New electronics

Buckhorn

Buckhorn

Well-Known Member
I'm looking to upgrade the fish finder on my boat, and am looking for advice.
I have a 17ft legend with 90hp. Fish mostly LPB, Erie, lower grand, inland lakes for perch, walleye. Also would like to use ice fishing. Budget is <$1000

1) Is side scan useful when trolling on Erie or is down scan enough?
2) size of screen. Is 7" big enough to see sonar, imaging, GPS at the same time?
3) best brand? Just kidding. I know the big 3 (Humminbird, Lowrance, Garmin) but has anyone used Raymarine?
 
Personally I've had a lot of trouble with Humminbird and will NEVER buy that brand again. That includes the 898 fishfinder with side & down imaging that had a faulty transducer right out of the box and the Ice-55 ice fishing model. They worked great at first but I've gone through two circuit boards on the Ice 55, they just stop working. Thing is it might be 12 - 15 years old but doesn't even get used every year and when I do it might be a couple of days.
A friend purchased the Raymarine and likes it. I'll look at it when I replace my Humminbird junk. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the reply. I've had troubles with humminbird as well, but so far I've really only had the low end entry level stuff. I like the fish reveal feature of the Lowrance, it adds sonar images on top of the down image structure, which helps with screen space to have one less window open.
 
I have hummingbird 898 and helix 7 that I got the ice bundle for
No issues at all so far
I rarely use side and down imaging
In my opinion what ever brand you get the must have is , zoom , and GPS
The 7 also got flasher built in it and I use it during ice season, the nice thing with the 7 ice bundle I Cary it on my shoulder with the GPS marking on and that gives me what depth I'm over without drilling holes to check ,also during boating season I can put way points and easy to find when ice fishing
 
Buckhorn said:
I'm looking to upgrade the fish finder on my boat, and am looking for advice.
I have a 17ft legend with 90hp. Fish mostly LPB, Erie, lower grand, inland lakes for perch, walleye. Also would like to use ice fishing. Budget is <$1000

1) Is side scan useful when trolling on Erie or is down scan enough?
2) size of screen. Is 7" big enough to see sonar, imaging, GPS at the same time?
3) best brand? Just kidding. I know the big 3 (Humminbird, Lowrance, Garmin) but has anyone used Raymarine?
Click to expand...
At that price point, I'd be looking for a used HDS gen 2 or 3. As big a screen as you can get comfortably fit on the boat. The quality of your transducer has as much to do with what you see as the head unit.
 
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Last winter and spring there were a number of good deals on depthfinders which usually sell for well over a thousand, but we’re reduced to half. Check Cabelas for such deals. I heartily agree with the GPS feature. (Chart plotter and depth finder.) it is so nice to be able to directly to the spot you were at last night and see your trails from that experience.
 
I’ve been running a raymarine A78 since 2014. It’s still going strong but on the second transducer now. I also have a lowrance elite 7 and I prefer the lowrance sonar returns but the Ray is pretty good and 2023 will be it’s 10th season on the water. I haven’t quite felt the need to upgrade the Ray yet but I feel that the 23 season will probably be it’s last. I would buy another Ray if the right deal came along. That said I’d really like to get the lowrance Elite 9, or whatever version of that is on sale next Black Friday. That will probably be my next sonar as I’m really happy with the first gen elite 7 I’m running.
 
You will get many different replies to your question, and they're all good advice. My advice is to buy the best unit that you can afford. That said, quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.
I have used over the years about 5 or 6 finders, Eagle, and at least 4 Lowrance units. My current finder is a Simrad Go9 XSE that Joc at Angling Outfitters convinced me to try 2 seasons ago. It was $1300 out the door and I've never been happier.
And that's my input.
 
Good discussion. It's the down and side imaging that I'm really questioning whether I need or would find useful. Watching videos, guys make it seem like side imaging is the best tool for finding fish and structure fast, but I don't know how that works trolling for walleye in 50 or 60 ft of water.

