Fishing Forum

Hello and thanks for taking time to read. I recently purchased my first boat and need some advice on fish finders. I like to fish for blue cats and prefer to catch shad for bait. I have a 19 foot aluminum hulled ski boat, if relevant. I don't have experience with fish-finders, so the simpler the better (I am comfortable with high tech electronics in general)
[ol][li]What are some quality fish-finders that won't break the bank? (don't want to spend more than 500 in any case, would like to stay lower)
[/li][li]What style/type of transducer should I buy? (Or do fish-finders usually come with a good one?) - how many degrees, etc
[/li][li]What features are "must haves"? [/li][li]How many watts for fresh water lakes do you need?
[/li][/ol] Thanks Again,

MJ
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12 volts on most of the fish finders I have seen.

most all finders come with transducers.

as for under $500.oo
Look in to the eagle brand finders. You should find one of thier products in your price range.
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Hummingbird is also a user freindly unit to look at.
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Thanks for the advice! Any particular models? I couldn't find eagle locally but Hummingbird (and lowrance). Any of these particularly good/bad?
597 ci hd 499
587 ci hd 499
586c hd 350
345c 280
190c 220

Appreciate the help.
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As anything else, a finder will have more tricks in it the more you spend. The 587 ci has a gps package as well as a finder. I have found that a big plus in helping me find fish. I'm sure they are all good units, you have to decide how much you want to spend.
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If you are on a budget, look at a B&W sonar unit and a separate hand-held GPS. I'm using a $100 Humminbird 170 on my kayak and it gives me all the info I need about structure and fish. I haven't felt a need yet to mark hotspots on a GPS, but you can pick up some great deals on any of the various web auction sites.

A drawback to that might be that a hand GPS may not have lake bottom maps available. But not every lake is included in the combined sonar/GPS units, either.
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