Fish/Depth Finder

I am considering putting in a new depth/fish finder on my boat. I don't think I need a state of the art outfit but I don't think I want the cheapest rig going either. I have a Bottom Line Fishing Buddy II and it seems to be suitable but I would like a permanent mounted unit. I do like the side finder feature in the Bottom Line unit but it is not an absolute must. Features that are a must are a temperature feature, adequate readability on fish, back lit screen (I fish at night some), ease use, easy to hookup and unhook (to take in/out of my boat), and reasonable cost. As of now, another Bottom Line rig is high on my list but I thought I might ask for some advise.

Garmin 240 is one of the best. (My 2 cents worth)

I would also throw the Eagle Fish Easy II (the newer ones) or an Eagle FishMark unit into the hat! Have had and heard good things about both.

-Team9

I like my Garmin 240 too. But BPS has a sale this weekend and the FishMark is marked down to $149. For those interested, they also have a 5 hour sale this Fri morning and have the Aqua-Vu for $199.88 ($200.00 off)

the lowrance x-47 is a simple unit with temp, easy to remove, and is on sale at boaters world for $119.00
crap-king

Look for a unit that all the features you want with a HIGH pixel count within your price range. Most manufacturers make good units. I use a Hummingbird Matrix 27 and very pleased with it.

you can go to boatersworld.com and order on-lne easily
crap-king

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redtick

I am considering putting in a new depth/fish finder on my boat. I don't think I need a state of the art outfit but I don't think I want the cheapest rig going either. I have a Bottom Line Fishing Buddy II and it seems to be suitable but I would like a permanent mounted unit. I do like the side finder feature in the Bottom Line unit but it is not an absolute must. Features that are a must are a temperature feature, adequate readability on fish, back lit screen (I fish at night some), ease use, easy to hookup and unhook (to take in/out of my boat), and reasonable cost. As of now, another Bottom Line rig is high on my list but I thought I might ask for some advise.

---

Hi Redtick,
I am pretty partial to the Eagle Fish Mark series. You can check them out at the Eagle web site and download a simulator and it actually lets you work all the controls in a simulated lake and teaches you everything about the unit with hands-on experience. pretty cool!!...........treepotato

What is the Eagles website??

For what it's worth... I've used eagles, hummingbirds, lowrance and marine tech. Then I used a garmin 240. Don't believe I'll ever go back. Dollar for dollar, pixel for pixel I think they are the best unit on the market.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TAE73

What is the Eagles website??

---

The website is www.eaglegps.com. Click on Product Emulators. The unit I have is the Fish Mark 320. ..............treepotato

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JigMan2

For what it's worth... I've used eagles, hummingbirds, lowrance and marine tech. Then I used a garmin 240. Don't believe I'll ever go back. Dollar for dollar, pixel for pixel I think they are the best unit on the market.

---

Hi JigMan,
How's it goin? Haven't seen you here for a while. How's the fishin been on Brookville? I see on the lake reports that it is at winter pool now. Do you have much luck on it at this level?...........treepotato

Is it true that some fish finders can track your jig or minnow under the boat?

Hummingbird says they have:
Accelerated Real Time Sonar operates at up to 40 times per second to instantly capture the action under the boat.

I haven't checked to see if it will track a jig, but RTS is great for marking brushpiles.

RTS is on the right side of screen and marks there before going to the graph screen. Only thing about RTS is you have to be watching the screen, it works like the old flashers, it marks and then is gone forever, no memory.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IBNFSHN

I like my Garmin 240 too. But BPS has a sale this weekend and the FishMark is marked down to $149. For those interested, they also have a 5 hour sale this Fri morning and have the Aqua-Vu for $199.88 ($200.00 off)

---

Which Aqua-Vu? Any particular BPS?

Thanks,
Paul

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by duane

Is it true that some fish finders can track your jig or minnow under the boat?

