Recommended Fish Finder - $1000 Budget

[CC268]

Hey guys,

 

 

Just picked up a really nice "used" 2018 Tracker Pro 160. I'm not an avid fisher - just wanted something to get on the water with the wife for some bass fishing on the local AZ lakes. I've been going with a buddy of mine who built a Jet Jon (pretty cool by the way) and he has a Garmin 93SV. That seems to be a pretty highly recommended unit in terms of "best bang for buck". I've done a little bit of research, but it is a fairly overwhelming marketplace for these things - especially for someone like myself who has never really fished using one. 

 

I've put my budget at $1000, but anything cheaper would certainly be appreciated. I don't think it makes a ton of sense to spend a ton on a boat this size. 

 

Any feedback, recommendations, etc is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[K1500]

Lowrance HDS Live 7”.  $1,000 with transducer. 

[Sprocket]

Size of the boat really doesn't matter but the 93 sv your buddy has would be a great unit to put on the front of that boat.

 

Retired Grass Grower

[Eddie101]

On 7/11/2020 at 1:40 AM, K1500 said:

Lowrance HDS Live 7”.  $1,000 with transducer. 

Who's selling it @$1,000?

[K1500]

I have to admit I haven’t looked at prices in a while. I paid $1,000 a little over a year ago for that unit. It looks like prices have risen by about $150 since then. 

[MaineBassFishin]

I just ordered another elite 9 ti2 with 3 in 1 ducer for $940

[WRB]

On July 6, 2020 at 3:04 PM, CC268 said:

Hey guys,

 

 

Just picked up a really nice "used" 2018 Tracker Pro 160. I'm not an avid fisher - just wanted something to get on the water with the wife for some bass fishing on the local AZ lakes. I've been going with a buddy of mine who built a Jet Jon (pretty cool by the way) and he has a Garmin 93SV. That seems to be a pretty highly recommended unit in terms of "best bang for buck". I've done a little bit of research, but it is a fairly overwhelming marketplace for these things - especially for someone like myself who has never really fished using one. 

 

I've put my budget at $1000, but anything cheaper would certainly be appreciated. I don't think it makes a ton of sense to spend a ton on a boat this size. 

 

Any feedback, recommendations, etc is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

You don't sound like a serous dedicated bass angler, more of a recreational angler.

Are you familiar with the trolling motor nd know how to use it?

Most bass anglers fish from the front seat while moving the boat using the trolling motor, so a bow sonar unit is essential. A console sonar unit with GPS  is needed to locate bass and baitfish, the Lake maps help fish various lakes in your area via Navonics map chip.

Traditional 2D color sonar with GPS is all you need to fish Salt River lakes and other lakes in your area like Pleasant.

2units equal to; $500 each.

Lowrance Hook 7 SplitShot w/GPS for the console, bow unit with trolling motor mount transducer and RAM mounts.

Tom

 

 

[Jleebesaw]

2 hours ago, MaineBassFishin said:

I just ordered another elite 9 ti2 with 3 in 1 ducer for $940

I have one of these at the console on my boat and really like it. Then i have a hook2 4 at the bow with just 2d. Got that for about $100. Pretty good set up for about $1000 total.

[MaineBassFishin]

20 minutes ago, Jleebesaw said:

I have one of these at the console on my boat and really like it. Then i have a hook2 4 at the bow with just 2d. Got that for about $100. Pretty good set up for about $1000 total.

Yeah I have an elite 9 ti at the console that I'm replacing my Garmin striker 9sv with. Now I can fish waypoints much much easier

[CC268]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

You don't sound like a serous dedicated bass angler, more of a recreational angler.

Are you familiar with the trolling motor nd know how to use it?

Most bass anglers fish from the front seat while moving the boat using the trolling motor, so a bow sonar unit is essential. A console sonar unit with GPS  is needed to locate bass and baitfish, the Lake maps help fish various lakes in your area via Navonics map chip.

Traditional 2D color sonar with GPS is all you need to fish Salt River lakes and other lakes in your area like Pleasant.

2units equal to; $500 each.

Lowrance Hook 7 SplitShot w/GPS for the console, bow unit with trolling motor mount transducer and RAM mounts.

Tom

 

 

Thanks yea that Lowrance on the console would be a nice upgrade from the Lowrance Hook 3x that is currently mounted. Then a Garmin 93SV up front on a Versatrack mount. Debating between Garmin and a Hummingbird Helix unit...Hummingbird units are a bit more though.

[Craig P]

West Marine currently has the Garmin 94SV on sale for $699. 94 comes with G3 Coastal charts so you’ll need to add the inland charts for another $100 or so...I forget the price of the maps but close to $100. Anyways, the 94SV comes with a higher wattage transducer than the 93SV and the returns IMO are near UHD quality.  On the other hand, it is last year’s tech. The newer versions of the 93 come with the UHD transducer and they are full price if you will.

 

I know the boat is new to you and you’re probably anxious to do your upgrades but if you can wait, you’ll be better off as your gained knowledge will define your actual needs.  If that trolling motor that came on that boat doesn’t live up to your expectations, you’ll want to upgrade that...do you want your new TM to interface with your graphs?  A question that is yet to be known. Will you want more tech?  Livescope for example, once again, an unknown. Anyways, just thoughts. Many of us have been through this and we spend a lot of money, twice, sometime 3 times. Just trying to save you a buck in the end.

[CC268]

2 hours ago, Craig P said:

West Marine currently has the Garmin 94SV on sale for $699. 94 comes with G3 Coastal charts so you’ll need to add the inland charts for another $100 or so...I forget the price of the maps but close to $100. Anyways, the 94SV comes with a higher wattage transducer than the 93SV and the returns IMO are near UHD quality.  On the other hand, it is last year’s tech. The newer versions of the 93 come with the UHD transducer and they are full price if you will.

 

I know the boat is new to you and you’re probably anxious to do your upgrades but if you can wait, you’ll be better off as your gained knowledge will define your actual needs.  If that trolling motor that came on that boat doesn’t live up to your expectations, you’ll want to upgrade that...do you want your new TM to interface with your graphs?  A question that is yet to be known. Will you want more tech?  Livescope for example, once again, an unknown. Anyways, just thoughts. Many of us have been through this and we spend a lot of money, twice, sometime 3 times. Just trying to save you a buck in the end.

Yea I totally get it. I’m not in a rush to get a graph at this point. 

[Fin S]

I've got two Garmin Echomap 93sv units. I like them at that price point. Actually, I got one of them for $600 on sale at BPS.

[Boomstick]

I picked up an EchoMap UHD 93sv for my kayak. It's a pretty solid unit and overall I'm very happy with it - very easy to use and requires minimal tweaking lake to lake and the imaging has gotten pretty good in the past couple iterations. The other unit I strongly considered was the Helix Chirp Mega SI GPS G3N, probably a Helix 8 due to its quality imaging. I ruled out the Lowrance HDS because it uses twice the battery power of the Hummingbird or Garmin units and I camp a lot so that's important but I gather the Lowrances aren't too far behind Garmins in usability.