Lunatic Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Ive been flirting with the idea of getting a fish finder,but i dont know anything about them,nor have i ever used one before.if i were to get one i would want my first one to be in the 100.00 range. i know this will seriously limit me to low end,but being on a wicked tight budget and wanting to get used to using one and gain knowledge before upgrading in a few years. so ive read a lot of mixed reviews and thought id ask you guys,since im sure most of you probably own or have owned one. 2 that stand out for me right now are the garmin echo 150 and the humminbird 560. what do you think? thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdawg Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Ive been flirting with the idea of getting a fish finder,but i dont know anything about them,nor have i ever used one before.if i were to get one i would want my first one to be in the 100.00 range. i know this will seriously limit me to low end,but being on a wicked tight budget and wanting to get used to using one and gain knowledge before upgrading in a few years. so ive read a lot of mixed reviews and thought id ask you guys,since im sure most of you probably own or have owned one. 2 that stand out for me right now are the garmin echo 150 and the humminbird 560. what do you think? thanks. see Jos at Angling OUtfitters in Woodstock he gets lots of trade ins and should be able to work with your budget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houski Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 A Garmin 145 came on my G3 when I bought it last year. It's a great graph for the money really. Reads nicely at speed (although this depends more on placement/hull design than anything else), actually marks fish, and very simple to use. I still have it as a back up graph on my boat, and it won't be coming off until I get another HDS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SylvanOwner Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 My very general comment regarding this purchase would be to buy the unit with the most VERTICAL pixels you can afford and make sure you can turn the Fish ID off...i.e. you want to be able to use the unit in manual mode so you CAN in fact learn how it works. Good luck with your purchase and whatever you end up with should change how you fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 In the $100 range. You might be limited to buying used. What do you want to use it for? Ice, Boat, Canoe.. I've seen the Piranah max sell in the $100 range. I've used them before, and for a entry level unit, they work alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 going to use on my tinny.so most of my fishing wont be deep lakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIFTER_016 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I bought a brand new Garmin 120 portable off ebay a few years ago for $120 + delivery. Great little starter or portable unit for little $$$ and it works quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleheader Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Despite the ever increasing technolgy, color screens, high pixel counts, big screens, downscan, playback and recording, and sidescan capabilities of today's latest hi tech gizmos, I honestly believe a simple $100 sonar will provide at least 60% of the enhanced fishing capability of the hi tech $2000 units. And just about anyone of the major suppliers will work just fine. In that range all you'll really be able to know for sure is depth and changes to depth, but that's a big part of the battle. The next worthwhile step, for around $400, you can get color and 480 vertical pixel count. With 480 vertical pixels you can pretty much pick up fish hugging the bottom; and now IMHO you're up to 75%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 maybe used for 100 bucks but a new 100 buck sonar I would tie a string on it and use it as a weight to lower it to the bottom and measure the string to see how deep the water is. you don't need a 2000 buck sonar, but I find the 100 dollar units crap a good used gray scale unit would do you fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 ive been reading up on as many as i can in my range,including ones listed on kijiji,and i think the garmin echo 150 appears to be the best bang for the buck. the larger humminbird 560 is a single beam,whereas the echo is dual,fromwhat im reading dual is good for shallow waters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistaredone Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 It's been a while since I did my reaserch but I was also looking for a unit to use in smaller lakes. Being in shallower water the wider angle the sonar the better. 120 degrees compared to the 90 degree units. I'm sure someone else can explain better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsman Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 BPS carries the Humminbird Piranha Max 170 for $99.99. I have one of these & they are a good unit for the money. Dual beam, 8 level grey scale, 1600 watts & 240 X 160 pixels. Basically twice the pixels & power compared to the Humminbird 160. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishindevil Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 i know money is tight !!! but you will regret it big time,at least get something thats not from the bargin bin !!! save up a little more and get a nice decent medium unit that willbe a bit better and more powerfull,it will last longer as well...just sayin,you only get what you pay for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 The Humminbird 500 series sonars are good bangs for the bucks.I have a 560 on the bow, and a 587ci on the console. Humminbird after sales service is excellent too. Even dual beam still gives a narrow sonar cone in shallow waters, so i generally use mine mainly to detect bottom structure.Find the right structure, you will find the fish. I am not familliar with garmin, other than they make good GPS. Good Luck Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thanks for all the input , I ended up ordering the garmin echo 150, the reviews I read were all good and should do fine. Best buy had it for 99.98 , who knew best buy had fish finders lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIFTER_016 Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Thanks for all the input , I ended up ordering the garmin echo 150, the reviews I read were all good and should do fine. Best buy had it for 99.98 , who knew best buy had fish finders lol That will work. Personally I would have spent the extra for the Echo 200 and it's larger, higher resolution screen. But the 150 will do the trick for sure. Have fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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