Electronics

[RogersonCrusoe]

I’m guessing my learning curve is going to be interesting as well
Just boating safely is a chore in some spots compared to an interior lake and now throw in electronics downrigger and not to mention a fish on ! Gonna be a blast even if it’s a small one
Should tell everyone my story of the giant monster that got away but that’s a different thread lol
So fishing with electronics and especially charts/plotters makes the difference
Kinda makes sense but this fishing hobby is more like a sickness lol
Imagine all the dollars saved if fishing stopped at the grocery store
Now on to charts gps and plotters
Tell me more master

Aside from the wealth of info you'll get from the members here, many of us will be willing to assist in your first few outings to establish / build confidence. It's amazing what a case of beer will get you here.

It's easy to learn but, of course, nearly impossible to master. But that's the fun of it!

7" is what I have on my boat which is sufficient for either sonar or charts, but not idea for both at the same time . While trolling I have my phone in a holder with charts so the sounder is dedicated sonar.

 

[Redfisher]

I have guided and fished extensively the past 10 years using Lowrance units. If I was you and starting out I would buy a 7” Lowrance HDS unit or a bit cheaper Elite unit and an Airmar P66 transducer.
I run split screen all the time and use the sounder side more than the chart plotter side as bait and bottom are critical to catching chinooks. The touch screens are nice to navigate with.
Just my opinion but after years of Furuno on commercial boats the Lowrance is simple yet effective.

 

[acrowe]

Interesting topic - I have electronics a few years old, a Lowrance Mark 5x sonar and Standard Horizon GPS chartplotter. I find them both very useful. I can sometimes see salmon on the sonar but not always. I say this because I was jigging about 20 odd trips this summer and sometimes I would see what I thought were salmon where I thought my gear hopefully was then immediately get one on. Most of the time I did not see fish before they hit. What I do see, I think 100%, is baitfish. Seeing them drives the fishing for me jigging, trying to be just above or at the edge. The density and distribution is also noticeable and can give you an idea if they are being fed on and pressured.
I sometimes think of upgrading to a newer sonar as it would be very interesting to see one that consistently showed salmon etc.
I used to use a little hummingbird sonar when trout stillfishing with streamers and nymphs in Manitoba. In the shallow water (less than 20') it often showed fish that would hit a fly when covered (obviously the most fun is casting to fish you can see).

 

[prodjsaig]

lowrance are nice units with the p66. you can only get the p66 with the xsonic 9 pin so you need to buy the adapter 9 to 7 pin for $50. stock lowrance transducers are terrible the 50khz and the 83khz. they work but fail in like 2 years or so. so the p66 is the needed transducer.

 

[Sir Reel]

I know this is not for everyone as pretty expensive but wanted to show what this can look like.
This is an Airmar B175HW 1KW Chirp transducer connected to a Garmin 1242xsv. I really like the whole setup.
You can aslo save different sounder preset configs like deep fishing, shallow fishing, cruising, etc.
When cruising I need to change frequency to 150khz only to hold bottom so I have that as a preset.

Kitty Coleman. “The Hump” lots of fish and bait but mostly shakers but arches all the way down to bottom.




T10 between North Arm and Sandheads.
Lots of bait but only a few arches and probably Pinks or shakers.
I think in this case after a few passes it helped us decide to move elsewhere.

 

[fishin solo]

lowrance are nice units with the p66. you can only get the p66 with the xsonic 9 pin so you need to buy the adapter 9 to 7 pin for $50. stock lowrance transducers are terrible the 50khz and the 83khz. they work but fail in like 2 years or so. so the p66 is the needed transducer.

You can still order p66 transducers with 7 pin.

 

[prodjsaig]

harder to find curious where you got the 7 pin? I had to order one from defender marine in florida. harbour chandler has the 9 pin.

 

[fishin solo]

harder to find curious where you got the 7 pin? I had to order one from defender marine in florida. harbour chandler has the 9 pin.
i order them in that way

 

[Loghauler]

Smallest size that can handle splt screen viewing is 7". Even the you'll mostly want to run either full screen sonar or full screen GPS, depending what you're doing. So you either buy a larger screen unit up front or at least get a 7" in a model that has networking capability so you can add a second unit later.

I know this is not for everyone as pretty expensive but wanted to show what this can look like.
This is an Airmar B175HW 1KW Chirp transducer connected to a Garmin 1242xsv. I really like the whole setup.
You can aslo save different sounder preset configs like deep fishing, shallow fishing, cruising, etc.
When cruising I need to change frequency to 150khz only to hold bottom so I have that as a preset.

Kitty Coleman. “The Hump” lots of fish and bait but mostly shakers but arches all the way down to bottom.

View attachment 70405


T10 between North Arm and Sandheads.
Lots of bait but only a few arches and probably Pinks or shakers.
I think in this case after a few passes it helped us decide to move elsewhere.
View attachment 70406

So the orange and red clouds are bait fish and arches are the big fish/salmon
That looks like a nice set up!
thanks for showing it

 

[Loghauler]

Has anyone tried a live sight transducer or know about them ?

 

[prodjsaig]

Aside from the wealth of info you'll get from the members here, many of us will be willing to assist in your first few outings to establish / build confidence. It's amazing what a case of beer will get you here.

It's easy to learn but, of course, nearly impossible to master. But that's the fun of it!

7" is what I have on my boat which is sufficient for either sonar or charts, but not idea for both at the same time . While trolling I have my phone in a holder with charts so the sounder is dedicated sonar.

Ya its bare minimum for a larger boat say 18' and above. 2 7 would be nice or a 9. 7 will run you about $1000.

Still have the 5" lowrance gen 1 from my 16'. One 7 hds gen 3 also. Figuring out the networking tomorrow see if I can get a few pics.