Fishfinder help...

[jhande]

Sorry, pain in the butt back again!
I never had or used a fishfinder before. I've been researching about them and I still need some advice.

I mostly fish for bass and perch in shallow lake/pond water (20' or less). I can't see myself fishing in really deep water often maybe once and a while for trout. Not really sure I have the guts to try Lake Champlain at least once. From what I've learned side imaging would serve me better than down imaging (shallow waters away from the boat).

What I think I would need besides seeing the fish is: able to see the screen with my old eyes, seeing the screen in bright sun light and MAYBE night time, fish shown as fish not arches, depth for sure, speed might be nice but not necessary, maybe temp. I don't need: GPS, charts/maps, bluetooth, etc...

I was hoping to keep it simple and under $200 if I could.

Extra confusion:
I believe I would need it at the helm while heading out to were I "think" the fish will be hanging and watch under water structure (don't want to hit anything LOL). But then wouldn't I need one on the bow while I'm trolling and fishing?

I know there's portable ones with there own batteries (rather not) but wondering if I could easily move one from helm to bow?

Laughing at me is allowed!

Most fishing spots I'll frequent in NH & VT (no specific order):
Lower Baker Pond
Upper Baker Pond (no link, they try to keep the pond quiet)
Indian Pond
Armington Lake
Lake Tarleton
Lake Morey
Lake Fairlee
Goose Pond
Others as I expand my some what local area.

 

[dingbat]

Do yourself favor and forget all the "TM" features and buy yourself a simple conventional sonar with the largest screen you want to afford.

When it comes to sonar, I have just about every bell and whistle on the market, but relay on conventional (CHIRP) sonar for day to day usage.

Good time of the year to buy a new unit. Most of last years units are on sale making way for this year

 

[jhande]

Do yourself favor and forget all the "TM" features and buy yourself a simple conventional sonar with the largest screen you want to afford.

When it comes to sonar, I have just about every bell and whistle on the market, but relay on conventional (CHIRP) sonar for day to day usage.

Good time of the year to buy a new unit. Most of last years units are on sale making way for this year

So I need to make sure it says "CHIRP" in the description?
Do I not need to worry about side imaging for really shallow water off to the sides of the boat?

 

[dingbat]

So I need to make sure it says "CHIRP" in the description?

No.....CHIRP is a great technology but expensive. Pretty easy to spend $1,000 on a transducer alone.

With the performance and cost comes the urge for marketing types to exploit the public’s ignorance of the technology to their advantage.

Suddenly every units that is capable of operating at more than one frequency (77/200 kHz) is called “CHIRP” in the marketing literature. It isn’t unit you start digging into the specific you find the little white lie.

Do I not need to worry about side imaging for really shallow water off to the sides of the boat?

Generally speaking, side imaging gives you a field of view of the bottom 2x the depth of the water.

If your in 6’ of water, your field of view of the bottom is 12’. On a boat with 8’ beam, your looking at 2’ off each side.

The bigger issue is viewing. Compressing 12’ of images on a 5” diagonal screen don’t cut it.

 

[jhande]

Ah okay, thank you for clearing that up.

I thought the way they were describing the side imaging feature was like just pointing your view from downward to sideways.

In your opinion do you think a fishfinder would be useful for fishing in shallow water? Would I see far enough to the front or side of the boat to cast or troll towards fish in say depth of 10'? Or will I only be seeing whats closely below the boat?

 

[dingbat]

Ah okay, thank you for clearing that up.

I thought the way they were describing the side imaging feature was like just pointing your view from downward to sideways.

In your opinion do you think a fishfinder would be useful for fishing in shallow water? Would I see far enough to the front or side of the boat to cast or troll towards fish in say depth of 10'? Or will I only be seeing whats closely below the boat?

Remember, the side scan field of view is a an inverted cone emanating out 10’ from the sides of the transducer. The farther out you go, the more water column your missing.

Side scan is useless trolling.
Comes in handy for “scanning” bridge/dock pilings and such for fish.

Great for entertaining guests on the run up the creek to the dock. a couple of old tires and a bicycle along the way

 

[jhande]

Okay, got cha... thank you so much!

 

[jhande]

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on fish finders. It seems all 3 sonar/imaging plays well together. Side imaging seems it would be helpful for fishing such things as the shallows were I can't safely get my boat too.

 

[jhande]

I found a Humminbird 1198C SI GPS Combo used for cheap that supposedly works. I realize it's an older model but the price is right and has all the bells & whistles.

Any thoughts on the unit/model?
I'm a bit nervous buying used electronics especially since I can't test on the water for a long time to come.
Any thoughts about buy used?

