Depth sounders

finaddict

finaddict

Well-Known Member
Looking for a new sounder for my 26'Toba. I have a Hummingbird 400 on it right now and also have a hummingbird 100 on my jet boat. Needless to say I think they are both pieces of crap.:( I need to get a decent sounder that accurately pick up balls of bait fish, as well as target fish and shows a real sonar reflection, not a cute little fishy icon whenever it picks up a sonar blip. I also need to be able to tune it to identify that thermalclines are not the bottom.

Anyways, I know that there are some real experts on sounders on this site and I am hoping to tap into that vast expertise here. What sounder do you use and why do you like it or hate it.

Thanks for all your help
 
Working with a $400 budget it will be tough to get what you want. The saying, "you get what you pay for", really is true. I see my sounder as the most important piece of equipment on my boat. I have the Lowrance LCX-19C. Love it. I had to swallow hard when I bought it but it was the best thing I ever did. It will be interesting to see what others say and whether there is a unit out there in your price range that will do what you want. Good luck and great fishing!
 
Working with a $400 budget it will be tough to get what you want. The saying, "you get what you pay for", really is true. I see my sounder as the most important piece of equipment on my boat. I have the Lowrance LCX-19C. Love it. I had to swallow hard when I bought it but it was the best thing I ever did. It will be interesting to see what others say and whether there is a unit out there in your price range that will do what you want. Good luck and great fishing!
 
Thanks for the heads up Slabby. I think it may be wise for me to open up the discussion a bit rather than try to restrict it to $400. I know I need a good sounder so I'll keep the budget open and see what others can recommend.

How much was your Lowrance LCX-19C?
 
Thanks for the heads up Slabby. I think it may be wise for me to open up the discussion a bit rather than try to restrict it to $400. I know I need a good sounder so I'll keep the budget open and see what others can recommend.

How much was your Lowrance LCX-19C?
 
I got a Eagle Seafinder 480 DF, It is 500 watts RMS, dual frequency grayscale sounder, with speed and temp, and i am very impressed with it for the price. I can sometimes pick up things better than our foruno color sounder on our big boat, that cost about $1200 a few years ago can. It still reads well at full speed, (30 knots) and has enough power to go deep. I got mine at sherwood marine for $260 + tax. Island outfitters wanted around $400 for it. Check out the eagle/lowrance website and you can compare them all.
 
I got a Eagle Seafinder 480 DF, It is 500 watts RMS, dual frequency grayscale sounder, with speed and temp, and i am very impressed with it for the price. I can sometimes pick up things better than our foruno color sounder on our big boat, that cost about $1200 a few years ago can. It still reads well at full speed, (30 knots) and has enough power to go deep. I got mine at sherwood marine for $260 + tax. Island outfitters wanted around $400 for it. Check out the eagle/lowrance website and you can compare them all.
 
I've recently purchases a lowrance X107C and think its fantastic. Color is the only way to go! Lots of power and duel frequency provides for a larger cone angle on the 50 khz(35 degrees). But at $800 it is probably more than you want to spend. However, I now consider a good sounder esential equipment. Once you pass over fish and find where they're holding you can work that area over and over. Excellent at indicating what depth the fish are residing at as well. Its putting more fish in the boat already and I havn't had it for very long.
 
I've recently purchases a lowrance X107C and think its fantastic. Color is the only way to go! Lots of power and duel frequency provides for a larger cone angle on the 50 khz(35 degrees). But at $800 it is probably more than you want to spend. However, I now consider a good sounder esential equipment. Once you pass over fish and find where they're holding you can work that area over and over. Excellent at indicating what depth the fish are residing at as well. Its putting more fish in the boat already and I havn't had it for very long.
 
HiYa Finaddict,

Last year when I was outfitting the Dream Weaver, I had a good long look at the many, many options out there for sounders. So many it gets downright confusing! Made the concious decision that I also wanted an integral GPS Plot-Charter for offshore work + dual beam sonar + at least 2" target seperation down to 1,500 feet, + water temperature, and it simply HAD to be User Friendly, so that somewhat narrowed down the field, but of course also jumped the price up a fair bit.

After some serious searching, reading volumes of literature, and asking many of our area's guides what their choice and why were, I finally decided on HumminBird's Matrix 97. While not the priciest in their line, it looked to be just what I was looking for, and the bonus was that a single Navionics Card gave me coverage for the whole of the waters around The Rock.

