Recommendations for new fish finder

INTIMIDATOR7x · Aug-23-2009, 01:09 PM

I am upgrading my electronics on my 22' C/C...Any recommendations for a good offshore sounder???

Spicy Tuna · Aug-23-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR7x

I am upgrading my electronics on my 22' C/C...Any recommendations for a good offshore sounder???

Their all pretty good. I would consider sticking with the same brand as your other electronics just in case in the future you want to network with um. I wouldn't recommend getting anything less than a unit that is capable of going depths of 2000'. This is really useful in places like the 302 etc. when other fish finders will not show anything unless it can see the bottom.

alex88 · Aug-23-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spicy Tuna

I wouldn't recommend getting anything less than a unit that is capable of going depths of 2000'. This is really useful in places like the 302 etc. when other fish finders will not show anything unless it can see the bottom.

wrong, you don't need to see bottom. i paid over a grand for my finder and i can't see the top of most of the spots out there. the peak of the 302 is at like 1800', maybe if it were a lake, and i was drifting over the top of it i could read it. even then i would have to turn the gain all the way up and make everything else unreadable. running or trolling past? no way.

WTH are you fishing for in 2000' of water anyways??? Nothing, so why would it be useful to see the bottom?. offshore you only need to see the top 50-200'. I sure as hell am not codding in 2000'. Even though a finder does not read bottom, you still get returns from things under your boat that are shallower, just manually adjust your depth to read 0-200', 0-100' or something around there, you will pick up tuna schools under your boat.

Furuno 620, and an Airmar B45 transducer and hi speed fairing block is what i use. i like it a lot. definition and clarity are first rate. that's a 600W unit, if your looking for a 1KW unit, i don't have any experiance so i won't tell you to go blow five grand on something ive never used. i'll leave that to someone else.

Spicy Tuna · Aug-23-2009, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex88

wrong, you don't need to see bottom. i paid over a grand for my finder and i can't see the top of most of the spots out there. the peak of the 302 is at like 1800', maybe if it were a lake, and i was drifting over the top of it i could read it. even then i would have to turn the gain all the way up and make everything else unreadable. running or trolling past? no way.

WTH are you fishing for in 2000' of water anyways??? Nothing, so why would it be useful to see the bottom?. offshore you only need to see the top 50-200'. I sure as hell am not codding in 2000'. Even though a finder does not read bottom, you still get returns from things under your boat that are shallower, just manually adjust your depth to read 0-200', 0-100' or something around there, you will pick up tuna schools under your boat.

Furuno 620, and an Airmar B45 transducer and hi speed fairing block is what i use. i like it a lot. definition and clarity are first rate. that's a 600W unit, if your looking for a 1KW unit, i don't have any experiance so i won't tell you to go blow five grand on something ive never used. i'll leave that to someone else.

Well shit man my 667 fruno won't read anything if it can't hit the bottom. Just a bunch of colorful lines. I guess it's busted then!

sickcat · Aug-23-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spicy Tuna

Well shit man my 667 fruno won't read anything if it can't hit the bottom. Just a bunch of colorful lines. I guess it's busted then!

Won't work for you on manual settings? What xducer?

Spicy Tuna · Aug-23-2009, 08:02 PM

It's a thru hull trans. Everything seems to work great. I noticed it for the first time at the 302. Didn't start working until I got to the nados. Just a bunch of vertical colorful lines about maybe 1/4 of an inch wide. One after the other.

BiggestT · Aug-23-2009, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex88

wrong, you don't need to see bottom. i paid over a grand for my finder and i can't see the top of most of the spots out there. the peak of the 302 is at like 1800', maybe if it were a lake, and i was drifting over the top of it i could read it. even then i would have to turn the gain all the way up and make everything else unreadable. running or trolling past? no way.

WTH are you fishing for in 2000' of water anyways??? Nothing, so why would it be useful to see the bottom?. offshore you only need to see the top 50-200'. I sure as hell am not codding in 2000'. Even though a finder does not read bottom, you still get returns from things under your boat that are shallower, just manually adjust your depth to read 0-200', 0-100' or something around there, you will pick up tuna schools under your boat.

