FISH FINDER

FREESPIRIT · April 09, 2008, 22:20:46 CET

Hi everyone,

I am interested in purchasing a fish finder to use on my boat.

Can anyone give me any suggestions what to buy?

Thanks freespirit

skip · April 09, 2008, 22:25:46 CET

Hi and welcome to the forum. I hope you find it useful.

Would be good to know some more info on your boat: Size, type of fishing you want to do, engine type (eg Outboard, Z-drive, inboard), and whether you already have a GPS ideally a Chartplotter type. I ask as there are some excellent, Fishfinder/GPS/Chartplotters all in one which will also give you depth, sea temp etc.

DJS has one on his boat from Garmin which I was impressed with and I believe it didnt cost him the earth at all.

Good brands are Garmin, Humminbird, Furuno, and Raymarine

FREESPIRIT · April 09, 2008, 22:36:34 CET

Hi Skip,

Thanks for your prompt reply,

My boat is a 26 footer. It has an inboard engine with a straight shaft.

I already have a GPS installed.

I need to install a new fishfinder, cause the one I had stopped working last season.

I need it mostly for bottom trawling.

Regards,

Freespirit

skip · April 09, 2008, 22:41:34 CET

Hi Freespirit,

Then you definately want a transducer that is mounted through the hull for maximum performance, You also need to set yourself a max budget and work around that. Any budget ideas?

You want a high power output dual beam Finder, with say 500watts RMS power which will take you down 1500ft. the humminbird matrix 747c is a very nice model at just over Lm100

FREESPIRIT · April 10, 2008, 08:44:00 CET

Hi Skip,

Thanks once again for your reply.

I would like to purchase a fish finder (colour), which would give me a clear indication of the bottom, fish identification, (whether school fish or individual large fish) and since I use a down rigger, the exact depth.

I have set myself a limited budget of around Lm400.

skip · April 10, 2008, 10:04:17 CET

For Lm400 you should have no problem whatsoever.

The Humminbird 777c2 should be right up your street, as then humminbirds other products have GPS chartplotters which you don't really need it seems.

DJS · April 10, 2008, 21:05:56 CET

Hi Freespirit,

With a budget of Lm400 you should easily be able to get a top of the range fishfinder. Last year, for ?180 I bought a Garmin 178c sounder from ebay then got the BlueChart datacartridge for the GPS for an extra Lm55 from Medcomm Ltd.

In my opinion, excellent value. though it's a combined sounder with GPS with a split 4.5" colour screen and probably not what you are looking for as you already have a GPS.

Would recommend Garmin as a make though ... reliable, easy to install and accurate. My other boat also has a Garmin fishfinder but this is an older model. All new higher-range models have introduced 'see-thru' technology to better define fish from other structure and bottom whitelining as a standard features. Seems to works well upto around 250m depth in force 3-4 with the dual frequency transducer, but in rougher conditions it becomes more difficult for the sounder to find the bottom at depths above 100m.

Hummingbird 777c2 (mentioned by Skip) or Garmin 340c seem to be the top-end type of fishfinders that would best suit your requirements. Shop around though, when I bought my 178c I noted that fishfinders on sale in local shops were nearly double the price of those from ebay or in the Uk!

FREESPIRIT · April 10, 2008, 21:54:37 CET

Thanks guys,

I friend of mine has suggested a Furuno fishfinder.

Does anyone have any experience with the furuno fishfinders?

ReGards,

FREESPIRIT

skip · April 10, 2008, 22:14:10 CET

Furuno are good but very much target commercial fishing vessels and are pretty expensive. Can't say I know much about their current range, though we have a Furuno FCV finder on our boat that is around 15 years old now but never got to grips with it though it was considered to be a very good model.

Speak with Medcomms as they bring in Furuno.

FREESPIRIT · April 11, 2008, 12:33:32 CET

Thanks Skip,

I will visit medcomms and check out these fishfinders.

Thanks for all your replies.

shanook · April 13, 2008, 15:54:24 CET

hi freespirit, the question I would immegiately ask myself would be HOW deep do u want to look down. If its up to 1200 feet than there are lots to look around. Mostly garmin is mentioned and i am not going to argue but i have a Raytheon and it has given me more than its fair share (this is about 8 years old now).
Once u have established the depth, then its up to u to look around. There are those with which we are familiar with then there are others.
I would suggest u have a look at Garmin (medcoms) Raytheon (RLR), Furuno Caruana Bir id deheb, Cobra (i think its called) from White sails near Black Pearl, those are the once that are coming in mind. I would also pop in at Power Centre at Bir id deheb as he is good engineer as well as fisherman and he knows his stuff. He carries all brands so he can give u a fair comparison.
Hope i didnt make it worse for u. Happy fishing mate.

shanook · April 13, 2008, 15:58:35 CET

Opps sorry Freespirit, caruana of bir id-deheb has Koden echo sounders not furuno. there is a new one coming out of 5.7inch clour LCD that can go to 2800feet with a 600W transducer the others have 1Kw transducer for a depth of 4000feet. So look around first.

skip · April 13, 2008, 18:59:07 CET

Remember with transducer power not to be confused between RMS power and total power (Peak), a bit like car amplifiers. 1000W could have an RMS of 200W whereas a high end 1000W amplifier would have an RMS of 500W.

The 777c2 has 500 watts RMS (or 0.6Kw) and 4000W (4Kw) peak for a depth of 1500feet.

The unit shanook is mentioning I beleive is the new Koden CVS-126 which has a 600W RMS output for 2800feet, this is a new digital type and looks very very nice.

shanook · April 13, 2008, 22:01:44 CET

U got it right first time skip. I have not seen it yet except on paper. I have stood back a bit to see what it physically looks like. So its going to be a next year product as once i launch i dont like to do any changes.

FREESPIRIT · April 14, 2008, 20:58:56 CET

Thanks Shanook,

I too had a Rathein Fishfinder which I used for the last 14 or 15 years, but it broke down last summer, and now I am going to purchase a new fishfinder.

This week I am going to have a look around the agents you have been suggesting, and see what's on the market, and then I shall decide what to purchase.

Thanks for all your replies guys.