Need to get a new fishfinder for a boat!!

[Cadilac Grills]

Anyone have any ideas / information on fish finders mine is white noise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman

[Mega Byte]

When I upgrade, I'll get something from Garmin.  Their tech is just outstanding.

[Arrowhead]

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.

[Cadilac Grills]

Thanks for the info fellas . I appreciate your input and feedback.


Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman

[Creekerman]

I like Humminbird.  Much more user friendly than Lowrance.  I've got both.  Prefer Humminbird. 

[lundfishing]

I went from Lowrance [after they would not repair my two yr old unit] to Humminbird. Humminbird is made in America and Lowrance is made in Mexico. Support the American worker.

[Luke Tuccini]

New 7" Garmin bought in August is awesome. Just take a minute to learn about your new transducer "cone width" at bottom of "radar" cone. 4" Lowrance was twice the width of coverage at bottom of cone than 7" Garmin.

 

After purchase I learned: At 100' depth, 4" Lowrance cone coverage is approx 82' wide. 7" Garmin is approx 41" wide.

 

But Garmin shows way better detail? But for trolling Great Lakes you want wider coverage for sure.

 

I'm now shelling out another $100 for new Garmin transducer to get 82' cone width at 100'. My fault; should have checked.

 

Also Garmin does way more stuff and yet way easier to learn. Plus I've now got super great GPS to get straight home in fog and/ or rain storm etc.

 

Plus Garmin customer support is excellent.

 

Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

 

 

 

 

[Arrowhead]

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.