Fish Finder Recommendation

[SWAMP FOX]

I need to replace the fish finder on a used rig I recently purchased and I'm totally confused by the vast array of options out there. The last one I used was a portable HB Super 60 and that was a life time ago. I am looking for something simple that I can understand since I'm not very technologically savvy. I mainly fish in fresh water for bream and crappie and the occasional unlucky largemouth. Any recommendations would be helpful. I'm close to a Gander Mountain store and 2 hours from Bass Pro and I've tried to talk to the folks there and either I'm really dumb or they are. Thanks.

[NIMROD]

Here I use a ''CUDA 300" . Academy Sports sells them for 69.99. The thing has temp gauge built in . Best for the money in my book. Some depthfinders are so complicated folks can't use half the features they pay for with the higher costing units.

[Corker]

Have you considered buying a used one from someone who's upgrading? I did that a couple of years ago & was very happy with the unit and the price.

The unit was a HB-575 & I highly recommend it for crappie fishing. It was HB's final ultra-wide angle finder before SI was announced. It doesn't give you SI, but you can sure look off to both sides & spot structure that you'll miss with narrow-angle finders.

[Humminbird_Greg]

That was the QuadraBeam transducer Corker. We still sell units that can use that same transducer now.

[jimp]

Hey Greg, how bout some model #'s of those units

[Humminbird_Greg]

Sure:

These are the 700 series units that can fully utilize the QuadraBeam transducer:
788ci HD – color sonar+GPS unit.
778c HD – color sonar unit.
728 – monochorome sonar unit.
718 – monochorome sonar unit (fewer pixels than the 728)

The PMax 180 uses the same QuadraBeam transducer but it will only show the Fish ID information from the left and right Side Beams, otherwise it is a basic 200kHz 20 degree beam sonar unit.

[BigRiverMarine]

Buy the best one you can afford. You'll be glad you did when you learn to use it. You can download simulators of the Lowrance units on your computer and learn how to use them before you buy one.

www.lowrance.com and go to downloads. There is a list of all their units you can download. They dont have the HDS units though. It's an easy way to choose a new unit. Play with it first.

[Cane Pole]

Buy one of each. Solves all problems. You got 30 days to return your mistake. ha