Used it a LOT last year, and am very pleased to report that I am more than happy with it. Much more than the older style "sporty" sounders I was used to, this clearly shows bait (and I soon learned to recognize the tell-tale signals that indicated a school of bait under attack!) and predators alike. The plotter confirmed a lot of what I already knew regarding structure, and even identified new spots worthy of interest I hadn't been aware of dispite many years of plying the WCVI. Waypoint entry and navigation to the same is a snap. In short, to find a piece of equipment at this stage of my fishing career that makes me think "How the heck did I ever get along without that?" is pretty rare. In this case, that's exactly what happened!

Happy with that choice. The Gal that is the Top Guide for Painter's over on the other side also runs the same unit, and says much the same as I. Of course there are many others out there to look at and choose from, but I don't think you can go wrong with the Matrix 97! It is a tad pricier than what you're looking at, but as Slabby suggested, in this case, you certainly DO "Get what you pay for!!"

Info Here: http://www.humminbird.com/products.asp?ID=381

Cheers,
Nog
 
HiYa Finaddict,

Last year when I was outfitting the Dream Weaver, I had a good long look at the many, many options out there for sounders. So many it gets downright confusing! Made the concious decision that I also wanted an integral GPS Plot-Charter for offshore work + dual beam sonar + at least 2" target seperation down to 1,500 feet, + water temperature, and it simply HAD to be User Friendly, so that somewhat narrowed down the field, but of course also jumped the price up a fair bit.

After some serious searching, reading volumes of literature, and asking many of our area's guides what their choice and why were, I finally decided on HumminBird's Matrix 97. While not the priciest in their line, it looked to be just what I was looking for, and the bonus was that a single Navionics Card gave me coverage for the whole of the waters around The Rock.

Used it a LOT last year, and am very pleased to report that I am more than happy with it. Much more than the older style "sporty" sounders I was used to, this clearly shows bait (and I soon learned to recognize the tell-tale signals that indicated a school of bait under attack!) and predators alike. The plotter confirmed a lot of what I already knew regarding structure, and even identified new spots worthy of interest I hadn't been aware of dispite many years of plying the WCVI. Waypoint entry and navigation to the same is a snap. In short, to find a piece of equipment at this stage of my fishing career that makes me think "How the heck did I ever get along without that?" is pretty rare. In this case, that's exactly what happened!

Happy with that choice. The Gal that is the Top Guide for Painter's over on the other side also runs the same unit, and says much the same as I. Of course there are many others out there to look at and choose from, but I don't think you can go wrong with the Matrix 97! It is a tad pricier than what you're looking at, but as Slabby suggested, in this case, you certainly DO "Get what you pay for!!"

Info Here: http://www.humminbird.com/products.asp?ID=381

Cheers,
Nog
 
Another happy Eagle 480df user. I was coming up from a Hummingbird Wide 100 as well and the difference is MASSIVE. Speed is a handy feature. I think I paid about $400, taxes in, last year.

Colour is way easier to see in the sun but sadly my budget has other line entries needing attention.
 
Another happy Eagle 480df user. I was coming up from a Hummingbird Wide 100 as well and the difference is MASSIVE. Speed is a handy feature. I think I paid about $400, taxes in, last year.

Colour is way easier to see in the sun but sadly my budget has other line entries needing attention.
 
I purchased the lcx-15mt couple of years ago and just love this unit. Have the gps, speed, and temp. Fishin for lake trout right on the bottom is a snap with this unit, they stand out like a sore thumb. This was more than $400 but lowrance makes other great units with a lower price tag like the x135 and lms-480. A friend has a Garmin unit and is very happy with this as well. Half of the fun is doing all the research!
 
I purchased the lcx-15mt couple of years ago and just love this unit. Have the gps, speed, and temp. Fishin for lake trout right on the bottom is a snap with this unit, they stand out like a sore thumb. This was more than $400 but lowrance makes other great units with a lower price tag like the x135 and lms-480. A friend has a Garmin unit and is very happy with this as well. Half of the fun is doing all the research!
 
I didn't need an awesome depth sounder and bought a Hummingbird Matrix model. Dual beam, etc and I am really happy with it.
 
I didn't need an awesome depth sounder and bought a Hummingbird Matrix model. Dual beam, etc and I am really happy with it.
 
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