---

Duane,

Yes it is true. This is similar to how I ice-fish - turn the gain up on my Vexilar flasher until the jig is visible, then lower it slowly to right above the Crappies. The trick in a boat is getting your transducer pointing straight down, & holding your boat still enough that the jig will stay in the transducer's view. The transducer on my ice-fishing setup floats in the water, so is always vertical.

Paul

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PGottshall

Duane,

Yes it is true. This is similar to how I ice-fish - turn the gain up on my Vexilar flasher until the jig is visible, then lower it slowly to right above the Crappies. The trick in a boat is getting your transducer pointing straight down, & holding your boat still enough that the jig will stay in the transducer's view. The transducer on my ice-fishing setup floats in the water, so is always vertical.

Paul

---

Does the Garmin 240 do this also?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PGottshall

Which Aqua-Vu? Any particular BPS?

Thanks,
Paul

---

It is the MC2X-60. Its advertised in a flyer I got in the mail. It looks like the flyer came from the BPS in Hampton, Va.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IBNFSHN

It is the MC2X-60. Its advertised in a flyer I got in the mail. It looks like the flyer came from the BPS in Hampton, Va.

---

We've got the same sale @ BPS here in Bossier, LA. The MC2X-60 is a good unit, it has the newer camera with infra-red AND green lights on it. (helps to see a little further in stained or muddy water.) The only drawback is it doesn't have the "direct-tech" function, which tells you which way the camera is pointed. The next model up is the XPS-60 which has both the direct-tech and temp-tech, but the camera doesn't have the green lights, only infra-red. It has been on sale here for $349, and in my opinion is the better buy. Regular price is $450. A little advice......whichever one you choose, have them test it before you leave the store. My first one had a bad connection and would not turn on, but they got another to me in a couple days.

Thanks for all of the good tips! I did send a message to Bottom Line and got a reply that the "sidefinder" feature is no longer availible on their units but there may be some units with that feature offered at some places like Cabalas. I have found crappie using the "sidefinder" feature on my "Fishing Buddy II" to find crappie schools lots of times. I plan on mounting the holder for that unit on the front of my boat and use it when I am fishing out of the front end of the boat or when I have a buddy fishing with me.
I will check out all of the tips you guys have given me and would welcome more. :D

Yeah - both the Garmins on my rig (160 &240) pick up lures. Depending on the direction I put the downriggers, I can pick up the ball depth and fine tune off the 240.
It took me awhile to figure out what the semi-vertical lines where that the 160 in the front of the boat was picking up every now and again - turns out it was my line as I retrieved it through the cone.

I do have one problem with the Garmin's, but I believe it's in my wiring. I can't run the 160 with the anchor lights on - it shuts down on low voltage safety. And the 240 picks up air bubbles in the water column, you have to learn to understand what the echos are. Once you truly understand how to "read" the electronics, it's easy to distinquish what's fish and what's not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by labill

We've got the same sale @ BPS here in Bossier, LA. The MC2X-60 is a good unit, it has the newer camera with infra-red AND green lights on it. (helps to see a little further in stained or muddy water.) The only drawback is it doesn't have the "direct-tech" function, which tells you which way the camera is pointed. The next model up is the XPS-60 which has both the direct-tech and temp-tech, but the camera doesn't have the green lights, only infra-red. It has been on sale here for $349, and in my opinion is the better buy. Regular price is $450. A little advice......whichever one you choose, have them test it before you leave the store. My first one had a bad connection and would not turn on, but they got another to me in a couple days.

---

Aqua-Vu still has some fine tuning to do with their units. I love mine, don't get me wrong, but - they have to address 1) the lighting feature still gives you the snowstorm effect in deep or stained water, 2) the field of view is terrible - 1 foot up or down and you've lost your view, 3) they need to get rid of that CRT screen - if you don't have a sun shade -or- viewing shroud as they call it, you're not going to see the screen in daylight. Why they haven't gone to LCD yet, I'll never know. Outside of those things, it's ok.
I believe it's Marcon that has a camera out with a 360º field of view, remote controlled camera, and improved lighting feature - but it's salty.

here:
http://www.marcumtech.com/products/ovs/vs560.aspx

I run Lowrance x-75 front and rear. They show great bottom detail. Just ask Moose

They got more features than any unit I've owned. I haven't used most of them due to the fact I'm more interested in whats down below the boat not in it. As long as they show me the cover and the fish bite I'm happy.


