So I recently got a little lucky with a bonus at work and have suddenly found my self in the market to upgrade my fish finder. I am looking at the Hummingbird helix 7 vs Garmin striker 7 and was wondering if anyone has any input or thoughts on what they like. I own several other Garmin units for hunting and have always been pleased with their performance. On the flip side I have always heard good things about the helix units as well. I mostly troll but would like to learn how to vertically jig for fish as well. I am also curious about the side scan? How many use this feature and is it worth the extra $$$. Thanks in advance for any input
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Hi betterthanwork,
I own the hummingbird helix 7 si. I troll a lot and love to Kokanee fish. The side imaging has been great for Kokanee because they school together so I can mark the school and return to my mark usually picking up a double or triple. For bass and catfish the si has been relatively useless but given the right opportunity identification of structure might be very valuable. I haven’t used a Garmin but do love my hummingbird hope this helps your search!
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Watch a lot of you tube see which will work for the way you fish
a lot of helix 7 to look at
https://fishfinders.factoryoutletstore.c...hyEALw_wcB
I like this in a fish finder so I can see my down rigger balls this and GPS would be the main thing for the way I fish
Dual Spectrum CHIRP SONAR, the user gets a clear, well-defined coverage of the fish in two modes, wide mode that provides maximum coverage and narrow mode offers maximum detail.
SI is a lot better than it use to be, you need to learn how to use it
I Don't use it a lot, but would be lost without it
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Thank you for the input. Trolling for Kokanee is exactly what I am wanting to get better at with this finder. Hopefully it will work! thanks again
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Me I would eat rice anything cheap save money anyway I could
so I could buy a good fishfinder Wife may not like it but if she likes to fish you have it made I would even wait a year to buy a new one that is good.
If you want to PM me I can take you to Strawberry after kokanee
so you can learn how I use my fishfinder
here is a snap shot of my humminbird 12" Solix
this is at strawberry all the balls you see are schools of chubs
and on the bottom are cutthroats
you can see the Frequency I have on the SI DI, and 2D
on the bottom
you can change them to what ever works best
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I didn't get SI (side imaging) on my last finder and now I'm wanting a new finder... SI is a great help if you chase wiper on Willard, you need to find where those fish and the walleye are hanging out and when there are so many miles of uniform terrain it's very hard to locate where the fish are hanging out and the SI will let you do that... If you don't have a little help like that, you are stuck hoping for luck to cross the schools... At least the SI gives you a wide swath that you are checking instead of a boat width... So I'd recommend that feature for sure... As far as which brand, I haven't tried the Garmin, but have heard good about them as well as the Helix... If you run a Minnkota electric motor the Helix will interface with the motor (features like spot lock and trolling profiles & etc)... Not sure the Garmin can do this... One last thing, you should take liketrolling up on the offer, you'll have a treat from being taught from one of the best... Later J
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