Furuno 620, and an Airmar B45 transducer and hi speed fairing block is what i use. i like it a lot. definition and clarity are first rate. that's a 600W unit, if your looking for a 1KW unit, i don't have any experiance so i won't tell you to go blow five grand on something ive never used. i'll leave that to someone else.

X2!

Furuno 582 with 500 watt transducer. I can read down to 1500', but what's the point? At most I use the 400' range setting, but most of the time it's 200' and above. I don't fish for rock fish as that is about as exciting as polishing the boat. Rockfishing is meat fishing, not sportfishing.

alex88 · Aug-23-2009, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spicy Tuna

It's a thru hull trans. Everything seems to work great. I noticed it for the first time at the 302. Didn't start working until I got to the nados. Just a bunch of vertical colorful lines about maybe 1/4 of an inch wide. One after the other.

sounds like your gain may be set too high, try setting it to 200' and manually turn the gain down until a majority of the clutter is gone. you may also be getting all that stuff on the screen cause of air bubbles. it needs to be mounted away from the tansom and any fitting or chines under your boat.

also too far forward can catch air bubbles from the bow rising and pushing it under the ducer, mine blanks out when you put it in reverse and send all the wash past it tward the bow..

middleofnowhere · Aug-23-2009, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spicy Tuna

Well shit man my 667 fruno won't read anything if it can't hit the bottom. Just a bunch of colorful lines. I guess it's busted then!

The colorful lines may be an indication that the angle of your transducer is wrong. I installed a Lowrance/Airmar B60 thru hull that was intended for 20 degree dead rise. The bottom of my cat hull is rounded and I ended up getting the xducer at about 26 degrees. Tech support says the vertical lines are because of my installation. Just a note, I only get the vertical lines in deep water. My ducer works great in shallow stuff with the wide beam angle. I plan on fixing this problem when I have a spare weekend to remove the ducer and reinstall.

By the way, I am using a Lowrance HDS-10. Installation was a breeze (except for the ducer). Price was right from Hodgesmarine.com. The stock "insight" charts are really great. The broadband sounder is built into the unit, so you don't need a separate module. The gps antennae is also built into the unit, it works great flush mounted in my dash and under my hardtop.

The only gripe I have about the unit is that it doesn't work with the Navionics chart I bought for $250. It is also true what everyone says about Lowrance customer support.

I owned Lowrance before, so the user interface was a breeze for me. It is a good idea to stick with what you know sometimes.
Good luck.

Spicy Tuna · Aug-23-2009, 11:29 PM

Well I'm not sure exactly how it would be installed wrong. It's honestly through the hull chillin underneith my boat. Looks to be a professional installation. Looks to sit pretty much parallel to the waterline. Like I said it works fine on all settings, auto/manual until I get outta the 1000' range then it goes apeshit. It actually works pretty good crusing. I do get the surface bubbles on the screen but it still works. I wonder if it is in fact a transducer issue. I thought about sending the unit in but not sure actually. Sorry for taking over your post dude! From the sounds of it get a GPS that works!

slief · Aug-24-2009, 07:21 AM

I run a FVC585 and a B164 1Kw ducer.I can read bottom at 1000' running at 27MPH...

That said, I would definitely go with a new Furuno. Either a FCV620 or the 585.. As far as the ducer goes, any through hull would be great. A transom mounted ducer will have more issues finding bottom while under way. I would give Jim at BOE Marine a call. He wont steer you wrong and will even save you a chunk of money. They are a full service Furuno dealer with some of the best prices out there. I have spent a fortune with them for very good reason!

slief · Aug-24-2009, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spicy Tuna

Well shit man my 667 fruno won't read anything if it can't hit the bottom. Just a bunch of colorful lines. I guess it's busted then!

Have you tried adjusting the range to 300' and turning the gain down? 1800' is pretty deep even under ideal conditions depending on the ducer. If the finder cant read bottom and the range is set to Auto or 1000+' you likely to get a bunch of crap on the screen or flashing.