Salt water fish finder recomendations?

[jonnysteals]

I am restoring a 1979 grady white cuddy cabin and I am in need of guidance for a fish finder for salt water. I have a si-tex colormax-wide gps with has a seven inch color screen. I now need a fish finder.

Details of the water I fish in/boat
The boat may be trailered at first: unsure of if a slip is available.
This boat is used in everything: I crab in three feet of water but I would like to go out in the ocean as well(no more than 100-150 feet)
Its a 20 foot grady with a pretty deep v hull.
I would prefer a 5 inch color screen if possible(preference not a requirement)
I dont need a new unit; would prefer an older top of the line unit I can get cheap on ebay.
Budget 300 bucks for unit and transducer(whether thru hull or transon mount is up for debate)

Any recomendations. I read older threads and it seemd Lowrance: X125 and furuno ls4100 where on top in 2008. they dont have color screens though. Any recomendations would be great. I have a cheap garmon on my bay boat and that thing jumps all over at speed and is just crap. I want something that just works; will work at speed, will catch me fish and will work for a long time. I dont need to keep up with the the latest and greatest stuff just a nice quailty unit.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Salt water fish finder recomendations?

Your budget and your expectations are a long ways apart.
If you can find one, a Sitex CVS 106 Mark II was a great unit.
If you want your performance problems to go away, plan on spending at least $100 on a transducer alone.

 

[jonnysteals]

Re: Salt water fish finder recomendations?

Your budget and your expectations are a long ways apart.
If you can find one, a Sitex CVS 106 Mark II was a great unit.
If you want your performance problems to go away, plan on spending at least $100 on a transducer alone.

What fish finder would you recomend for 300 bucks. I have looked around and it seems I can get a crappy color screen or a nicer black and white screen for that price. Any suggestions would be nice

 

[jonnysteals]

Re: Salt water fish finder recomendations?

I found a lowrance mark 5x dsi for 250 shipped(50 dollar manufacture instant rebate). It hasn a five inch black inch screen and the transducer is Dual 455/800 kHz with4,000W peak-to-peak/500W RMS. This should have plenty of power for 100 feet of salt water. It has down imaging and looks like a nice quality unit. Here a link to its specs http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/Mark-Elite-Series/Mark-5x-DSI/

Any info on this unit?

 

[jonnysteals]

Re: Salt water fish finder recomendations?

I found a humminbird 570 Di with the following specs:
* 5", high-definition, 640x320-pixel grayscale display
* Picture-like Down Imaging sonar images
* See fish and structure in conventional 2-D format
* Single 20?/200kHz sonar cone with Switch Fire
* 55? and 86?/455 and 800kHz Down Imaging
* 16 level Gray Scale
* 250-ft. maximum depth for Down Imaging
* 1,000-ft. maximum depth for 2-D Imaging
* Temperature included
* One-year warranty
* 2,400-watt peak-to-peak power output
* 300-watt RMS
This one has down imaging and 2d this one is 300 bucks. any recomondation over the two. It seems Lowrance has a more powerful transducer

 

[JB]

Re: Salt water fish finder recomendations?

Thirty years ago, when I was fishing salt, I used a Lowrance X-15 paper chart monster. It worked well for the times. Since then I have used only Lowrance and Eagle in fresh water.

What I hear from salt water fishermen that I trust the most is pretty universally Furuno. That is where I would look first.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Salt water fish finder recomendations?

I have looked around and it seems I can get a crappy color screen or a nicer black and white screen for that price.

That is what you get for $300.