I did have a unit with down imaging, but that was when I had a small tinny on small water - didn't help much in 10ft of water.
 
Simrad which make the Lawrence products are great units. I also have a GO9 XSE and love the unit.
As mentioned before wait for sales like boxing week and get ready to pull the trigger. Garmin units that are listed over $1600 can be found for your price point and will do what you’re looking for or wait to see if you can find a good used unit. Like everything, prices will increase in 2023.
 
Some guys swear side imaging helps find bait off to the side. My thought is if you are close enough to see it on side imaging, your gonna be on the fish already. I rarely use it, and almost never when trolling deeper than 20 foot. Different strokes for different folks. For me the most important thing is finding the structure. Be it changes in depth, rock, submerged trees, humps. GPS, a good chart and a decent ducer
 
Anyone know if Jos at angling outfitters is doing a fish finder 101 class in the near future? Grimsby tackle does seminars sometimes also.
 
This Garmin is a very good full featured unit with a great transducer and GPS mapping included. At $500 off also a great deal.

Shop Garmin Canada GPS Watches and Activity Trackers Online

Browse through our great selection of Garmin GPS watches and activity trackers! Find the best deals and receive great advice from our sports enthusiasts.
www.sail.ca www.sail.ca
 
Myself down and side imaging is just a gimmick, I have mine turned off.
Can't say much about other machines but I find the Humminbird very user friendly.
I have the Helix 7 with GPS DI and like it. my next unit will be the 9 with NO imaging because Mine is mostly set at split screen Finder and GPS.
 
I bought the Lowrance Elite 7 with Auto Pilot when I saved all that money during COVID not going anywhere in the winter. Great unit for the space I have on the dash.
Joc has some very good YouTube videos on how to set them up. And was very helpful in my second year of operation last season.
 
That's a good point about how it fits on the dash. Currently my 5" humminbird 597 fits nicely between the speedo and tack, but anything bigger would hide one of those or interfere with the windshield (although, the speedo is pretty useless). I could mount it beside the throttle arm on a ram mount, but I would worry about it bouncing, interfering, or just looking out of place. I don't have a trolling motor and don't typically fish from the bow, and no real good spot in the back of the boat. Only other flat Dash area would be the glove box on the passenger side.
 
I have a Helix 9 DI on the bow and a Helix 9 SI at the helm. yea, they're mostly a gimmick. They don't really work in deeper water. Deeper than 50 it's mostly a dark screen. Useless for trolling. The only time I get any real value from the SI is when trying to find the edge of a boulder field for SM bass fishing. Just a handful of times per year. The DI is totally a gimmick. I'm in 2D CHIRP 90% of the time on the water.
 
Wave Runner said:
This Garmin is a very good full featured unit with a great transducer and GPS mapping included. At $500 off also a great deal.

Shop Garmin Canada GPS Watches and Activity Trackers Online

Browse through our great selection of Garmin GPS watches and activity trackers! Find the best deals and receive great advice from our sports enthusiasts.
www.sail.ca www.sail.ca
Click to expand...
Last year Cabelas posted this model for I think 60% off for boxing day. The email came out Christmas morning. I bought mine and posted on 68 of the sale.
I installed mine first thing in the spring.
I am sold on garmin mainly for their customer service. Make sure they are registered. On other products garmin has replaced components on my car gps when the back up camera failed.
Back to this one. Mapping was included and was detailed. I fish alot near Timmins and the lake attached to the local waterways was on it with depths. With a sd card it mapped/plotted what was not on the system already. Easy to read and understand screen.
When I did get it out on Lake Erie it recorded my route and I was able to mark the map when i caught fish.
Transducer is longer than I have been use to but easily folds up with a couple clicks.
Definitely happy with it. I agree with earlier statement with buy what you can afford ....... 60% helped stretch that buget.
Good Luck, Shawn
 
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