Thoughts on a fish finder?
- Thread starter Cybersnow
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His ETC said more than look. Ask questions?
Cybersnow
Well-known member
I would like to play with the units a little. While there is no Cabelas or Bass Pro Shop close to where I am for the next couple of months, I haven’t been impressed with either company’s sales force. There is a marine store near me, guess I will take a look there. Meanwhile, I will read all I can to try to decide which, if any, bells and whistles I need.
SuperDaveMT
Well-known member
In watching some you-tube video reviews on the garmin echomaps they demonstrate how to set up the various displays with a variety of color options. In addition to reds and greens, there are blues, oranges, gray scale and reverse gray scale, maybe 10-12 different options. I don't know if any of those would be of use to you, but it might be worth checking out.
Cybersnow
Well-known member
IF I am not mistaken, I think I have received recommendations on the following:
Garmin Echomap
RayMarine Dragonfly or Element
Lowrance Elite ti7 or HD 7
Hummingbird HELIX 7 CHIRP
(I realize that several of these were really 9s, but I don't have room for a 9" display.)
They all seem to fit in my price range. Any others that I need to consider?
Garmin Echomap
RayMarine Dragonfly or Element
Lowrance Elite ti7 or HD 7
Hummingbird HELIX 7 CHIRP
(I realize that several of these were really 9s, but I don't have room for a 9" display.)
They all seem to fit in my price range. Any others that I need to consider?
Cybersnow
Well-known member
Found the items at a West Marine store. After playing with them, are back down to the Lowrance and the Hummimgbird. The biggest difference appears to be touchscreen or not. My iPad has a touchscreen and I wonder how easy it is to get fish slime and scratches on the touchscreen. Is this a real issue?
Cybersnow
Well-known member
nuff said. Helps a lot in the choosing.
Guess I need to call Hummingbird and have a chat with their technical folks as to model of unit and transducer set up. Thanks, SuperD
Guess I need to call Hummingbird and have a chat with their technical folks as to model of unit and transducer set up. Thanks, SuperD
Striker4`
If you're on a limited budget, I don't think you can go wrong with a Garmin Striker 4. I have one and it has Chirp and so forth. No mapping in this model but it works really well on my float tube. I bought a lithium battery (imported it myself from China) for it and it can go for about 1.5 days continuous without a chargeup. I also have a small backup battery (also lithium) if I'm on a long trip, but I have never had a battery go dead. The lithium batteries save space and run longer because lead-acid batteries can only be safely discharged to about 50 percent state of charge. Lithium can be run down.
If you're on a limited budget, I don't think you can go wrong with a Garmin Striker 4. I have one and it has Chirp and so forth. No mapping in this model but it works really well on my float tube. I bought a lithium battery (imported it myself from China) for it and it can go for about 1.5 days continuous without a chargeup. I also have a small backup battery (also lithium) if I'm on a long trip, but I have never had a battery go dead. The lithium batteries save space and run longer because lead-acid batteries can only be safely discharged to about 50 percent state of charge. Lithium can be run down.
Cybersnow
Well-known member
Found this from when I was upgrading my 25’ pontoon boat. For Kokanee fishing do I need any imaging?
DuckHarvestor
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2020
- Messages
- 27
Different perspective on fish finders?
Got into kokanee fishing about 3 yrs ago when we purchased our boat. Did not know much about sonar since had only used cheap ones on our fishing kayaks up to that point and had not target kokes. Only used to track bottom contours to that point. We bought a Lowrance Hook 2-7 Tripleshot as outfitted by the boat dealer. Not impressed by the user friendly features as advertised. Liked the mapping and ability to add way points as needed. Did not find it useful for marking schools of fish - maybe my inexperience? During our first season during jigging season late in the summer had problems even seeing the schools. Decided to fix the problem by upgrading the electronics. Added a 10" touch screen Garmin and Livescope transducer which cost quite a bit. Very happy with the purchase. I have the Livescope mounted to a downrod mounted on the side next to the steering wheel. At speeds below 2.5 mph i can put it in the water and see what is in the water in "any direction" around the boat out to 70' or 80'. Great for locating schools out in front before you go over them. Lets you set you DR for that depth if needed. Also can see schools to the side so you can change your trolling path. When looking back you can see you DR balls and lures and how the fish respond real time. For jigging you can search in all directions around the boat to find schools so you can get on top of them and use "spot lock" to anchor your position.
Bottom line: expensive but getting cheaper as more companies develop similar products. (The big 3 companies have these now) Not all fish finders are compatible with this technology so if i were you i would find a cheaper one that was compatible and then in the future you could upgrade to the tranducer as prices come down or you become more familiar with the technology. I predict in the future, with a compatible sonar and electric trolling motor, you will be able to identify a school of fish, mark it and have the trolling motor move over and lock on automatically. I do that now but it is manual.
My 2 cents....
Got into kokanee fishing about 3 yrs ago when we purchased our boat. Did not know much about sonar since had only used cheap ones on our fishing kayaks up to that point and had not target kokes. Only used to track bottom contours to that point. We bought a Lowrance Hook 2-7 Tripleshot as outfitted by the boat dealer. Not impressed by the user friendly features as advertised. Liked the mapping and ability to add way points as needed. Did not find it useful for marking schools of fish - maybe my inexperience? During our first season during jigging season late in the summer had problems even seeing the schools. Decided to fix the problem by upgrading the electronics. Added a 10" touch screen Garmin and Livescope transducer which cost quite a bit. Very happy with the purchase. I have the Livescope mounted to a downrod mounted on the side next to the steering wheel. At speeds below 2.5 mph i can put it in the water and see what is in the water in "any direction" around the boat out to 70' or 80'. Great for locating schools out in front before you go over them. Lets you set you DR for that depth if needed. Also can see schools to the side so you can change your trolling path. When looking back you can see you DR balls and lures and how the fish respond real time. For jigging you can search in all directions around the boat to find schools so you can get on top of them and use "spot lock" to anchor your position.
