Best Fish Finder

[tstephens3232]

Looking to upgrade. I currently have a raymarine dragonfly and feel like there's something considerably better out there. What's your opinion on the best FF out there today?

[DDS]

I spent about 20 hours researching this over that past couple of months, but I don't know if we are shopping for the same stuff....
I was coming from a RayMarine WiFish - so even further down the ladder than the dragonfly as I had to use an iPad in a waterproof case as a screen...

I ended up with a RayMarine Axiom and a Airmar Chirp M285HW transducer...probably overkill but I like to shop once and keep it for a long time.

Happy to help with any other questions if I can, I am far from an expert. I used the new rig at the Heroes on the Water event this weekend and while I caught no halibut I felt like I could SEE way better under the water - found bait easily, saw structure, now I just need to learn how to fish better...

BerleyPro is a great resource for fitting various transducers in the hobie mount on the bottom of your yak if you have a hobie
https://www.berleypro.com/product-category/hobie/

Some great background information on fish finders and sounder info in general
http://www.furuno.com/special/en/fishfinder/topic8.html

Some Great discussion of the current crop of finders and all their positives and negatives
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...ghlight=simrad

Another long article by same Aussie (about 4 posts down) that discusses various sounders and MFDs
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...owrance+garmin

Some fairly detailed info on the technology - bit long - but good late night reading....
https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...explained.html

[tstephens3232]

Great stuff. Thank you for all the information. Did you look at the Dragonfly's? if you did, did you consider the upgraded transducer? I think it's the CPT 60.

[jorluivil]

The best fish finder is the one you can afford

[DDS]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

The best fish finder is the one you can afford

True,
but there are multiple fish finder solutions at various price points from the big makers..so if you can afford one you can probably afford enough that you have a choice, and that is when it gets complicated

Simrad/Lowrance/B&G all one company
RayMarine
Humminbird
Garmin

Lowrance seems to dominate our kayak market (and has a good relationship with Hobie). Their current crop of finders has been out almost 3 years though - I hate buying tech that is that old for the same price as it was when it was new.

Lowrance newest stuff is there Hook2 Line

[DDS]

Originally Posted by tstephens3232

Great stuff. Thank you for all the information. Did you look at the Dragonfly's? if you did, did you consider the upgraded transducer? I think it's the CPT 60.

I did look at the dragonfly line, it was good, but I actually wanted a transducer with 3d capability (I sometimes fish lakes as well...plus I'm a tech dork) so I went higher up the line. It will also let me add a second transducer later if I like.

If you want the easiest plug and play solution with the most other people using it so that you can get guidance and tips - I think in the kayak world that is Lowrance.
At the depths we are fishing for Yellowtail and WSB most of the fancy features (3D, Downimaging, HD Downimaging, Side Imagining, yada yada yada) start not working as well. Over 100 ft most of these technologies start to have reduced benefits and they are pretty useless over 150 feet.

I'm just getting used to my new toy so I will have to report back more later if it was worth the additional cost.

[_Obed]

What did you want feature wise?

Or how do you fish style wise?

Do you hunt or do you set bait and drink and chill?

All these things are questions to ask your self when buying or upgrading. I have a buddy who works for Lowrance in Ensenada and he sums it up like this;
Hummingbird(i had one so he used it as an example a few years ago) has a lot of extra cables and "stuff" (talking about the seperate gps, ducer, and power cable) making it not so kayak friendly. Lowrance is more direct and simpler to set up for the novice marine electronics user. He is actually in this group, look for Baja post. His name is Carlos.

All that bs about features and what does what, 3d?... believe me, after hours of research your gonna end up with a unit that does way more then you need and probably will never use.

And just a heads up. Downscan, side imaging, and fish reveal from Lowrance work great in deep waters. Im on year 3 with my Lowrance unit.



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[da22y]

Originally Posted by _Obed

....
....
Im on year 3 with my Lowrance unit.

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What model you use?
My Lowrances ( HDS2, Hook 5, Elite 5ti )in the past never lasted me 3 years.

Water leaked mostly in the SD slot, twice I even put silicone glue shut the access door, it still managed to die...

