Fishfinder/Depthfinder advice......

[redfishfun23]

Hi again everyone! My solicitation this time is for advice on depth finders. I fish primarily the flats but I want to be able to access some of the local reefs and such for cobia and AJ's this year so I am upgrading my depth finder. I would appreciate any opinions/recommendations for depth finders in the $150-$250 range. I don't need anything over the top, just reliable and fairly easy to use as I am not the sharpest bowling ball in the alley. Also are they hard to install? If above my pay grade in ability then recommendations on who could install for me and around how much? Thank you again for taking the time to reply, it is greatly appreciated!

[tin can]

What unit do you have now?

Most any $99 sonar unit on the market will show you the bottom, and bottom changes. How much you spend above that is determined by what features you want. Do you want mono or color? How much display resolution? How large of a display? Do you want down imaging or side imaging? do you want GPS?

Installation is fairly simple for a basic unit. Mount the transducer on the transom. Mount the unit, usually on the concole. Route the transducer cable from the transom to the unit. Route the power leads to a power source. You're done.

[Tidedancer]

I agree

Chuck Wheeler
FLEA (former employee of Lowrance Electronics)

[Rhettley]

I prefer Lowrance. I have a grey scale unit I bought in the late 90's to use for striper fishing when I was in TX. I used it for fishing from 3 feet to 50 feet deep, locate shad , stripers, and underwater lumps, ridges, and timber. Once I learned how to adjust it manually it would do anything I needed it to do.
Get one that you can turn off that useless Fish ID function and learn to use your gain or power setting in water over 10 feet deep. Color is nice but not a must have.
The mounting is fairly simple.

[redfishfun23]

Thank you for your input! I have a pretty simple Raymarine model, well it is a POS, and I want to upgrade. Don't need color, just gray scale is fine. In doing my research Lowrance is probably the one I will go with. I was looking for real world advice versus reviews off the internet. I appreciate those who replied. Is it worth getting a combo unit with GPS as I use a hand held GPS now. Are there good reliable combo units out there with the internal antenna.
I value the input of the forum members! Thanks again!

[Tidedancer]

I would go with two units. Get a good fish finder with the largest screen in your budget. The hand held GPS will do fine for inshore fishing.

[redfishfun23]

Thanks Tidedancer! My wife appreciates the advice, helps the budget. I think you are right!

[EddieJoe]

Thank you for your input! I have a pretty simple Raymarine model, well it is a POS, and I want to upgrade. Don't need color, just gray scale is fine. In doing my research Lowrance is probably the one I will go with. I was looking for real world advice versus reviews off the internet. I appreciate those who replied. Is it worth getting a combo unit with GPS as I use a hand held GPS now. Are there good reliable combo units out there with the internal antenna.
I value the input of the forum members! Thanks again!

All of the major brands (Lowrance, Garmin, etc.) have units that will serve you well. You can get a Garmin 168 combo GPS/sounder for around $200. As TD as recommended, two units is best, but then they take up a lot more space on the console, and cost more than a combo. Personally, for a flats boat, I would get a combo Garmin. The hand held works O.K., but the screen is small and the unit has to be put somewhere you can read it and it won't slide off to the deck, which can be a pain. Handhelds to me are good for john boats and canoes or for a back up to a fixed mount unit.

EJ

[redfishfun23]

Thanks Eddiejoe! I will take that under consideration and research a little more!

[tin can]

2 units. Unless you go to a $1600 plus unit, the display isn't large enough to split and see what you're doing.