Fishfinder Preferences?

[eatlessfish]

Hey guys I'm looking into getting a quality fishfinder for under $350. It is all the money I have at the time and was wondering which finders you guys would suggest for this price. Thanks for any suggestions and/or comments!!

[martintheduck]

Well what are you looking to do with it? IE: Put in on a kayak, boat, canoe....

 

You can get a little tiny Lowrance DI unit for like $200, but it's REALLY tiny and hard as heck to read (b/c it's so small).

 

I'd recommend a quality sonar/gps unit like a humminbird 365i. I feel GPS feature is really important to me b/c when I find a spot, I can mark it and get right back to that exact spot. 

 

If you CAN save up another $200, I'd recommend getting a humminbird 598c hd/si. Has gps, down imaging, side imaging.... I use side imaging to find drops, humps, and stumps. Then I get right up to those spots and switch to combination DI/sonar and troll over those spots and can see EXACTLY what is on the bottom whether is brush, grass, rocks, or whatever. The 4 parts working together (DI/SI/Sonar/GPS) has been crucial in helping me get on some quality fish. 

 

 

I guess the moral of my story is to get as much unit as you possibly can afford to get. 

[eatlessfish]

Well $400 is max. Im planning on mounting it to my bass fishing boat.

[FD.]

Humminbird, eagle, garmin, lowrance.  I have all four and they all work pretty well for what I paid for each.  The eagle was about $150 and the second Humminbird was over $1000.  You get what you pay for.  Most are going to have equal capabilities in the same price range.

[ww2farmer]

I have a Lowrance Elite 4 color sonar/gps combo. It's a great unit for the money. It is small, but I don't find it hard to see. They are like $299

[Wayne P.]

Well $400 is max. Im planning on mounting it to my bass fishing boat.

Where on your bass boat?

[birdoflight]

I don't have any input on the units, but presuming you checked the flea market section already, perhaps you could try to call that new sponsor, Valley Sports?  According to this post, Ron is willing to cut further deals and may be able to get you situated with something suitable for your needs.

[Lewi]

Where on your bass boat?

.......and what do you want it to do?  Are you just looking for the most bang for your buck........do you want color or keep it grayscale.  You can get a good finder in gray scale with GPS and DI for $300, you can get all that in color for $500 if you want.

 

There are so many variables, can you list what exactly you want i.e color/grayscale, GPS, DI, SI........where on the boat is it going.

 

-Lewi

[Comfortably Numb]

Whatever you get make sure it has Down imaging AND regular 2d sonar. I think some Humminbirds have this.

 

Di alone wont cut it and you wont see alot of fish on it, especially with a small screen.

[Wayne P.]

Whatever you get make sure it has Down imaging AND regular 2d sonar. I think some Humminbirds have this.

 

Di alone wont cut it and you wont see alot of fish on it, especially with a small screen.

Every Humminbird DI model has 2D sonar also.

There are about 18 current and legacy units like that.

[J Francho]

For that budget, I want a color screen and GPS with base maps.  I also want to be able to use a map chip for greater detail.  There's a ton of units out there that fit this criteria, and they all work well.  I recommend going in and trying out the menus on the display models, and decide which feel most comfortable to you to operate.

[CWB]

Like JF said, there are quite a few to choose from. If your local BPS has a sonar setup like the one by me, you can see just about any unit made up and running. Good place to start and they will match any bonafide price. I like having a store to return or exchange items like this to if necessary.

[Smokinal]

I like the HB units myself. They seem easier to use (I have had both HB and Low). HB seem to have "all in one" units. What I mean is, if I'm not mistaken, the Lowrance units need a second piece of the puzzle, the structure scan, to have si. That HB 598ci HD di combo is a great bang for the buck if you are only going to have 1 finder. You could find one used on Craigslist for $3-400. Just make sure it comes with power cable, mount and transducer. I have a 798 si on the console and a 597ci hd di on the bow. Love em!

[slonezp]

For a couple more bucks, you can get a HB 788 ci On sale right now at some online stores for around $450. Can't beat that with a stick.

[Chris186]

For that budget, I want a color screen and GPS with base maps.  I also want to be able to use a map chip for greater detail.  There's a ton of units out there that fit this criteria, and they all work well.  I recommend going in and trying out the menus on the display models, and decide which feel most comfortable to you to operate.

Im going to agree with this, I would definitely want color and GPS. I like Humminbirds myself, but there are alot of good units out there to choose from.