05-03-2010, 11:32 AM
[cool][#0000ff]As you have discovered, there are a lot of different sonars on the market. Many of them are way too much in function and price for what we need as tubers and tooners. On the other end are some cheapie units that do little more than consume batteries and give you false hope with fake signals.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The Fishin' Buddies have improved a lot in the past couple of years. A lot of our ilk have found them to be just dandy for floatation fishing. But, as with all things fishing, you should make your choice based on several factors...budget, type of fishing you do and what kind of readouts you want or need.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you do not leave your sonar turned all all day, on every trip, you can get decent life out of the D cell batteries. But, the lower the power/wattage the less real info you can get and the less accurate both the bottom structure and fish ID readings. Power equals output. A good 12 volt system with at least 1500 watts will make you a better sonar fisherman.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The sidefinder feature is good if you fish for trout, crappie or other suspending fish...in water less than about 25 feet deep. Otherwise a "regular" sonar with a cone of at least 20 degree angle is better. And you hardly ever catch the fish you see on sonar anyway because unless you are vertical jigging you are casting away from the beam on your sonar. But it is good to know at what depth the fish are cruising, relative to the bottom.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you spend some time looking through past threads and using the SEARCH feature on BFT you can find lots of discussions on sonar. Here is a [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=514351;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]LINK TO HUMMINBIRD 565[/url] that I put up a while back. Quite a few of our members use that unit. However it is out of production now and the new version is the 570.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The Fishin' Buddies have improved a lot in the past couple of years. A lot of our ilk have found them to be just dandy for floatation fishing. But, as with all things fishing, you should make your choice based on several factors...budget, type of fishing you do and what kind of readouts you want or need.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you do not leave your sonar turned all all day, on every trip, you can get decent life out of the D cell batteries. But, the lower the power/wattage the less real info you can get and the less accurate both the bottom structure and fish ID readings. Power equals output. A good 12 volt system with at least 1500 watts will make you a better sonar fisherman.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The sidefinder feature is good if you fish for trout, crappie or other suspending fish...in water less than about 25 feet deep. Otherwise a "regular" sonar with a cone of at least 20 degree angle is better. And you hardly ever catch the fish you see on sonar anyway because unless you are vertical jigging you are casting away from the beam on your sonar. But it is good to know at what depth the fish are cruising, relative to the bottom.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you spend some time looking through past threads and using the SEARCH feature on BFT you can find lots of discussions on sonar. Here is a [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=514351;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]LINK TO HUMMINBIRD 565[/url] that I put up a while back. Quite a few of our members use that unit. However it is out of production now and the new version is the 570.[/#0000ff]
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