Fishfinder Questions

[PinkDink]

Hey guys,
Im about to buy a fishfinder for my new to me boat and ive got a few questions to throw out here. I'm thinking of going with the lowrance elite 7 and im hoping to hear from anybody that has or had one. Just curios how it preforms for salmon trolling and if anyone thinks theres a better unit for a grand ish ?. More so I would like to hear some opinions on the best transducer to get for fishing strictly in the chuck.. ill be fishing all of the local fisheries (vancouver) and offshore gulf islands. After some research im kinda stuck between a hdi 50/200 khz or the 83/200 khz. What do you guys think the best bet is for trolling in our local waters.

Thx

 

[Sharphooks]

Sounds like you're looking for a chartplotter with fishfinder capabilities?

For a "grand ish", you could get a really nice dedicated fishfinder and transducer---- I'd recommend a Furuno 587 with an Airmar P66 transducer. Excellent salmon combo, will track your gear like nobody's business, and if you want crystal clear target returns, it will also fire a 1KW transducer

If what you need is a chartplotter / fishfinder combo and you're looking to spend +/- a grand, yes, the Elite 7 will fit the bill. The fact that it's already loaded with charts is a big plus

 

[Charlie415]

50/200 transducer will out perform the 83/200. The best transducer you can afford will make a big difference.

 

[PinkDink]

Ya im looking for a gps combo. I was looking at the airmar to use with the elite 7 but i dont think the airmar is down imaging capable

 

[macro]

Do some reading on CHIRP. All the mfg's offer it now, and it is a game changer.

I'm running a TM150 on a lowrance, its relatively economical. Good luck with your search.

 

[Charlie415]

If you can afford it chirp is hands down a far better transducer if the sounder supports it.

 

[fogged in]

I have a Lawrance HDS- 8" and it has never missed a beat in over 10 years.
Great GPS and Sonar (fish finder)
got Structure Scan too...what a waste of money that was!!!!
No use whatsoever in depths over 100' as far as I can see.

 

[macro]

I have a Lawrance HDS- 8" and it has never missed a beat in over 10 years.
Great GPS and Sonar (fish finder)
got Structure Scan too...what a waste of money that was!!!!
No use whatsoever in depths over 100' as far as I can see.

If I ever sell my chirp module, I'll let you know - Its an add on box that I got for my lowrance.. Connects via the ethernet port. /End of thread jack.

 

[wildthing]

just go p66 and what ever head unit ... 7"-9"
the finder does not put fish in the boat..

 

[macro]

just go p66 and what ever head unit ... 7"-9"
the finder does not put fish in the boat..

Have you used chirp? I've done both, and your right ... it does not put fish in the boat, but it does help narrow your search and help with what depth to target. I've had conditions at thrasher where the algae was so bad my 70/200 would not Mark bottom, let alone Mark fish. The chirp still would.

Chirp has been around long enough to now that you don't pay much of a premium for it

 

[redman210]

All I can add for advice is the following. Last boat I had I put he Lowrance HDS series on it... HD8 I believe. Loved it.... was always accurate and quick. My new boat.... I got a great deal on the Hummingbird Helix 10..... HATE IT! Although the GPS is good... most likely because I added the external GPS antenna/compass..... the sonar sucks....
Because I have dual driving stations... I added a cheaper Lowrance sonar only unit to the back.... love it....
I run both at the same time now... Hummingbird for GPS and tracking, the Lowrance for Sonar.
The Hummingbird loses track of bottom frequently, and decides to shut down altogether when it feels like it.
Lowrance for the win... IMO!
I have heard great thing about Raymarine as of late.

 

[PinkDink]

Thx for the replies. Ya im pretty much set on lowrance ill be getting a elite ti or a hds if i can find one for the right price. I was just abit confused on what transducer to get i dont mind paying more for a better product. The whole 50/200 for deeper water and 83 for shallower water threw me off. Looks like ill be going with a 50/200 with chirp hopefully.

