Need Fish Finder Guidance

[jpmurphy]

I'm thinking about getting a fish finder but I know absolutely nothing about them. I have a 16' alum Gregor w/side console. I fish only fairly shallow fresh water lakes. My budget is $500.00 and I think I want to mount the display on the dash.

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Lonepiper]

Re: Need Fish Finder Guidance

Not sure if this will help, but I am sorta in the same boat (sorry) as you as I have no experience with finders either. What I have been doing is downloading the manuals for each and seeing what they do and how to do it.

http://www.humminbird.com/ has links for each of their finders and older model manuals can be found under support. For me, I am looking on eBay for my first so I don't spend too much.

 

[Splat]

Re: Need Fish Finder Guidance

A good solid entry level is a Hummingbird 565. Its grey scale, but has a large LCD screen, as well as is loaded with features like a dual beam transducer, and water temp.

They can be picked up for about$200.

Bill

 

[esobofh]

Re: Need Fish Finder Guidance

I have a 14' aluminum boat, and i purchased the Humminbird PiranhaMAX 215 (it looks very similar to the PiranhaMAX 230, but is not a portable version).

I have been very happy with it, and Humminbird has a great policy with their transponders where they will take the included transponder back and send you a different one for your application. I opted to return the transom-mount transponder to humminbird that came with my finder, and they sent me a thru-hull mount for a negligable fee.

I have had only one slight problem with it reading correctly, and it was due to a bit of corrosion on the connector, since cleaning, it has been performing flawlessly. It is a dual beam (30&60) with temperature sender. Highly recommended.