Fish finder?

I know very little about them. what would be a good one that don't break the bank?

I started out with a cuda 168 cause it was on the boat. Even though small and not many features it did what it was supposed to do. The replacement updated version is well less than $100. I then went to a humminbird 718. For $170 it has a much bigger screen that the 168 and has been a really reliable unit. It will nail a thermocline and show good fish arches as well. It is GPS capable meaning you can add a gps puck to the unit and have speed, trolling tracks and the ability to mark waypoints. The cheap way arount the gps puck is to find a compatable hand held gps off of ebay for 25 bucks and connect it. You can also get double duty out of the gps by using it just as a handheld unit for deer hunting or other purposes. My 3rd sonar is a humminbird 798. It is somewhere around $800 bucks plus or minus. This was a gift from my wife, so I don't know. The main drawback on this unit is the small screen for side imaging. There are pretty good work arounds for this by displaying 1 side at a time. I have some favorite features of this unit, and if you are interested at all in this unit, I will pm those.

Bottom line is that most all sonars will work well if you take time to learn to use them. Most all have features that are fun to play with but often times not necessary. If I was looking for a sonar today, I would look for one that will do the following things...

Show temp
Show depth
Show structure.

The bonus feature I would want is GPS capable which you can work around with a hand held gps.

On my home lake, I would rather fish the GPS than the sonar. On a strange lake finding my own fish, I would rather use the sonar than the GPS. Ideal scenario is to have both.

Figure out what your budget is first. Your brake the bank and mine might not be the same. Go to Bass pro, Cabelas and BBG Marine web site. Look them over and find some in your price range. Then come back and ask questions about specific units. Check out the threads on electronics board tons of discussion on all kinds of finders. A lot is going to depend on what kind of fishing your doing or plan to do. My main suggestion is the largest color unit with the most features you can afford. Humminbird and Lowarance are both good reliable units with good customer service today. When you find what you want Call Brian at BBG marine and he will get you probably the best price out there.

I've got a few of the Huminbird 365 sonar/GPS units cheap. Call or PM for price. They are new.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

2 to 300$ is my range I fish oxbow lakes so most are not real deep crappie ans bream is what I fish for

Is a humminbird 571 worth bringing home?