remember we are talking about sound waves going out from the transducer at angles and then bouncing off objects or the bottom and traveling back up though the water to your transducer again. There is a lot of room for error in this method especially if traveling at a fast rate of speed. Even when going slowly it's often hard to find a small object in shallow water.

I have sensitivity issues with my cuda.I'll roll over a brush pile and mark brush and fish , then circle back or reverse over it and nothing but a blank screen.This has frustrated me to no end , and should I ever have the chance(money) to change it , I would go with the Lowrance.

[slab_seeker]

Most depth finders will blank out when you back up.

I have sensitivity issues with my cuda.I'll roll over a brush pile and mark brush and fish , then circle back or reverse over it and nothing but a blank screen.This has frustrated me to no end , and should I ever have the chance(money) to change it , I would go with the Lowrance.

[slab_seeker]

The 27 has a dual beam transducer and a split screen so you can tell more precisely where everything is at.