It is cheaper than the cheapest new finders out there. Or should I just save up and buy a new unit although it would be the cheapest most basic one?

 

[dingbat]

I found a Humminbird 1198C SI GPS Combo used for cheap that supposedly works. I realize it's an older model but the price is right and has all the bells & whistles.

Any thoughts on the unit/model?
I'm a bit nervous buying used electronics especially since I can't test on the water for a long time to come.
Any thoughts about buy used?

Would you buy a “supposedly working” 10 year old laptop or cell phone to save a couple of bucks?

 

[jhande]

Would you buy a “supposedly working” 10 year old laptop or cell phone to save a couple of bucks?

Not really. I get your point.

Just thought that if the fish finder had more bells & whistles than I was actually looking for and when new it cost more than $2,000 and I can get it for under $300 it might serve me okay at finding fish? I mean it still finds fish, which is basically all I need why spend $300 on a new basic unit? I can't afford one that's going to be more than $500 and really don't want to spend that much. I'm not fishing any tournaments just farting around.

 

[dingbat]

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on fish finders. It seems all 3 sonar/imaging plays well together. Side imaging seems it would be helpful for fishing such things as the shallows were I can't safely get my boat too.

As I noted above, side scan field of view is 2-3 times the depth. If the water is 3’ feet deep, the field of view is 6-9’ wide.

You can go beyond 2-3x, but image quality suffers immensely.

Not really. I get your point.

Just thought that if the fish finder had more bells & whistles than I was actually looking for and when new it cost more than $2,000 and I can get it for under $300 it might serve me okay at finding fish? I mean it still finds fish, which is basically all I need why spend $300 on a new basic unit? I can't afford one that's going to be more than $500 and really don't want to spend that much. I'm not fishing any tournaments just farting around.

The price of electronics have dropped considerably over the past 10 years.

There is nothing the old $2,000 unit will do that a new $300 unit can’t. In fact, todays $300 has more features than the old unit.

You can pickup a decent “CHIRP” sounder for under $300.

 

[Wilfr_id]

As I noted above, side scan field of view is 2-3 times the depth. If the water is 3’ feet deep, the field of view is 6-9’ wide.

You can go beyond 2-3x, but image quality suffers immensely.

The price of electronics have dropped considerably over the past 10 years.

There is nothing the old $2,000 unit will do that a new $300 unit can’t. In fact, todays $300 has more features than the old unit.

You can pickup a decent “CHIRP” sounder for under $300.

Garmin is not a bad company, my father uses an older version, Striker Plus 7 sv, never let down. So I recommend the author to consider your link, it is better to add $ 60 and take a reliable thing for a long time)

 

[jhande]

Thank you both for your help and input.

Sorry my old stubborn/cheap brain is slow to catch on.

 

[JimS123]

My current 2 boats each have a Chirp sonar / plotter and both cost over $1000 each. I will admit that the screens are a few inches bigger than I had in the past, and the side imaging is great, but if I want to find fish I go to the "Fish Finder" screen.

My last fishing boat was a little tinny and I went cheap. What I had on that boat worked just fine. If I had to replace what I have now I would just buy another Hummingbird PiranahMax 4, with auto fish fining identification. At $99, if you want one forward and aft just buy 2 of them.

 

[jhande]

Thank you Jim

 

[jhande]

Upped my price point to $500.
Been searching & searching products and reviews and kind of narrowed it down to two so far. I know they are not the newest models out there. They have more bells & whistle than the basic 2D $100 units. Wondering your thoughts on these???

Garmin STRICKER Vivid 7" SV
Humminbird Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G2

​

 

[dingbat]

Upped my price point to $500.
Been searching & searching products and reviews and kind of narrowed it down to two so far. I know they are not the newest models out there. They have more bells & whistle than the basic 2D $100 units. Wondering your thoughts on these???

Garmin STRICKER Vivid 7" SV
Humminbird Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G2

​

Not a fan of Humminbird for a number reasons.
Careful when comparing vendors for the Garmin unit. Different packages contain different transducers.
You want a GT54 transducer if possible

 

[jhande]

Not a fan of Humminbird for a number reasons.
Careful when comparing vendors for the Garmin unit. Different packages contain different transducers.
You want a GT54 transducer if possible

So far I'm only finding the Garmin unit with a GT52HW-TM transducer included. Is there anything wrong with the included/matched transducer?

 

[dingbat]

So far I'm only finding the Garmin unit with a GT52HW-TM transducer included. Is there anything wrong with the included/matched transducer?

The GT52 is a 250w transducer. Rated to a max depth of 800’, but in reality your looking at half that......400’

How deep are you run?