What fishfinder?

Larry H · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:42 pm Post subject: What fishfinder?

Brats,

I need advice on buying a fishfinder. I have taken up salmon fishing and need something better than my Lowrance X-4 Pro.

I want to be able to see the salmon on the finder. It also needs to be able to track the bottom down to 1000ft for deep prawning in Canada.

Having a GPS and US/Canadian charting would be a plus.

Thanks in advance for any help.

thataway · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:50 pm Post subject:

Larry most modern depth sounders will work for you--and part of that is the selection of the transducer. I have the 1040x Garmin, and the depth sounder puts out 1KW also comes with down view, as well as optional side scan, and has CHIRP. You would want a thru hull transducer. I would strongly consider the Airmar B150M. This will handle the full 1owe000 watts, and be good to 1500 feet. You might want to also have the included transducer, which gives down scan and a modified chirp in shallower water--. Also Garmin now has the Pan Optic series of transducers which show both 3 D in the water column, as well as forward scan--all with the same Garmin XXX(X) sx unit.

However, the Airmar transducers work with most all of the depth sounders.

I have also been very happy with the charting of the Garmin, especially with the 10HZ refresh rate.

Larry H · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 12:08 am Post subject:

Bob,

Thanks for the reply.

This fishfinder is going on a 14ft Livingston skiff, so a thru-hull transducer is not possible, it needs to be a transom mount.

I also don't have room or funds for a 10 inch $2100 plotter.

My main requirements are that the finder can actually show salmon and show the bottom down to 1000ft.
GPS and charts are secondary. Many of the current lowrance sounders have GPS and charts, but I am looking for a recommendation from salmon fishermen as to what can actually show salmon.

thataway · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 12:40 am Post subject:

My apology, I thought that you were looking for a unit for the trawler. I would want 1000 watts to be reliable to 1000 feet. I suspect that you are going to have to look at Furuno for a stand alone fish finder with that spec. Also many of the transom transducers will only handle 500 to 600 watts.

Garmin units are all 500 watts, and more in the fresh water range, with the higher Mhz transducers.

I have the Lawrence Elite 4X-HDI on my 18 foot Caracal--it is the only pure fish finder by lowrance with 50/80/455/800 Mhz, and the claim is it is good to 2500 feet. I have only used it in the keys down to about 250 feet--works well there, with the transom transducer, but I would question 2500 feet-- The latest version (my model is a year old), has CHIRP, and comes with 50/200-455/800 transom transducer and is about 1/10 the price of the Garmin I cited before. This should reach 1000 feet OK--in good conditions.

Hummingbird, has some good units, but I don't think they have many in the smaller stand alone to 1000 feet--worth checking .

Furuno will be the best stand alone, Furuno FCV-627 Color Fishfinder is 50/200 and claims 2500 feet. With transducer about $900.

Larry H · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:52 am Post subject:

Bob,

Thanks,

I will investigate those two units.

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:48 am Post subject:

Larry,

I have two different Lowrance units - a genII HDS-5 and a genIII Hds7-touch. The latter has chirp, the former does not. With both units I'm using the supplied 50/200Hz transducers. With both I easily see salmon at the depths I fish for them (which range from 30' to 400'). I hold bottom to about 1200-1500' in salt water depending on speed and other factors. Both had to be switched from the auto gain and other auto settings and manually tweaked to get the best performance possible. In 250-400' of water (typical prawning depth for me), I can easily see bottom structure and the unmistakeable "clouds" of spot prawns on and near the bottom.

While I don't have one, I understand from others that the next best step up from the included transducers is the Airmar P66. I'll probably buy one of those to install in the next year or so to test. The HDS5 unit cost me just under $400 with transducer when it was on sale (I think they were unloading the GenII's at the time as GenIII's were just coming out). A quick check on Amazon shows the GenII HDS5 as available new for $399. It's not a bad unit (a bigger screen is of course nicer and more expensive).

SEA3PO · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:43 am Post subject:

On the tug, I have the largest sonar unit from Hummingbird.. using two transducers and it does an excellent job ....for what I wanted it for...locating objects on the bottom...

This year the firehouse next door asked me to pick out a unit for our fireboat to be used in Search and Rescue ...I went to Cabella's in Reno and played with both the units side by side......and I bought the Lawrence ...touch screen unit...I really didn't think I would like the touch screen but it is great ! makes using it much easier ....nice and bright ..... the unit I bought was the top of the line and something over $2k if I remember...but well worth the investment.... both units are clear and work fantastic... I imagine the smaller units to be just as good, just smaller screens and less features... we wanted a chart plotter, GPS and radar...it comes with charts but not Lake Almanor....

My point...if I ever had one... is that the new units are not the toys of years ago...both units actually work better than my Raymarine and sure are easier to use...

Joel
SEA3PO

Larry Patrick · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:27 pm Post subject:

Bought a Furuno 687 I think only had it for a season then traded last boat and it went with it nice unit for 19ft Montauk. Wish I kept it but it would have left a big hole in console.

Aurelia · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 7:05 pm Post subject:

We use a Garmin downvu transom mount transducer and have seen it working fine well over 1000ft in salt water (about 1500 max for us). It does not track the bottom at planning speeds in those depths, but at trawler speeds it does fine. I was watching it quite a bit while putting around whale watching up north. The most popular basic unit with the same capability would be the echo™ 551dv. Can't speak to salmon or prawn visibility myself but I am sure someone with a downview unit can tell you what the unit can see and how well.

Looks good in recent reviews for about 300 dollars including transducer and they have a mapping version with US charts for about 200 more.

Greg

Larry H · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:13 pm Post subject:

My thanks to those responding.

I now have a list of fishfinders to start the search.

Larry Patrick · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:20 pm Post subject:

Not sure if this is allowed ,if not delete please. Just wanted to say on The Hull Truth a guy his display name sounds like Semper Fi he sells lots of electronics, believe his prices are hard to beat.