Fishfinder?

[COLETRAIN]

Hello All.

This winter my plan is to purchase fishing gear for next season. I'm hoping to get better deals while the demand is low. One of the things I want to upgrade is my fish finder. I have a very basic fish finder that shows the depth, temp, and three different sizes of fish (maybe they are fish?). I would like to get a finder that has gps so I can mark locations and be able to spot my lure on the screen to help me catch some lake trout next year. I'm like everyone else where I don't want to spend a fortune but I do want something that works. What are your thoughts? Do you have any fish finders you would recommend? Thanks in advance for any input [].
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[fishjon]

I have the hummingbird 525. It runs about 120$ and works fantastic. I fish the gorge for macs. Every fish I catch I watch swim up to my jigs. I am usually in 70 -100 feet of water. I have a lure in the bottom 5' and one mid depth. When a fish comes through I just reel or lower the closest jig to it and its fish on. I've had lots of 20+ mac pup days. I don't fish the areas where there are lots of big uns but I hook one every third trip or so. Never gotten one through the hole. I am always in my tent using a dink rod. The pups are sure a blast though. It doesn't have a gps unit though and that would probably be a must for anyone that is going to target the big boys.

Fishjon
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[Coldfooter]

For icing I use a older Lowance.. ( I dont recall the model # ) But it kicks ass and shows me all I need to know..
But even most lower end units have a way to disable the "fishy" as a targot on the screen, which will leave you seeing a straight line acrost the screen until you move the lure up or down. the solid line will then show you where your lure is depth wise.. But more often than not you need to turn up the sensitivity to see your offering on the screen if your fishing deep.
As far as the GPS, They are a must to return to the biggies once you locate them,,, I use a hand held Garmin...
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[Kevin_VanDam]

+1 one to what Coldfooter said. I use an older Lowrance color model that has a flasher mode and a handheld Garmin GPS to mark the hot spots. Can't wait to get back to some of the spots I marked last year!

[perchski]

I use the Humminbird ICE55 Flasher, the equipment is awesome. I can pick up the tiniest jigs I use for even perchin on the bottom of the water with no problem. You can't beat the flasher in my opinion for picking up suspended crappie either. If your after trout you can even tell approximately how big the fish is that is going to bite and know when they bite. I have hooked fish with this thing before the rod tip bent. Kind of a pricey gadget but they make other models that are more affordable. Hope that helps you[]
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[wiperhunter2]

Wish I could afford this one.
Product Videos


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[fishn_jeff]

hey a good option is the showdown ice troller. i bought one last year absolutely love it. the hundred dollar price tag is nice as well. very good just like the big ones but half the size and 1/4 the price.
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[Hookinup]

I had a hard time deciding between the showdown and the LX5, both from Marcum. Bought the LX5 in October, and have not regrets. Works great. Wish I could afford both, though. The new LX 7 from Marcum looks really nice, but I think it is too much $$$ for me to spend on one

I fished with a Vexilar last year that a buddy of mine had, too. I liked it as well. It worked good too, but I liked the Marcum a little better.
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[northernfisher]

+ 1 and if you do your research you can get that bad boy for $370
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[The_Coach]

I purchased the Showdown two weeks ago. I have had it out twice and I love it...my eight year old loves it too. You can basically watch fish move up or down in the water column and hit your bait.

The Coach
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[northernfisher]

Welcome to the flasher world! My boys love my Ice-55 as well. Its cool to be able to watch the fish come up the water column and take the bait. I can tell when they still the bait off the jig so that's kinda convenient. Overall which ever top end finder a person goes with they should be happy it just goes with that whole ”pay for what you get” saying.
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[catmaster23]

Hey mods, shouldn't this be moved to the flashie shiny electricy forum ? I posted the same thing two days ago and it was gone 6 posts in. I feel some discrimination going on.
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[Kent]

A fishing related thread, that more appropriately belongs on one of the other forums, will often be left on the Utah Fishing General forum as long as the thread is receiving frequent replies. As soon as the replies slow down it is moved to the other forum.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]But, myself and lot of other members kinda feel like you guys are really pushing it to subclassify everything. Most of us come to the main fishing board to read about things relative to current fishing conditions. Right now, ice fishing and electronics is a big item for a lot of us. Why should we have to check in on several other boards to get a complete picture of what people are currently posting. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
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[Kent]

Valid points. BTW -- these movement of threads were done with the best intentions, but I will discuss with my fellow moderators and perhaps we will rethink our current policy.
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[COLETRAIN]

I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong area. I'm new to this fishing forum and I honestly didn't know about the other areas. I've only been going to the general form to read everyone’s posts. Rookie mistake.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and opinions about the fish finders. It has been very helpful to get feedback from real fisherman that aren't paid or have hidden agendas. It seems some times that you will get a salesman that could be getting a higher sales commission on a certain item and they are going to push in a direction that may not always be in your best interest.

Thanks again.
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[Travis23]

Here is a small clip of my lowrance elite 5x dsi, it doesn't have gps but the elite 5 does. Mine was 399.00 the elite 5 is around 500. The clip basically shows how it picks up the movement of your jig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znSDpkZ9...ata_player
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