Fish finder

[airforcechief11]

Hey guys, I just bought a boat and I'm looking to replace the 2 fish finders on it. I was wondering if you guys could give me some ideas as to what's dependable but not that expensive. I would appreciate it

[CatFan]

You have a lot of choices to make. Color/Monochrome? GPS/No GPS? Display size? Do you have a total price in mind?

If you could post what is already installed, that could help with us recommending units that might use the same wiring and transducer. Also some idea of what lakes or what kind of water you fish will help as well.

A guy I fish with runs Lowrance X135's, and they are nice for a reasonably priced unit, but I think color is worth the extra money, and that GPS with mapping is indispensable on many lakes.

[airforcechief11]

Catfan Thanks for the quick reply. Sorry, I did leave some stuff out huh?

Currently on my boat I have a Hummingbird 300TX on the console and a Cuda 168 on the front with the transducer mounted on my trolling motor. I'm looking to spend around 600 total for both or else I could just get one good one to put on my console or the front? Not sure which would be best. Of course color and GPS would be great but I'm sure they are out of my price range, however, I haven't researched them enough to know. I honestly have no clue when it comes to this sort of stuff. I leave it to the experienced to tell me what I should use. lol I'm fishing lakes in lakes in the bossier/shreveport area. Cypress, Black Bayou, Cross lake, Caddo lake, Lake Tawakoni, Lake Fork. Maybe even the red river. I just moved to the area so I'm trying to find my way around.

I hope this helps out anyone that wants to take a stab at maybe what I should be looking for and throw out some suggestions. Thanks in advance guys!!

[majflyboy]

Chief, you stationed at Barksdale? On your question about ff, I'm doing the same reasearch you are but you are in a good place. What I'm doing every day is reading and re-reading the discussions on this thread. The upcoming report from canepole comparing the Hummingbird with the Lowrance units will be very good I'm sure (the units being compared are high dollar). However, there are several post on here that address the lower to moderate priced units. Like I said, I'm studying this with you so good luck.

[ab824]

Chief, I just bought a HB 587ci with gps for $420 plus shipping and am very pleased with it. The color screen is well worth it and the gps comes in real handy. Ordered it from wal-mart. They were the cheapest I found on that particular unit.

[whofan]

Humminbird has a new 570 model out replacing the 565. Looks nice.
Cabela`s has the Bird 565 for $169 right now. These are monochrome units.
They have good specs if you can live without color, I know I can.