Fish finders

[joeybacala]

Alright folks, I'm looking for member support and expertise on this matter. I'm in the market for a fish finder and my only experience has been with Hummingbird. Not that their is anything wrong with that. but I feel I may have been limiting myself to one brand.
I'm curious to know what the members on this board prefer and why. What are some of the pros and cons of what you are using. Thanks everyone.

[ecmilley]

First off what is your budget for a graph and what do you want it to do

[Sinker]

Im a lowrance guy, but they're all good nowadays.

 

S.

[Fisherman]

I went with the Lowrance Elite 5 HDI, came with the gold chip. No complaints. The only thing, like any electronic product, they're always making newer versions and the end user is always one step behind.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Fisherman

[porkpie]

I don't think your limiting yourself at all with humminbird. I've owned 2 recently, and still own one for the ice and as a portable. They are user friendly, the GPS is accurate and the sonar returns are excellent. Nothing wrong with the lowrance offerings though. I stuck a raymarine touch screen unit on my boat this time. So far i'm really liking it and I haven't found any cons as of yet. The ability to navigate with the screen is a huge bonus. That said, if I had to go back to a bird I wouldn't cry about it. As sinker said, there are lots of good options out there!

[Paudash]

all depends what you want to spend, so many good options available to that it hard to go wrong

[joeybacala]

Honestly I've been looking at the Lowrance Elite 4 CHIRP with chartplotter and down scanning. I hear a lot of good things about it but don't want to sway any opinions. Would love to get a good general idea of you guys are using and why. I'm hoping as well with the ice ducer that it will double duty for the ice season. As far as summer fishing goes, basically whatever turns me on that day. Could be pike, bass, walleye or even perch.

Edited May 5, 2015 by drhook

[porkpie]

I would look at the Humminbird Helix. I know some guys have had good luck with the elite 4 in winter, but I know of a few that have had all kinds of set up issues and inability to read jigs in deep water etc. My one buddy dumped his after a season, and he wasn't what you call inexperienced with sonars. Any of the humminbirds that are in use in my circle of friends have been plug and play for winter use, the only problem encountered so far had been one bad transducer. I have heard tons of good things about the HDS series from lowrance, and used them a bit on a friends boat, but a step up in price for sure.

[joeybacala]

Thanks for the input porkpie.

[Sinker]

I have a lowrance, and bird portables for the ice, and I use the lowrance every time. Mine are not top quality, and older units (cant think of models atm) but equivilant in power and pixels, and the lowrance is just much cleaner, and has a lot more features so I can really dial it in.

 

I have an elite 5 DSI on the boat that is mostly used for GPS, no complaints.

 

I also have an old lowrance X96 that still works like a charm. I have it set up as a portable, for use on a boat. Nothing fancy, greyscale, but works really good at marking fish, and shows me thhe thermocline on back lake lakers.

 

Honestly, you dont really need anything too fancy to mark fish, and tell you the depth. Most graphs are primarily used to show depth, and they ALL do that perfectly.

 

It really depends what you want it to do, what kind of fishing you intend to do with it, and whether or not you want GPS/trolling motor capabilities.

 

99% of the time, mine is being used to show me the depth/structure. It keeps me on a weededge, or drop off etc....any simple unit will do that.

 

The GPS is amazing, and the bigger the screen the better if thats what your after. The 5 series lowrance is ok, but I find myself zooming around the screen a lot.

 

Electronics have come so far in the last 10 yrs, you really cant go wrong.

 

Set your budget, and go play with different brands until you find what you like.

 

S.

[Old Ironmaker]

I've had Garmin, Lowrance and Humminbird. My latest was a Humminbird because it was on sale. I never use the side scan feature as I'm primarily targeting suspended fish anyway. I have all 3 onboard and no complaints.

[joeybacala]

A lot of great feedback everyone and although I'm still undecided I will have to continue my research mainly on preference. I guess the best way to do that is to take a small trip to Radioworld and have a look around. Judging by what is being said there all decent and preference will be a determining factor.

[aplumma]

I vote for saving up a little more and getting the lowrance hds series. i have 3 of them and they are working very well. It seems that lowrance is doing more research and has made a more expandable platform based on the HDS series.

 

 

Art

[joeybacala]

I've been leaning towards Lowrance Art just making sure that this investment will be good for more than a couple of seasons. Its not the biggest investment but if your going to cough up some cash you hoping that the decision was a good decision. I've been also looking at the Elite 4x CHIRP with down scanning and chartplotter. What is your opinion on this model?

[BillM]

Go look at the HB 859, awesome graph for the price.

[joeybacala]

The reason I've been looking at the CHIRP models is for the ping response time. From what I understand its supposed to be a better technology. How true this is compared to what's on the market today is the reason of this topic. Everyone will claim their product is much more superior than the competitor. As for myself don't know enough about them and all the technical info available is above my level of knowledge. BillM I will look into this model and thanks for you input as well.

[Smokercrafty]

I'm using a Lowrance M68C for both summer and winter. Just switch from gimble to gimble. Very convenient, and I'm sure guys here can attest for its quality, given its vintage.

So, realistically, as you yourself suggested Dr hook.... Get out there, and play with them. I'd suggest taking a mate along with you that is a little more versed in these products, to aid in your final decision.

But, I'll add this, regarding brands..... I was too, a birdman, until I was told to try the Lowrance product. I think I'll remain a Lowrance man for a while now.

That's based on their old,technology.......imagine the newer stuff! And not to downplay humminbird, cause I've also seen some good products from them. That's just my $0.02

[Raf]

there are a whole lot of posts on the hull truth re: chirp that i've been trying to wrap my head around but i've not had the time (or perhaps brainpower) to disseminate. it's a saltwater crowd there, fishing far greater than depths that we do here, so it is a little bit apples and oranges. i too am trying to figure out if the tech is a great advantage for us in freshwater.

[porkpie]

I have CHIRP on my new Raymarine unit. I honestly don't know how much of a difference it makes in shallower water. It sure does give nice returns, but my bird 597 did as well. I'll know more after the may long weekend as I'll be on the water for 4 days in a row fishing a variety of depths and structure. As far as humminbird vs Lowrance, both make great units. Birds from 10-12 years ago where crap, I had one and it was useless for much more than a paperweight, and Lowrance was where it was at then. Bird has closed that gap in a big way, and if I hadn't wanted touch screen I'd of stuck with the humminbird unit I had.

[joeybacala]

Well I certainly look forward to what you think Porkpie, as well as all members who have weighed in so far in this matter. Please keep me posted. Thanks. BillM the Hummingbird you suggested, the 859 has a lot to offer and although it is for me out of my budget. Nice machine and seems similar to what I have been looking at aside from brand name.

[Old Ironmaker]

It all comes down to budget Doc, good shopping.

[joeybacala]

Thanks Old Ironmaker.

[AdamS]

Im running lowrance and have no complaints so far. That being said those new humminbird helix units seem to be priced very competitively. Depending on your budget, the elite series is good value too. Since they came out with the elite chirp units, the regular hdi's have gone down considerably in price. In the end, regardless of manufacturer, they're all going to do the same thing so it really comes down to which one you like the best...and can afford lol.