Please Convince Me an Expensive Airmar Transducer is Worth It

[Yyjdennis]

I've got a Lowrance fish finder which came with their 3-in-1 chirp transducer. I'm planning on getting a second mfd and a new transducer. I'm trying to decide how much to spend. I'm planning on sticking to transom mount. It seems like Airmar has three price levels. The P66 is about $300 and is dual frequency, non chirp, 600W. Then there are the 1kW chirp dual band for about $2,000 to $2,500. Finally, there are the 1kW dual band wide transducers that start getting up around $3,000.

I understand why the expensive transducers are more expensive to make, but I'd like your thoughts on how these can put more fish in the boat and whether the expense is justified.

I'm fishing mostly around Sidney, so near the bottom in 100' to 300'. I'm also heavily into prawning and crabbing, and I'd like to get into halibut and ling cod so anything that allows me to figure out the bottom conditions would be really useful.

So, please sell me, or, more to the point, help me sell my wife .

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Samnjoe]

$3000.00 is a lot of money. I would spend it on fuel. I catch enough fish anyway. I have an old thru hull Airmar 525SD-MSD from 2006. Picks up bait, fish, and bottom just fine. It was $250 USD in 2006.

 

[kaelc]

@tigerprawn is the Airmar expert, I believe. I need to get him back out to me again at boarder bank, to check out some deeper honey holes with my Airmar 1kw.

 

[M1SF1T]

I have both a 3 in 1 and a P66 on my boat and I tried the 3 in 1 several times but don't use it at all. Maybe I was going about it wrong, but I thought it was horrible. P66, as basic as it is, finds bait.

I think about a chirp unit... my research brought me between a TM165HW and a TM185HW. 600W vs 1000W for 3-4x the price... better definition and resolution I understand are the primary benefits.

Big elements on these 1k units too. Something to plan for... I thought I could maybe just take off the 3 in 1 and keep the P66 on as a back up, but no way. It will take up all the real estate in the bracket.

I'm doing at least another year with the P66, for now at least there are other things winning over on the boat upgrade spending list for me.

Happy shopping.

 

[CBsqrd]

Two most popular transducers for our fishing are the P66 and B175HW (or its transom mount equivalent TM185HW). The B175HW is "the best" - lots of power and sensitivity, wide cone and high frequency all in one package, but the P66 probably gives 90% of the performance/results at a fraction of the price.

Will you catch more fish with the B175HW? No. But if you have the money to spend and want the "best" go for it. Even with the B175 you will only see a fraction the salmon under your boat. Salmon give very poor returns compared bait fish and rockfish due to have a very small swim bladders. Yes, you might see some salmon on your screen, but most of the time I've hooked up there has been no return to indicate the fish was there, although it sometimes happens. The two most important pieces of information are water depth and bait depth, and the P66 is just as capable as the B175 for both of these functions.

For lings and halibut, the transducer is going to make little to no difference. The P66 might even have the edge over the B175 here since it has a narrower cone (in the high frequency range only), so would give better bottom detail.

The TM165 gets pretty poor reviews compared to the TM185 and probably not worth the extra spend over the P66.

Check out some of @Sharphooks posts on this topic, he's posted some great info with screenshots from his sounder.

 

[tbeatm]

I ran the airmar TM165HW for the last couple years (before selling my boat and it with it). It was very good when dialed in and installed properly, very clear bait, very distinct salmon and other fish arches. I bought it when it was $400, I was thinking about buying it again for my new boat but its gone up to almost $900 or something crazy.

I got a new HDS Pro and the 3 in 1 that comes with it, Ill try it out and see how it goes. I know someone who runs one in our waters and he has excellent readings on his sounder of bait and fish so I think it will be fine.

 

[Sharphooks]

Whenever I fish, I watch multiple screens all wired to different transducers. I’ve collected them over the years…pulled them off old boats etc.

I have a Furuno triple beam Chirp (Furuno 165T-B54), two single beam Chirps (Garmin GT51 and Airmar TM165HW) and the tried and true P66 (the same transducer has been on my last 3 boats)

I know in the past I’ve said this to the point of being annoying but for my needs, the P66 is and always will be my tried-and true salmon transducer. The other transducers complement the info I get from the P66 but because I get both bait balls, predators eating the bait, and the gear I’m fishing in relation to the bait, the P66 is definitely my fav. It also is mounted directly under my DR which explains why it gets the Queen’s Chair for tracking my gear

And as far as reading bottom conditions, I run the P66 on a Furuno FCV588 which has an algorithm that provides a visual representation of what the bottom is beneath your boat…not a gimmick…I use it for anchoring and it keeps me off the rocks and I’m sure a prawn guy or a halibut guy could put that algorithm to good use as well

This is what I see on my screen:






As far as hanging a big expensive transducer off your transom— in my experience you might be disappointed—-not too many transom configurations will provide a clear picture at speed —-they kick up lots of water. I know the Australians have developed all sorts of add-ons to minimize that downside but the fact that they were forced to fight that battle tells you that transom mounts are hard to dial in for a clean picture at speed, especially when they’re big

IF you want the benefits of a smaller “skimmer” transducer like the P66 that for the most part, with a bit of tweaking, can be made to hold a picture at speed, but you also want the benefits of CHIRP, (clear crisp target painting) you could also consider the Airmar TM165HW. I run that side by side with my P66 and it’s an excellent transducer …. Not sure what they sell for these days…I picked up mine for $400 which would leave lots of extra $$ in your pocket for hookers and blow (also known as gas)

Have a look at this:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://youtu.be/hNZ8c6-Qhn4?si=3cOPypBzFny6l2Ca&data=05|02||d4afb77b19414e1c62e608de65f3467c|84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa|1|0|639060292692923343|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ==|0|||&sdata=0WYRXsEZ7Tu7h/sWKSb2f0944Azt9Hm00AfbGNQQgB8=&reserved=0


You can see a P66 side by side with a TM150 (similar to the TM165HW but more of a medium CHirp for deeper water)…Yes, there’s definitely a benefit of having CHIRP to take advantage of the full spectrum of frequencies but you don’t necessarily have to break the bank to get those extra benefits.

 

[Sir Reel]

This has been covered in another thread. Quite a few of us run the B175HW. Cost was $1400 a few years ago.
It’s a beast and almost 4” round. Big hole in the bottom of the boat. I have been very impressed with it, detail is an amazing .
I disagree with CBsqrd comment about you might see salmon. I see lots of everything.
The first picture is Kitty Coleman and the second is China Creek Sockeye.
I mean, I can see arches on the bottom at 270’