Depth/Fish Finder Reccomendation

I have my first boat and am looking for a first fish/depth finder. I mainly use it in shallow rivers / lakes , so I need something that is going to function well in shallow conditions to help me find and avoid structure. I would also like to easily be able to identify fish, I've seen some displays that just look down right confusing to me. I prefer the KISS (keep it simple stupid) philosophy with electronics and am also on a budget. So let me hear your reccomendations. Not looking for fancy models with built in GPS, just the basics, but it needs to be durable and functional.

Color or Black & White display?
Do you have a display size preference?

For a first I'd look at an Eagle 320 or 480. You get your money's worth with either of those two IMO.

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Originally Posted by Humminbird_Greg

Color or Black & White display?
Do you have a display size preference?

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No preference, just easy to read, easy to use. Mainly want a simple, durable unit without spending a lot. Couple years down the road I might upgrade, but right now I just want something to get me started.

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Originally Posted by gabowman

For a first I'd look at an Eagle 320 or 480. You get your money's worth with either of those two IMO.

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I'll check em out. Thanks!

Eagle is made by Lowrance. You won't do much better. Depending on your budget, look at the Lowrance X-135 black & white. High pixel count, great resolution and plenty of features to help you improve as you become more familiar with it. Plus, they have a nifty down-loadable demo that you can use on your computer the same as the unit on the water. This will be my 5th. season with it....no problems....no worries.

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Originally Posted by Crestliner08

Eagle is made by Lowrance. You won't do much better. Depending on your budget, look at the Lowrance X-135 black & white. High pixel count, great resolution and plenty of features to help you improve as you become more familiar with it. Plus, they have a nifty down-loadable demo that you can use on your computer the same as the unit on the water. This will be my 5th. season with it....no problems....no worries.

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Just did a search and it seems to be discontinued. Found one place carrying it , on sale for about $400. Is there a current comperable modle? Hopefully a little cheaper?

I would go with the hb 718. You can pick one up for 200. It is what I use on my Jon boat. I love it. I have had bad luck with lowrance.I was on my 3rd hds 5. It can not get wet at all or it goes crazy. Tossed it in the lake about 2 weeks ago. It had let me down for the last time.

check out the new Fish Elite and Marks from lowrance. you can view them on the lowrance website.

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Originally Posted by Fishon!SC

I would go with the hb 718. You can pick one up for 200. It is what I use on my Jon boat. I love it. I have had bad luck with lowrance.I was on my 3rd hds 5. It can not get wet at all or it goes crazy. Tossed it in the lake about 2 weeks ago. It had let me down for the last time.

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Thanks for the tip.



Has anyone used Garmin systems? I'm not looking for a GPS feature here, as I already have thre Garmin GPS units. For GPS I only use garmin, and have seen good revieves for the dpeth finders. I actually was directed to the Garmin 140 when I looked for the hb 718. Its got really good reviews and is only $100. The thing I liked about the 140 reviews, was the dual beam works really well in shallow waters and works well at full speed. I fish and hunt in shallow rivers lakes where that would definitely be a plus for me.

Besides the dual beam feature, 1 thing I saw on I think on a Eagle unit was a setting that diplays fish symbols rather than arches, but can be set for either if you want more detail. Not familiar with using them, that seems like a good option to me.

Many of the Humminbird units use DualBeam sonar and can show sonar targets as just the sonar returns (arches to some folks) or Fish ID Symbols along with the sonar returns. Fishon!SC should be able to do this with his 718 and other 700 series models can do this as well. You can show just the narrower 200kHz beam (20 degrees) or just the wider 83kHz beam (60 degrees), both combined or both side-by-side.

As many will say, most people are biased to the units they are using and familiar with. I ran an Eagle Fishmark 320 for a long time and for the money they are certainly a good unit. I upgraded a couple of years ago to color and currently run a Humminbird 777 unit with dualbeam which I really like. Things I think are important (personal opinion) are:
1. At least a 5" screen with color
2. Pixel count of 320 x 320 or greater
3. Dualbeam technology (lower frequency capability sometime helps)
4. Ram-mount unit to make adjusting position very easy
5. Built in water temperature sensor
6. GPS (external) is a nice feature in a driver console unit

Hope this helps, just my 2 cents,
PH

Well I order the Garmin 140 - I guess I am just biased to Garmin products, its got great reviews and I definitely liked the price. Down the road I figure I will up grade but for now this should serve my purposes and let me figure out waht features I'm willing to pay for. I'm hoping this will become the 2nd unit on the boat later on. I'll let ya'll know how it works out.


Any tips on mounting on a fiberglass boat? I don't want to have to reposition this thing to get it dialed in.