[_Obed]

Originally Posted by da22y

What model you use?
My Lowrances ( HDS2, Hook 5, Elite 5ti )in the past never lasted me 3 years.

Water leaked mostly in the SD slot, twice I even put silicone glue shut the access door, it still managed to die...

That sucks. Wtf are you doing? Jajaja jk. I have a ti unit. But that sucks honestly wtf are you doing? I fish with people with WAY older units. My first graph i got was a passed down hummingbird i think i got it from danowar yrs ago and its was mega used bnw unit. Worked great for over a year until i upgraded for hype reasons jajaja. Try not dunking them so much or getting splash on it whatever the situation is, that sounds like a shit ass experience. Pretty loyal to stay with the company after all that.

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[da22y]

Originally Posted by _Obed

\
....

that sounds like a shit ass experience. Pretty loyal to stay with the company after all that.

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Nope ! I switch to Raymarine Dragonfly since .

Doing the exactly same shit I do with FF , but it held up like wearing a bulletproof vest !

Bought from Westmaine, so exchange is no cost, I doubt I will need to buy another FF for a long while ...

[_Obed]

Originally Posted by da22y

Nope ! I switch to Raymarine Dragonfly since .

Doing the exactly same shit I do with FF , but it held up like wearing a bulletproof vest !

Bought from Westmaine, so exchange is no cost, I doubt I will need to buy another FF for a long while ...

Thats good buddy, lets not get too distracted with the fact the OP has a dragonfly and he is looking for something "better"...

Are you really gonna recommend something he cleary commented he has and is looking to go away from?

Lets keep it more constructive gents. Idc what you use, just leave your rec and move along.. lol.

Thanks for the comment da22y

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[DDS]

Originally Posted by _Obed

And just a heads up. Downscan, side imaging, and fish reveal from Lowrance work great in deep waters. Im on year 3 with my Lowrance unit.

Hopefully that is the case. I have only used my RV-100 all in one transducer once and it had good resolution to 130 feet. I will try to take it out this weekend to some deeper depths and see how much clarity it can produce.

If I can take some screen grabs I will.

Thanks for your insight Obed - as I said, I'm not an expert at all, just someone who did a ton of research before making the same plunge as the OP trying to buy what would work best for me.

I do know with the Lowrance if you want 3D structure scan you need a separate transducer and black box computer and still maintain the 50/200 transducer most of us have already. That is why I chose the one I did.

The RayMarine RV-100 has 3D, Down, Side and Chirp all in the one transducer - but it is huge and sticks below the scupper mount about 1-2 inches even with the BerleyPro set up - so it adds a level of complexity with beaching the kayak and loading it up.

[_Obed]

Originally Posted by DDS

Hopefully that is the case. I have only used my RV-100 all in one transducer once and it had good resolution to 130 feet. I will try to take it out this weekend to some deeper depths and see how much clarity it can produce.

If I can take some screen grabs I will.

Thanks for your insight Obed - as I said, I'm not an expert at all, just someone who did a ton of research before making the same plunge as the OP trying to buy what would work best for me.

I do know with the Lowrance if you want 3D structure scan you need a separate transducer and black box computer and still maintain the 50/200 transducer most of us have already. That is why I chose the one I did.

The RayMarine RV-100 has 3D, Down, Side and Chirp all in the one transducer - but it is huge and sticks below the scupper mount about 1-2 inches even with the BerleyPro set up - so it adds a level of complexity with beaching the kayak and loading it up.

Yeah man same here. I researched before the buy but time otw is what will teach you to dial in and really weigh out what you actually use over the extras. Evrrything in one ducer sounds pristine but i strayed away from the extra processor. Everything i use is built in so i love the simplicity of the unit. Plug in and play

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[BigTunaL]

I upgraded from a hummingbird 698 to a Lowrance Elite 9ti, few days ago I used it for the first time in mission bay and boy what a difference. I am still learning how to tune settings for best results, but this will come with time on the water. Overall, I am very satisfied with this unit and glad I spent extra $ for the 9" screen. Looking forward to trying it in LJ soon.

By the way, I got a $100 rebate from Lowrance and $50 rebate from Navionics ... these rebates are still available.