Larry

I have an eagle fishmark 320 and an Lowrance X97. Both units show 1/16th ounce jigs under the transducer. If a fish is under the transducer, it's going to show it. If a fish sneezes under the boat, it's going to show it. Thats on either unit. X97 is the best unit I've ever had. CF

Weezer is right on. Santa is bringing me a new Garmin 250 for Xmas. Don't get hooked on too many features. Look for pixels and transponder power (rms power). Don't get hooked on dual frequency stuff, unless you plan ocean fishing. I think I have one of all makes, well almost. I read the books, screw with the settings, then forget what to do and end up letting the unit run "AUTOMATIC", except for fast panning (scanning).

check this site out for unit comparison. My nickels worth. (ante raise)

Cane Pole

http://www.fish-finder-review.com/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by treepotato

Hi JigMan,
How's it goin? Haven't seen you here for a while. How's the fishin been on Brookville? I see on the lake reports that it is at winter pool now. Do you have much luck on it at this level?...........treepotato

---

Whats up.... I've been here. Just haven't been giving up information. B-Ville has been slow but steady during drawdown. Not alot of big catches but the ones we've been getting have been really nice fish.
When they finally get the lake to winter pool is one of my favorite periods to fish. As long as we can aviod the ice Dec is probably one of the best months to fish. They will stack on structure close to deep water and feed like crazy. Hope to get out and cross some eyeballs this week if we can get a break in the weather. See ya out there!!

I use the fishmark models. Got a 480 on the dash and a 320 on the troller. Love them both.

Should I consider buying a fish finder with GPS unit built into it or should I buy a GPS unit seperately as I hunt alot and could use it hunting? The lake I normally fish in is small enough I wouldn't have alot of trouble refinding spots but I do occasionally fish much larger lakes. I have been looking into the Hummingbird matrix system, has anyone had experiance with them? Anyone that has a fishfinder with a built in GPS system, I sure would like your opinion on their value.

I have the Matrix 27, I have not hooked my GPS to it yet. I like having seperate units
as I hunt too.

I have a garmin160 and a eagle 320 finder neither with gps. I have a etrex hand held that you can buy right now at target for 88$. I recently had the chance to fish with someone who had the lowrance with gps built in. He had three states loaded in which he could pull up any lake which had the lake contours, river channels, boats ramps, channel markers anything important for fishing that you might need. On his finder it showed where we was on the lake map within 9 feet, mine showed within 74 feet. Although it is usually within 15 feet or so. I just know that whenever I have the wants bad enough I am going to have one with gps built in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by screwdriver

I have a garmin160 and a eagle 320 finder neither with gps. I have a etrex hand held that you can buy right now at target for 88$. I recently had the chance to fish with someone who had the lowrance with gps built in. He had three states loaded in which he could pull up any lake which had the lake contours, river channels, boats ramps, channel markers anything important for fishing that you might need. On his finder it showed where we was on the lake map within 9 feet, mine showed within 74 feet. Although it is usually within 15 feet or so. I just know that whenever I have the wants bad enough I am going to have one with gps built in.

---

That might be the differance of WAAS enabled units. Was the built in unit WAAS capable?

Yes I believe it was, It also had all kind of programs that you you could download from Lowrance to keep it updated. The Lowrance model cost about a 1000$ with the gps accessory pack which included the external antennea and software. You can get one from eagle a lot cheaper but I don't know if it is as good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chaunc

I use the fishmark models. Got a 480 on the dash and a 320 on the troller. Love them both.

