Fish Finder Tips

[deepsea]

Dear friends of the sea, I got a new fish finder, Furuno FCV682.  It seems to be a good unit with a thru hull transducer.  Problems with thru hull are various.....the last problem I had was that the wooden fairing block got thicker due to water absorbtion and the nut holding the transducer cracked.  I have to get a new one now.  My query to you guys is; how do I recognize the bottom structure?? mud, sand, rock, etc etc!!!  Any help GREATLY appreciated......

[ciappinu]

I am getting used to my fish finder now, and I can normally tell between sand, rocks or algae due to the desnity texture displayed for the bottom. However there is no clear indication and if it gets deeper than 100m its hard to guess.

[toxictuna]

I am trying for jigging this year and from what I gathered a fish finder is very useful to find the dropoffs/structures etc. I was wondering if an eagle cuda 300 will be fine for this job. However seeing its price I am a bit dubious of it. On the otherhand I overspent this year budget already! is it a waste of  money or is it good for starters? Any one has one similar? Cost is <Eur100

[baghira]

I have one....
But I have recently upgraded to garmin......
I would not spend money on something that will be 100% replaced in due time..
I am not saying that it does not work, but the structures and in black and white and in depths??
It still gives you basic readings like temp, depth etc.... but not like the other..... nothing compared..
A Combo unit is wow.....

[clutch_kick]

A fish finder is priceless for Jigging.  The two most important aspects of the fish finder are:

1. It's quality.  For jigging the fish finder must be powerful and have good resolution.  You need to identify the fish, not just see the bottom.

2. The user's ability.  You have to make an effort to understand how the fish finder functions work, and utilise them to your needs, leaving it on just one setting all the time will most probably make you miss a lot of opportunitites.

[toxictuna]

so what do you guys have... what prices?... locally purchased? ... recommended?

[bigboy]

I would highly recomend Furuno, Koden and Lowrance HDS as good fishfinders. All 3 of them cost quite some money but they are all worth the monet spent.

I have a koden fishfinder (not modern as it comes in a crt monitor) coupled with a 1kw transducer and i find it very good to identify fish and structures

[busumark]

the Fishfinders that bigboy mentioned are all good but the Lawrence HDS is the least expensive and good value for money

[Swordfish]

How about the Humminbird 385Ci combo, GPS-Fishfinder? Is this any good?

[skip]

You've also got the Raymarine A70D which is an HD fish finder as well competing the in the same Category as the HDS-7, and I believe the Humminbird 800 series in the same waters too, so be sure to check those out in detail.

[werzieq]

Hi everyone,
it's my first time writing in this forum.What can you say about GARMIN421 combo[fishfinder/GPS?
RGDS
WERZIEQ

[Granitu]

good fish finder

if i am not mistaken it has a 200/50 khz transducer

I have a 400c never had problems and quite satisfied.

Obviously nowhere to compare to the lowrace hds

[visa]

i had the 421 its very very good changed it due to upgrading to connect with the outboard otherwise would not have sold it. Now i have the Lowerance HD7 have not yet tried it out on the water but my friends have the HD5 and both of them very happy. Have a look at Caruana Marine in Zejtun,

[werzieq]

Thanks for the information.
rgds
werzieq

[toxictuna]

seems like the lorwance hds 5 is quite popular? where do I get best prices from any one did some shopping around ... till now tried at caruana, found cheaper on ebay, but would not worry to spend some euro or two extra for local agent)