fishing sounders

[Trophy]

Looking to upgrade my sounder.I would like to purchase a stand alone sounder that a guy can trust, one that will show arches to depthes of 200ft, matched up with the proper transducer,any opinions would be appreciated.Willing to pay whatever it takes.Thanks

 

[nedarb2]

#1. Furuno
#2. Lowrance HDS

 

[reelfast]

boat shows coming up later this winter. all the major mfg's are always present with factory reps, go ask these folks before you make a purchase.

 

[fishin_magician]

Furuno X 2---you get what you pay for.

 

[Mad Shepherd]

This is a tricky question,as when you really look at these there are so many on the market right now, it really seems to come down to personal preference. I constantly look myself at new Chartplotter/Gps/Sounder etc... as the fact that my Garmin has an external antenna and I have to buy those Blue Chart chips pisses me off. Lowrance, Raymarine and Furuno all have good products but you really have to look at what you want/need and what you are willing to pay for.

IMO

 

[scott craven]

I believe Trophy is not looking for a combo unit, but a sounder only....
lot's of options without breaking the bank.
I prefer a mono/chrome display over color, easier to read, less to go wrong.

Garmin,furuno,lowrance are all good.

take a test drive in westmarine, or your local shop before you buy.
You can spend anywhere from 200-600 bucks for a good unit.

 

[cuttlefish]

Furuno X 3. They have been at it the longest and make the best. I agree, you get what you pay for.
Airmar transducers are great too. 200 khz will give you definition you're looking for at 200 ft. and deeper.

 

[profisher]

Furuno 585 - 1 kilowatt dual frequency (50/200) great unit. Mine matched to a thru hull bronze Airmar transducer. Not cheap but it has been said ...you get what you pay for. BTW the best sounders ever made for showing individual fish were the paper units...hands down. Nothing on the market today can come close. I would still prefer to have a paper unit if they were available and paper was reasonably priced.

 

[chris73]

That's interesting, profisher. Why would that be? Can't be the resolution as a little needle printer cannot show more than a HD LCD screen. And the transducer must have been the same.

 

[profisher]

DEFINITION...it is not limited by pixels. HD just makes a nice sharp looking screen...does nothing for marking fish.

 

[profisher]

Forgot sensitivity in combination with definition

 

[chris73]

So you are saying the processor unit (converting the analog signal into digital data and processing the data) was better on those paper plotter sounders? Hard to believe when you look at the computer processor progress over the last years...

 

[reelfast]

talking to a manufacturers rep is the beginning point. everyone, myself included, is going to rave about the choices 'we' made. for example, in 2006 when i equipped REELFAST, raymarine was the sole manufacturer who had a totally networked suite of products. their screen resolution was far superior to all of the other brands mentioned already. but this is coming on 2011 and the electronics game does not stand still. so go to a boat show and view all of the choices in the span of 100' of floor space. plenty of time to make your personal choice and do the install correctly.

 

[Trophy]

thanks guys. I probably should have asked what everybody is running

 

[fishin_magician]

talking to a manufacturers rep is the beginning point. everyone, myself included, is going to rave about the choices 'we' made. for example, in 2006 when i equipped REELFAST, raymarine was the sole manufacturer who had a totally networked suite of products. their screen resolution was far superior to all of the other brands mentioned already. but this is coming on 2011 and the electronics game does not stand still. so go to a boat show and view all of the choices in the span of 100' of floor space. plenty of time to make your personal choice and do the install correctly.

I disagree. Manufacturers Reps are about selling their product. There's a saying that every farmer says their horse is the best. It's a question of what is best to you---and it will be up to you to research performance and features and educate yourself. A Rep is a good source of information though. A very good sounder and transducer combo will definitely tell you what is going on under your boat...and that's a good thing. Agaim, you get what you pay for.

 

[Sitkaspruce]

Do you guys rely on your sounder and target individual fish or do you use it to just tell you the bottom and where bait is?/

I am curious as to how much info your sounder gives you that is benificial to actually catching fish, or is a lot of the HD and stuff just hype and that you can get by with a cheaper, higher pixel monochrome sounder??

I have to agree with Profisher about the old paper ones. I remember fishing with CL a long time ago and was amazed by what his old paper sounder showed. I have an old Hummingbird Legend that was amazing in the detail it showed, just like a paper one, but in LCD display. Now I have a Lowrance colour that shows bait and bottom, but not in high def.......and I still catch fish.

Cheers

SS

 

[scott craven]

Do you guys rely on your sounder and target individual fish or do you use it to just tell you the bottom and where bait is?/

That's what i use mine for ... if i pick up some fish on screen, all the better

 

[salmonlander]

I have 10 or 12 packages of paper for the Lowrance X16 if anyone needs them,possiblely for a trade. Presently using a Furuno 1650, like it but hard to get arches in shallow water (less than 60 feet)

 

[SpringFever2359]

Do you guys rely on your sounder and target individual fish or do you use it to just tell you the bottom and where bait is?
Cheers

SS

heck ya...many,many times I've picked up individual fish, and either dropped or raised the rigger down to its depth and had it in the boat ...this last summer did this with springs off shore WCVI, coho and feeder springs(that were released) inside Quatsino Sound, both sockeye and chums up Johnstone Strait,

The sounder I'm raving about is the Furuno FCV620 which I just installed this past summer,
on one trip out I was watching(on the screen) a small zinger @ 100ft just off the bottom,my son and his girlfriend were jigging for cod at the time, and could see the cod going in for the bite!...

I cant say enough about the unit I bought,and would recommend it 10 out of 10

 

[cuttlefish]

heck ya...many,many times I've picked up individual fish, and either dropped or raised the rigger down to its depth and had it in the boat ...this last summer did this with springs off shore WCVI, coho and feeder springs(that were released) inside Quatsino Sound, both sockeye and chums up Johnstone Strait,

The sounder I'm raving about is the Furuno FCV620 which I just installed this past summer,
on one trip out I was watching(on the screen) a small zinger @ 100ft just off the bottom,my son and his girlfriend were jigging for cod at the time, and could see the cod going in for the bite!...

I cant say enough about the unit I bought,and would recommend it 10 out of 10

X2 Same Furuno I used to have on my commercial troller. Amazing machine, durable too. Way better definition than the Raymarine on my current boat. I've had numerous Furunos over the years, paper and LCD. All quality machines. The FCV620 is comparable to the old paper machines IMHO.