Arrowhead

That sounds like a fuel line in the tank issue. I had this happen twice with snowmobiles. Once the fuel line rotted off within the tank and when the tank got half empty it would run out of fuel. The other time the fuel like was curled up back into the middle of the tank and would run out of fuel at the 1/2 tank mark and worked fine when full. When fuel sloshes around or comes up on the trailer it gets some fuel then dies when it runs out. Check that out. try an external tank to see if that solves it. Not that that is a permanent solution but would eliminate the motor or fuel pump as a problem. I am assuming on a 206 slick it probably is a stern drive with built in tank. Access to the tank? Prob decent access to fuel line near the motor. Can you just run a new clean line into the tank? A $50 electric(12v) racing fuel pump on Amazon and some long hoses will pump the fuel out of the tank in a jiffy. Run it into a white bucket. You will know immediately if it should go back in. Works well for snowblowers, snowmobiles and everything you want the fuel out of but can’t tip over….riding lawn mowers. some ideas.

I agree. A wider cone angle is better onLM. My old Si-Tex paper graph with a 50 degree transducer marked like no other. I think when you are referring to a 4” and a 7” you might be referring to screen size. Cone angle and area of bottom marked has to do with transducer(TD) frequency not screen size. The exception being that smaller screens can’t really operate split screens well so they more often have a single more general use transducer. When you get into the larger screens you can get dual frequency TD’s and operate a split screen to see both. I am a Lowrance guy. One frequency of my dual frequency TD I had a purchase choice of 50/200kHz or 83/200kHz. When in use you can set it to 50 or 200kHz. 50kHz has more bottom area marked. If using 83/200kHz the 83 marks more bottom than the 200 but not as much as 50 would. So you have a purchase choice then a setup choice. The second band that comes withe a unit with the dual band feature is 455/800kHz. That doesn’t mark fish that well but has incredible detail of inanimate objects. Like in LM the 83/200 will mark a rock pile as a blob which might be a school of fish, a blob of weeds or a tree top. The 455/800 will show you each rock and the split screen will show you the fish on the 50/200kHz or the 83/200kHz. The 455/800kHz is amazing. You can see so much detail. Like branches on a tree. You can tell what species of weed are down in 12 fow. It will tell you where the spot on the spot is. Like weeds on the edge of a drop. A wall of weeds not so good. When you find 10’ of weeds that turns into 8 then 5 then 3,3,2,2,2 then 1,1,1 that’s it. I call it the 3,2,1 not a wall. Pull your harnesses over that spot. That is brought to you by 455/800kHz. WhenI am on LM I keep charting on because there are some some charted differences that seem to correlated to fish especially lake trout. You need to zoom in to get the detail. Put plugs on the bottom in those spots. You will get Lakers. Then setup for single split and put away 455/800kHz. There is no detail to be marked unless at the rock piles by the project. Change 83/200kHz to 83kHz. Now you have a bigger picture and maximum bottom area marked. As soon as you come back into Pentwater changes need to be made again. That is why in my first note I mentioned having it close enough to setup and change. If it’s too far away you leave it on what it was on and you could do better. Knowing how to change it quickly is why I recommended YouTube to learn and saving screen shots for quick reference in the boat. Get a good machine. Spend the money. Learn, practice, repeat = fish in the box.

I think that Lowrance, Hummingbird and Garmin are all good finders. There are some differences. Try this. Shop through the information in catalogs to see what they say they can do. That will help you decide what features you want and can afford. Then go to YouTube and search for your likely candidates. YouTube has a lot of info about finders. You will see tutorials, problem resolution, mounting and setup tips, and interpretation of what you mark. My recommendation is to spend the money. I have always had expensive boats and equipment and a cheap finder. Not anymore. But...the more money you spend the more they can do. Once you decide and get a finder use YouTube to get it and yourself dialed in to use the features you just paid for. Watch, learn, practice, repeat. Save screen shots or web pages, on your phone, for fast access on the water. Learn this stuff. If you do it will help your fishing. And one more thing. You should mount it so you can work it while fishing. When I see a fish finder mounted across the boat from the helm I am thinking it is under utilized. Split screens are wonderful. They each need to be dialed in. Conquer this and you will fish better. just some ideas. Hope it helps.