 

[Stizzla]

Elite is a great unit. I played with a Hook2 7 which is Lowrance bottom line and it still has a great map and decent sonar. I’m sure the elite 7 being the next step up will be solid. The hds is the tits.

 

[noluck]

hds all the way

 

[Olde School]

3 years ago, after mixed advice from stores, I actually called Lowrance and posed the question about matching a 1000W transducer with a sounder outputting 600W. The technician chuckled and told me that stores were upselling many people on this more powerful transducer that would not benefit the user at all. It isn't all about power.

 

[Sr SQ]

3 years ago, after mixed advice from stores, I actually called Lowrance and posed the question about matching a 1000W transducer with a sounder outputting 600W. The technician chuckled and told me that stores were upselling many people on this more powerful transducer that would not benefit the user at all. It isn't all about power.

The tech you talked to must have been a salesman......or he lied to you because Lowrance doesn't have any 1k transducers to sell you.
It isn't all about the power......is only partially true, the "Q" ( in layman's terms the ears) is most important and for the most part all higher wattage transducers have a much higher "Q" and in many cases the difference is 50x higher between 600 and 1k transducers.
I have seen the results on many units including on a 300w HDS first gen and its night and day with 1k transducer.

 

[Mozart]

I just upgraded from lcx-25 to elite 9 with totalscan. The sonar chart on it works great when working tight against bottom (great for winter spring fishing)
I would recommend add a paddle wheel speed sensor to the unit this is especially useful when fishing during tide movement.
Totalscan works great in chirp mode can track your DownRigger flasher and leadball.

When in high chirp mode it can detect larger salmon below baitball.

I would spend the extra money to get the 9” over 7”. The much more detailed sonar chart really needs the screen real estate.

 

[wildthing]

Have you used chirp? I've done both, and your right ... it does not put fish in the boat, but it does help narrow your search and help with what depth to target. I've had conditions at thrasher where the algae was so bad my 70/200 would not Mark bottom, let alone Mark fish. The chirp still would.

Chirp has been around long enough to now that you don't pay much of a premium for it

do i try ....lol
12" evo-2 linked to a S5100 running into a 1Kw pair SS175-high & SS175-Low //s2009 to p66
sonarhub to LSS-2 / nep-2 /ac-12/ rc42 / point 1 ap / 4g radar / sonic hub 2 all networked N2K and Ethernet..

think i have a good enough system ....

 

[macro]

do i try ....lol
12" evo-2 linked to a S5100 running into a 1Kw pair SS175-high & SS175-Low //s2009 to p66
sonarhub to LSS-2 / nep-2 /ac-12/ rc42 / point 1 ap / 4g radar / sonic hub 2 all networked N2K and Ethernet..

think i have a good enough system ....

Wow - Lots of nice tech. I haven't fished the P66 - I was considering it as an upgrade to the standard 70/200 transducer before I ended up with the TM150M. Given that you have like 4 grand in high end transducers hanging off your boat, do you still bother looking at returns from the P66? Does it reveal anything the others do not?

Also, have you ever been able to mark Hali laying on bottom? (not sure you see many out of gibsons, but the odd one seems to make it up)

 

[wildthing]

run the p66 at 50 htz on the s2009 and mainly use the high 175 at 200 htz or some times on full chirp
the 175s with bsm-2/3, S5100 dont like quick drop off's and sometimes lag behind the p66 .

a few times run the low at 40 htz but i use the evo to chart as well and then the split screen's start to get a bit small..

daft as i used to use a 5" elite and a 7" elite HDi
to be honest not used the low to go bottom fishing but i have that option
when i move the stuff over to the Bertram this winter
i'll prob fit a high wide and a medium ss175 just to complete all the bases
as the s5100 can do 3 channels and i have the sonarhub/s2009 1 ch of chirp

most of my stuff i got used so did not pay full prices but built it up over a period of time .
hence why my original comment,,, its not put loads more in the box...but its nice to have the toys
the fishing spots around the sunshine coast are well known ....
and my chart tracks look like spaghetti....