---

Hi chaunc,
I have an Eagle 320 on my dash and am going to purchase another unit of some kind for the trolling motor. I am thinking of another 320 because it seems to do everything I need . Do you like your 480 better than the 320? Would you recommend the 480 over the 320? Thanks ..........treepotato

Actually, i really cant tell the diffrence between the two. I haven't messed with the 480 at all. Its been on auto from the time i started using it, so i cant tell you much about the bells and whistles on it. I got the 320 last year and have fiddled around with it some. Sorry i cant give you a more in-depth report. I sit up front where the 320 is . Still, i like the detail they give me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chaunc

Actually, i really cant tell the diffrence between the two. I haven't messed with the 480 at all. Its been on auto from the time i started using it, so i cant tell you much about the bells and whistles on it. I got the 320 last year and have fiddled around with it some. Sorry i cant give you a more in-depth report. I sit up front where the 320 is . Still, i like the detail they give me.

---

Yes , I must agree with you on the detail. I have one of the first fishin buddies that was on the market but this Eagle 320 is in a whole other class. thanks for the reply.

I have been looking at the Hummingbird's "Matrix" units very hard. They are advertised as being handheld GPS compatable plus from my understanding, they can be hooked into a computer and upgraded as technology gets improved. There are a number of other things they can be rigged to do. I would reckon all of the add ons would run into a dollar or 2. I have never used Hummingbird products but I have seen alot of them around. Have any of you fellows had any experiance with them. I want to buy a reliable product.

Humminbird Products

I am on my second Humminbird depth finder. The first one I used was a flasher unit. My present unit is a repaired Humminbird LCR 8000 unit. I paid about $800 dollars for it when it was brand new back in the early 1980's. It's been a great depth finder and still will work today.

I did have some problems with it about ten years ago and I sent it into the HumminBird Factory for repairs. They charged a fixed fee for this service ( about 50 bucks if I remember right ) and they repaired the unit and had it back to me in less than a week or maybe two weeks. It was winter time when I sent the unit in for repairs and I didn't miss it. I was surprised that they fixed it so fast.

The repaired unit is still in use today. I may send it back in again to see if they can get some moisture out of it. At times I get an error message but if I turn it off and back on the goes away.

I have gotten 20 year of use out of this LCR 8000 unit and it's still going strong. Can anyone else out there say that they have been using the same depth finder for the last 20 years?

Jerry Blake has written about the Humminbird repair policy and he likes it also.

Now I have not heard much from the Lowrance guys about the Lowrance repair policys. What I have heard was a few guys not having much luck with the Lowrance repairs when their unit's failed to work. Now my first depth finder was the Lowrance little Green Box. See picture attached for proof. LOL
Lowrance was the first company to make retail type depth finders for the average fishermen. I learned to use a depth finder and to interupt the signals on the Lowrance Little Green Box while fishing KY Lake back in the 1960.

I too am looking at the Humminbird Matrix units. They seem to have what I need. My second choice would be the Garmin depth finders combined with the garmin Gps unit.

The Humminbird Matrix 37 can use the Quadra thing transducer which not only shows you what is directly below the boat but what is out to the side.

I was really wanting one of the discontinued humminbirds that showed a 3d image of the bottom around the boat. Not sure why those are not being sold these days.

BTW Humminbird was the first company to come out with the LCR screen.

And this year I was still able to buy a new transducer for my 20 year old unit.

I like the humminbird unit that I have but then again I have grown old with it.

And it's made in the good old USA. Efula Alabama is where they make the Humminbird units.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redtick

I have been looking at the Hummingbird's "Matrix" units very hard. They are advertised as being handheld GPS compatable plus from my understanding, they can be hooked into a computer and upgraded as technology gets improved. There are a number of other things they can be rigged to do. I would reckon all of the add ons would run into a dollar or 2. I have never used Hummingbird products but I have seen alot of them around. Have any of you fellows had any experiance with them. I want to buy a reliable product.

