Recommend a fishfinder

[bowzonly]

Freshwater, lakes, resorvoirs and Del river. Want to see a fish next to a rock at 30 feet and want the thing to tell me what lure it will bite on. Just kidding about the lure thing. And I dont even know if the things are capable of showing a fish next to a rock like that,. Are they? Should I get one with side scan? Willing to spend around 500. Thanks Bruce

[Ol Pedro]

I have 2 Humminbird 100 portables that I'm not using that I could part with for a small price if you want one of them . You don't need a fancy side scan like Capt. Rich has to catch fish . I use them to look at the bottom and find drops/structure more than seeing actual fish . Since my lake is out of water I don't them any more . PM me if you are interested . A small investment now can save you money later .

[jimmythegreek]

it depends on what u wanna see. First off dont buy any FF unless it has dual beams which is 60 degree cone, there will be a 20 degree cone inside it. Most humminbirds that are newer have this. Ur choices there will be color or B&W and some higher end basics have GPS too, but u will be over 500 if buying new. The side imaging is incredible, I have a 998SI at the bow, a 565 at the bow thru my terrova w dual beams, and a 595color w GPS at the helm. I cant beleive why I didnt buy the 998 sooner. J&H had great pricing, I can make 2 passes on most lakes and see the WHOLE lake bottom, it would take 15 passes to do w the dual beam FF. But I do alot of trout and walleye etc. fishing, if you do basic bass where u want depth and possible structure a basic will suffice. Used may be the way to go u can find a 5" screen w SI for around 500 if thats important to u

[aluislugo]

I bought one of these from Amazaon for $49.99 with free shipping

NorCross HawkEye F33P Fish Finder. I wasn't looking to break the bank and I needed something basic that was well rated.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BV6B6K/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00

[NorthJerzyG]

Lately, I've been thinkin about picking up a Lowrance Elite5x DSI. Seems like it would have all the right features at a middle of the road price from what I've seen.

There are two versions of the same one. The more expensive model, Elite5 DSI, has gps and chart plotting which I don't think I'd really use much anyway.

Anyone have one or ever use one?

[dboyd101]

I have a 4x dsi and love it. and i have used the gps before when i can't see ANYTHING in the fog. helped tremendously. i think the 5 is just a widescreen vs the 4...save about $150 w/the 4xdsi vs the 5xdsi

[NorthJerzyG]

Thanx for heads up. And even with the smaller screen you can still see all the detail?

[flyboy1]

Is there a fish finder that actually shows exactly whats on the bottom in detail... like almost you can tell what kind of fish is on the scanner...?

[jimmythegreek]

the 998SI I have tells u everything but what kinda fish is there once u use it a bit and understand it. Nothing can tell u what breed of fish but one can guess pretty well given placement, water body, and location. I cant beleive the stuff I see on the side imaging, its sick

[acabtp]

Is there a fish finder that actually shows exactly whats on the bottom in detail... like almost you can tell what kind of fish is on the scanner...?
yes and no. they aren't saying "that's a yellow perch, that's a bass", but they can tell the difference between sizes and body shapes of fish. when you learn to read the raw sonar return data, you can easily judge the size of fish, see schools of bait, structure, etc to determine the info you need and make a pretty accurate assumption as to what you are seeing. IMO they all work best when you turn off the 'fish id' modes and just view the sonar feed directly, so a nice high resolution screen is good for that.

[dboyd101]

njg - Small screen doesn't bother me. I have bad eyes from working on a camp and have no issues. you can change the contrast too so that definitely helps. many different options. it's good stuff. hope that helps!