Fish Finder Recommendation

I need to replace the fish finder that is on a rig I bought used. And I don't know anything about them other than that they can tell you how deep the water is under the transducer.

I want to keep my cost under $250. I mainly fish shallow lakes and rivers in north and central Florida and the intracoastal around Jacksonville.

I have looked at the following:
Humminbird 150 @ $80
Humminbird 170 @ $100
Humminbird 561 @ $150
Lowrance X-4 Pro @ $100
Lowrance Mark 5X Pro @ $130
Lowrance 4X DSI @ $170
Lowrance Elite 4 DSI @ $200
Lowrance Mark 5 DSI @ $200

I want something that has a decent size screen that's bright enough for me to see in bright sunlight and I can't tell that by just looking at one in a store.

Any advice or experience with the above units would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Between the Humminbird units: the 561 will have the largest display. All use a monochrome (Black & White) transflective display so the brighter the sunlight the better the viewability. The 561 has DualBeam plus sonar which allows you to display either the more narrow 200kHz 20 degree sonar beam or the wider 83kHz 60 degree sonar beam or both of them side-by-side or both combined. The 320 X 320 LCD should do a good job in showing you the structure and fish under your boat.

The Lowrance Mark 5's have a 5" screen, the Mark 5 pro is dual beam, the x-4 probably is dual beam but not sure and has a smaller screen. The Mark 5 pro is nice, you can scroll back to review something you might have missed and then fast forward to catch back up as well, The 5 has split screen, to view each frequency or zoom I think, even an old school flasher if you want that. The fish id feature is nice, it displays a small fish instead of the arches if you choose that option in the menu. BUT the fish symbol is VERY VERY small and hard to see from 3 feet away. The Mark 5 pro has several other features as well, is a decent unit for the $$, but would advise you to go to BPS or some store that has all of 'em on display, start punching buttons and asking questions, then choose the one you like best, is easy for you to operate since it's your boat. The Lowrance DSI units do NOT have the traditional 2d sonar, but I think the HB ones do but not sure.

The HB units probably have some or most of the same features, make sure you compare apples to apples, either brand should do you good.

I too fish the shallow lakes here in So. Central Fl, and have a HB 170 that works great. It has a dual beam transducer also, and a easy to see screen, even in full sun light. Drop me a pm with a phone # and I'll give you more info......

Jim

If you can stretch that budget just $50 more, you can get the Humminbird 581i Di combo which has a 5" screen, Internal GPS w/Mapping ..2D sonar AND Down Imaging.

Brian

I'd do my best to get something with GPS to follow creek channels with...especially when motoring in shallower waters. With GPS you can mark stumps, brush, humps, etc. too. Any feature you add to a depthfinder means more money, but a monochrome unit isnt as easy to see in the daytime as a color unit is.

Call Brian at BBG Marine. He will walk you through all of your questions guide you straight on what you need.

Catman767, I sent you a pm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brian@BBGmarine

If you can stretch that budget just $50 more, you can get the Humminbird 581i Di combo which has a 5" screen, Internal GPS w/Mapping ..2D sonar AND Down Imaging.

Brian

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Brian... heard you were selling that Humminbird 581i Di for today only for $200 ! ? LOL
So close to swiping a card at your site

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sushi

Brian... heard you were selling that Humminbird 581i Di for today only for $200 ! ? LOL
So close to swiping a card at your site

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Do it...just do it ! :biggrin

Mama wouldn't like me selling stuff below cost. I'd be livin' in the Skeeter.