Bottom line: expensive but getting cheaper as more companies develop similar products. (The big 3 companies have these now) Not all fish finders are compatible with this technology so if i were you i would find a cheaper one that was compatible and then in the future you could upgrade to the tranducer as prices come down or you become more familiar with the technology. I predict in the future, with a compatible sonar and electric trolling motor, you will be able to identify a school of fish, mark it and have the trolling motor move over and lock on automatically. I do that now but it is manual.
My 2 cents....
nofish
Well-known member
I do agree the livescope is a game changer. I have been lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time using it. like you say you can turn the transducer to look any direction you want. The only draw back I have seen is that if you try to jig in 90 ft or deeper water it is hard to see what is going on. Garmin put out an outdated over the winter that help a little bit but it still needs some work, but if you are fishing 90 ft or less it is awesome and will help put fish in the boat.
Cybersnow
Well-known member
To be honest, I have little recent experience with fish finders. In the 90s had a boat in N Cal that had a Lowrance and it seemed to work really well fishing for trout and striped bass. In 2003 was stationed in Florida and had a Lowance chart recorder that came with the boat and it seemed ok. Last year we bought a 25’ pontoon boat that came with a Lowrance and it was a piece of junk. I installed a Hummingbird Helix 7 and it was ok for trout and spotted a few Kokanee but by that time I was convinced that the boat was too big to move around to some of the smaller lakes that had thriving Kokanee populations. My local Crestliner dealer offered me his rental 1450 at a very reasonable price and I bought it and stored it in my barn for the winter. Now the snow is slowly starting to melt and I am anxious to get it ready for this season. It came with a fish finder, but I am assuming it is about as functional as the one that came on the pontoon boat. I assume that the live view is a Garmin feature? I have enough room for a 7” unit but will need some kind of extender. Which one(s) should I consider? This sounds like a feature I can really use as even in August the trout and Kokanee were only about 25-40 ft down.
The boat came with a Helix 5 basic unit.
The boat came with a Helix 5 basic unit.
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DuckHarvestor
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2020
- Messages
- 27
I have two active sonars on our boat - 1) the Lowrance that came with the boat and its stern-mounted transducer and 2) the Garmin with the Livescope transducer which is mounted over the side on a rotating "down-rod". You can also mount the Livescope transducer to an electric trolling motor. I opted not to do this since i wanted to use it if I was just using my gas kicker motor for trolling. I also have control where the transducer is looking independent of the direction of the motor/boat.
I recommend using a company like Russell Marine Products (and, no i have no business relationship with them!). Check out their listing for "Garmin LVS 32 LiveScope + EchoMAP UHD 73sv Combo" 7" screen for $2k. Not sure what you mean by "an extender"?? Also check out Garmin's website for more info. Garmin was the pioneer in this technology but Hummingbird and Lowrance have copied it. Russell Marine Products has YouTube videos comparing the different types. Those guys primarily target large mouth bass and crappie so the videos are focused on that and more shallow water fishing instead of deeper kokes.
I think the larger screens are a real benefit with all of the info available from the high end fish finders, but of course, more $$$$.
I recommend using a company like Russell Marine Products (and, no i have no business relationship with them!). Check out their listing for "Garmin LVS 32 LiveScope + EchoMAP UHD 73sv Combo" 7" screen for $2k. Not sure what you mean by "an extender"?? Also check out Garmin's website for more info. Garmin was the pioneer in this technology but Hummingbird and Lowrance have copied it. Russell Marine Products has YouTube videos comparing the different types. Those guys primarily target large mouth bass and crappie so the videos are focused on that and more shallow water fishing instead of deeper kokes.
I think the larger screens are a real benefit with all of the info available from the high end fish finders, but of course, more $$$$.
Cybersnow
Well-known member
The boat’s side console is relatively small and the current helix 5 unit barely fits in its space. While I really would rather have a 7” unit, I am not sure how to mount it using the mount that comes with it. I did some reading on the helix and there is a 5 inch unit that has side imaging but I don’t know the difference between side imaging and side view. Thanks for the referral to Russel Marine, They have some great videos. Unfortunately with this small of a boat, I think a 7 inch unit is as big as I can go.
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Cybersnow
Well-known member
After researching this beyond my wife’s patience I have narrowed it down to 2 units. Garmin ECHOMAP™ UHD 73sv With GT56UHD-TM Transducer or Hummingbird HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4N. Both in the $900 range. Anyone with experience or knowledge actually using them? Sure could use some recommendations.
nofish
Well-known member
I run a Helix 9 mega chirp SI DI and really like it. I will switch the frequency depending on water depth and if I am trolling or jigging. I have not used the newer Garmin but I did run an older model for years. The thing I liked about it is that it was super simple to run and I hear the newer ones are the same.
Kokaholic
Well-known member
I run the Garmin and Love it. I really enjoy the touch screen and as others have shared, very simple to navigate through and clear.
Cybersnow
Well-known member
Found the Garmin Echomap 73 SV on sale today and brought it home. Now looking for a universal pedestal so I can replace my Helix 5 with a bigger unit.
nofish
Well-known member
I use the Ram ball mounts and really like them they hold the unit sloid but they are easy to adjust.
