Need opinions on fish finder that is EASY to use

[encoreman]

Hi all, I am in need of a new fish finder with that said I am 60 and I don't want to have to go to school to learn how to use this new instrument. I am hoping to retire in a few years and plan on seeing how long it takes to wear out a set of rod and reels. I value your opinions on this purchase. BTW my "new" fishing lake will be Dale Hollow and I want to fish for smallies as well as crappie. Thanks for your help. Mac

[Cray]

Humminbird for ease of use, color screen and GPS. Take the time to learn it. Their not that hard. And plenty of folks on here or in your area more than willing to help you. And welcome to the board.

[rducks123]

[constructskeeter]

I'm looking to buy the Hummingbird 587ci HD DI GPS combo. It's only the 4.5" screen but about the only other downfall I can see with it would be it doesn't have side imaging and I'm more impressed with the picture perfect quality of that down imaging (DI). You can by the lake chip for it and poke that thing in there at $100=$150 bucks. The cheapest place I've found it was at a place over the internet called Digital Oasis at $417. Now I've done tried to deal with them but for some reason they couldn't read my credit card??? Long story short I wasn't able to purchase from there, not sure why, maybe you'll have better luck. I've seen them up to $500 at other places which is too high. Good luck, i've heard that model is really easy to operate also which should help us both out, i'm not all that hi-tech myself.

[jigflinger]

Check in the Member/Sponsor forum. There are several dealers there. I bought mine from BBG Marine.

[ennivator]

what jigflinger said

[djcoop52]

I am 60 and have a HDS5 lowrance which I am now moving to the bow and putting a new HDS7 SS on the dash (wanted a bigger screen). I am about as technologically stupid as they come but I am learning just takes some time playing around with it. Very confusing to start but the more you learn the easier and more fun they are. My new will be networked together and I have no idea how that works but will figure it out. Biggest problem is technology changes fast old become cheaper with every year and new is more advanced.

[constructskeeter]

I am 60 and have a HDS5 lowrance which I am now moving to the bow and putting a new HDS7 SS on the dash (wanted a bigger screen). I am about as technologically stupid as they come but I am learning just takes some time playing around with it. Very confusing to start but the more you learn the easier and more fun they are. My new will be networked together and I have no idea how that works but will figure it out. Biggest problem is technology changes fast old become cheaper with every year and new is more advanced.

Just bought the hummer 587ci HD DI GPS/combo $417 yesterday off the Digital Oasis website. I did have my share of problems getting my credit card order to go through, took like 5 times. Turns out it was my physical addy they wanted not my PO box which is where the bill comes??? Anyways, it's ordered and hopfully be here in a few.

[charttn]

I have a HB 596c HD DI. It does not have GPS in it. I mainly fish on a river which means it is pretty hard to get lost. I did not feel the need to spend the extra $200. If you fish big water, I think it would be more valuable. As far as simplicity, after hooking it up you really only have to press the on button, sit back, and enjoy the beautiful down imaging. Honestly, you will forget about the fish for a moment the first time you pass over a submerged tree. The color screen makes all the difference as well. I have had several B&W FFs in the past and this is so much easier to see and interpret.

[Corker]

I am 60 and I don't want to have to go to school to learn how to use this new instrument.

You learn how to use fishing electronics "on the job", so don't be intimidated by powerful features. Also, don't pinch pennies when it comes to buying the tools of your post-retirement "trade." If you average 3 ten-hour fishing days per week, your electronics will be in service over 1500 hours per year. Even if you throw the stuff away after a year, your cost of ownership works out to somewhere between $0.50 per hour to just over $1.00, depending on the unit you purchase. Cheap enough! You'd be foolish NOT to go with top-of-the-line gear.

"Fish finder" is a misleading label for modern fishing electronics. No unit will take you to the fish. The real value of a "finder" is allowing you to spot the kinds of places that are most likely to hold fish. For crappie fishermen, that means brushpiles and other structure. Short of draining the lake, side-imaging is the best tool ever invented for that purpose. You'll be amazed at the "stuff" scattered across the bottom of a lake. Each piece of structure can hold crappie, so the more structure you know about, the better.

I held back for a couple of years after SI hit the market. Like you, I feared that I would never be able to master this technology. Finally I took the plunge and bought a HB-1197. I've had it for 3 years and still can't use all its features...but that doesn't matter! I figured out how to do what matters most and am satisfied that there's more power under the hood when I want to access it.

In small bodies of water, you can usually "mark" submerged structure by triangulating. GPS is MUCH better in most bodies of water, however. High-end "finder" products will have the GPS feature bundled with the sonar, SI, and DI features. You can also mark your waypoints with handheld GPS units and many of today's sophisticated cell phones. It's all good...and you can use any combination of location finders.