fishfinder... which one?? Humminbird?

[jackj]

I am looking at buying a fishfinder for my 1997 sylvan 1750 jon, with merc 60/45 jet. I don't want to spend over $200. Have been looking at the huminnbird 300tx with free temp sensor from cabelas for $189. I don't have a trolling motor at this time. I'm not sure that I need a speed sensor, since I don't plan on trolling too much. I would like to have something that can measure water depth at full throttle in the river. How important is wattage(ie 300 vs 600)?
Thanks in advance,
Jack

[luvtotroll]

I would stay away from the Hummigbird units.
You will much happier with a Lowarance, Garmin or Raytheon. You should be able to find a unit in your price range or very close.
The hummingbird only shows the fish symbols and you lose about 15% of accurracy with the fish symbols. Mkae sure what you but will shows the arcs.

Good luck
Scott

[Kevin B]

I've had flashers and LCD units, diffferent brands, for going on 15 years now. They all have their good and bad points. Eventhough I have a Humminbird now, I'd not recommend it. Most of what I've read on these posts about H-birds seems to be true. They're just not the best buy for your money. However, I've learned to "master" mine just as I did with my Eagle and Garmin in years gone by. In all honesty, you'll learn to master whichever one you buy. But $200 is not going to buy you a top model. If you are near any fishing clubs, those guys are always "trading up" and you might get a much better used model than new.-- Kevin B

[drizz]

I'd look at the "Eagles". (Inexpensive and as far as I know, still made by Lowrance)

[Tim FRick]

I have the "wide one" hummingbird for about 7 years now. This model is about the same as the 300 series. I never had a problem with it. Yes, it shows the fish symbols instead of arcs. Do you really need the arcs to catch fish, no! To get a true arc, for one the fish can't move in your sonar cone when you pass over it. If they do move, then you get a short striaght line on your screen. Is this better or worse? It's up to the person. The one thing you really need to do with any unit you buy is really get to know your unit. The more you use it the more you'll feel comfortable about what it's telling you. Depending on were you mount your transducer, will depend on how fast you can go and still pick fish up. The contour of your hull affects this greatly. You don't want water trubulence getting in your sonar cone, this will cause false reading or even lose your depth reading. I can pick up the bottom and fish at 20-25 mph on flat days. In short, hummingbirds are not bad units and either are the other units mentioned above. You have to do some homework like anything else you buy and see what feature you like with each unit and compare.
Good Luck!!
Tim FRick

[Starfish]

I've had two Humminbirds, two Eagles, and a Bottomline. The Bottomline is my favorite by a long shot, but for the $200 price range it's hard to beat the Eagle/Lowrance units. You can get a great deal on an old Ultima or Magna series and they work fine at all speeds.

[jackj]

THANKS! I sure appreaciate the replys! Keep them comming... I am now looking/leaning towards the Lowrance X-48.

I'm not too sure about buying used electronics.. I'd almost rather spend the extra $50 for a new one.

How important is wattage?? Is greyline something you can live without? The knowledge on this site is astounding.. great for a new guy like me.
Jack

[Starfish]

Wattage gets most important in deep water. For example, in Lake Chelan (WA), I can see shrimp and baitfish schools on the bottom in over 200 feet of water with my Bottomline, and pick out the chinook and mackinaw feeding. With my old Eagle I could see the fish just fine but couldn't always make out the fine detail.

Grayline is worth a few extra bucks. It tells you how hard the bottom is, so you can identify transitions from sand/mud/rock. Those edges are always worth a look.

Good luck!

[Skeeter®Mark]

I'm not a big fan of the humminbirds either. The difference between the 100-300 models your looking at is simply the wide angle transducer. The $180 unit acutally has the fish finding ability of the $100 model. Be careful when comparing power, there are two different scales. The RMS scale is rougly 8X higher than Peak to Peak. Garmin and humminbird use the RMS. One of the best buys for your money would be the eagle ultra classic. It's a 600 watt unit with 160 vert. pixels, and has about every option available on the other lowrance depthfinders as far as menu functions,alarms, etc. I saw Scheels in fargo was selling this one for 219.99 with a free speed and temp sensor that normally costs $60. Greyline, whiteline, or whatever each different manufactuer wants to call it is essential, if gives you the ability to distinguish between hard and soft bottom. Only the really cheap depthfinders are missing this option.

[Smokin J]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-00 AT 12:56PM (CST)[p]Purchased an X-48 last year. Up front with the trolling motor. Never use the Fish I.D. and very seldom get archs! Still learning how to use a graph, never had one, but I do like the X-48. I fish points mainly with live bait and some river drifting live bait so I suppose all I really need is a flasher but it is fun watching the graph. Run a Hummingbird flasher on the console and it has worked well. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for listening.

[Smokin J]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-00 AT 01:27PM (CST)[p]Sorry!

[Smokin J]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-00 AT 01:26PM (CST)[p]Sorry!

[Smokin J]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-00 AT 01:25PM (CST)[p]Sorry!

[Smokin J]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-00 AT 01:23PM (CST)[p]Sorry!

[Smokin J]

Hey everyone sorry for the multiple Posts-I dont know what happened!!! Sorry again.

[Sluggo / NY]

I agree with Skeeter..the Eagle Ultra Classic is a heck of a unit for the price. I have one in my small river boat. I swapped it out with the X-85 in my big boat and you barely see the difference! Good Fishing, Sluggo

[Crankin]

Hummingbirds suck go with eagle or Lowrance. They read out by the foot in stead of 1/10 of a foot it is imposible to read the change in bottom deapth.

[jackj]

Ok,
Now I am between the GARMIN 160 and the Lowrance X-48. The garmin seems like it has better options, ie 160x160. However, from what I understand, Garmin is kind of new to this game.

Again, this sight is amazing for information!!!

Already fixed my jet and now probably saving having to buy a second fishfinder(was going to go with the humminbird 100/200, and i dont think I would have been satisfied.

Thanks again
Jack

[Kevin B]

Skeeter - I agree with you on the 100 vs. 300 model Hbirds. I liked my 100 series better than I do my "Wide." - Kevin B

[Box]

I have 2 Bottomline, one Eagle, 2 Lowrance and had a Humminbird. I don't know about Garmin or Ray.

What I can tell you is this:
Of the ones I use the Lowrance (EAgle) units are the easiest to see during dusk/dawn and when the boat spins around and the sun glares on them. This is definietly something to consider.

I like my BL the best for bottom detail, but it's a hassle to keep the screen contrast adjusted correctly. The Lowrance is peiece of cake - it's always easy to read.

Also, make sure you get grayscale - it helps tons, unless you only want to see the depth.

As for the temp, I really like having it built in to a unit (or accessory...) but you can get cheap stand alones, but it's another gadget to muck with.

Have fun with whatever you get!

Box (MN)
-ps the only reason I have soo many is cause I got a couple free and we have 2 boats. If I'd "buy" again, I'd buy Lowrance...