---

Nice pocket protector Moose!!!!

LOL Those are my eyeglass cases. If I had my pocket protector on there would be a slide ruler sticking out the top. :)

I took my eyeglass off to take that picture. Even back in 1967 I wore eyeglasses or contacts.

My cousin got his eyes fixed with that Lasik procedure. I wish I could afford to have that procedure. He just left the Navy and got a new job making $140,000 a year managing a big company in Davinport Iowa. He was in Oregan so Iowa is a lot closer. Hope to see him this Dec during the holidays and ask him about how is eyesight is doing. I would give my right arm to get rid of these specticals.


That picture was taken in 1967. It shows not only the little green box but the old 20 HP Mercury outboard that my dads owned. And there is even an old CANE POLE in the background. You see we used the cane poles back then to catch crappie. LOL Those crappie are not very big. They only were about 1/2 lb and 10" long if that.

Note the rental boat that we used back then. LOL.

One of the guys at the TeeZur Tournament fished in Cypress Bay and weighed in a nice mess of KY Lake slabs. I can't remember his name but I think he is with Crappie USA. I need to email Richard and find out who that guy is. I would like to find out where he caught those fish in Cypress Bay. Also I would like to get him to talk with Pat Hase and see if he can get Pat to sidescan and map out Cypress Bay and especially the area right at the mouth of Cypress bay where the Cypress creek runs into the old Tennessee River channel. Cypress bay would have been a good place to fish with that North Wind that we had. I was not aware that we could go there and fish for the tournament. LOL I know that bay very well as I fished it so many times. Just never really fished it for crappie like I would today.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fatboy

Nice pocket protector Moose!!!!

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Moose1am

Humminbird Products

I am on my second Humminbird depth finder. The first one I used was a flasher unit. My present unit is a repaired Humminbird LCR 8000 unit. I paid about $800 dollars for it when it was brand new back in the early 1980's. It's been a great depth finder and still will work today.

I did have some problems with it about ten years ago and I sent it into the HumminBird Factory for repairs. They charged a fixed fee for this service ( about 50 bucks if I remember right ) and they repaired the unit and had it back to me in less than a week or maybe two weeks. It was winter time when I sent the unit in for repairs and I didn't miss it. I was surprised that they fixed it so fast.

The repaired unit is still in use today. I may send it back in again to see if they can get some moisture out of it. At times I get an error message but if I turn it off and back on the goes away.

I have gotten 20 year of use out of this LCR 8000 unit and it's still going strong. Can anyone else out there say that they have been using the same depth finder for the last 20 years?

Jerry Blake has written about the Humminbird repair policy and he likes it also.

Now I have not heard much from the Lowrance guys about the Lowrance repair policys. What I have heard was a few guys not having much luck with the Lowrance repairs when their unit's failed to work. Now my first depth finder was the Lowrance little Green Box. See picture attached for proof. LOL
Lowrance was the first company to make retail type depth finders for the average fishermen. I learned to use a depth finder and to interupt the signals on the Lowrance Little Green Box while fishing KY Lake back in the 1960.

I too am looking at the Humminbird Matrix units. They seem to have what I need. My second choice would be the Garmin depth finders combined with the garmin Gps unit.

The Humminbird Matrix 37 can use the Quadra thing transducer which not only shows you what is directly below the boat but what is out to the side.

I was really wanting one of the discontinued humminbirds that showed a 3d image of the bottom around the boat. Not sure why those are not being sold these days.

BTW Humminbird was the first company to come out with the LCR screen.

And this year I was still able to buy a new transducer for my 20 year old unit.

I like the humminbird unit that I have but then again I have grown old with it.

And it's made in the good old USA. Efula Alabama is where they make the Humminbird units.

---

I still have my green flasher. Just like the one with you in the picture. It still works. It has a hand held cord with the transducer attached, and runs off a 6 volt lantern battery. The first portable, and also advertised that way. Wow! What memories.