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Fish finders

rutnstrut

rutnstrut

PMA Member
Ok help a guy out, Ive never had or even used a decent fish finder that wasnt 15yrs old so Im needing help narrowing down what I need and what might just be a waste.
Ive got a 20' mod-v outboard jet that has only seen river use and mostly just catfishing in the 3-4yrs Ive had it but I might get out on some lakes at some point.
I was looking at some Helix 7s then I was told the side imagining would probably be a waste on the river since the waters so shallow it wont have a very broad view out the sides
Then I saw a Lowrance with a 7" screen and it looked like it had most the same options as the Helix but for half the price... So what do you guys run and what do you like or not like about it, or what other model would you have rather bought either cheaper or more expensive
Anybody have any connections for discounted fish finders???
 
rutnstrut said:
Ok help a guy out, Ive never had or even used a decent fish finder that wasnt 15yrs old so Im needing help narrowing down what I need and what might just be a waste.
Ive got a 20' mod-v outboard jet that has only seen river use and mostly just catfishing in the 3-4yrs Ive had it but I might get out on some lakes at some point.
I was looking at some Helix 7s then I was told the side imagining would probably be a waste on the river since the waters so shallow it wont have a very broad view out the sides
Then I saw a Lowrance with a 7" screen and it looked like it had most the same options as the Helix but for half the price... So what do you guys run and what do you like or not like about it, or what other model would you have rather bought either cheaper or more expensive
Anybody have any connections for discounted fish finders???
Click to expand...

Helix 7 Mega SI. If you’re worried about the side imagery go with just mega DI. I used my boat on the Des Moines last weekend and the side imagery worked just fine. If you take your boat out and do any lake fishing; the SI will have you finding all sorts of structure and thus increase your fishing success. I’ll never fish without it.
 
I have a Humminbird 500 series with DI. Really wish I went with SI instead.


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Booner said:
Helix 7 Mega SI. If you’re worried about the side imagery go with just mega DI. I used my boat on the Des Moines last weekend and the side imagery worked just fine. If you take your boat out and do any lake fishing; the SI will have you finding all sorts of structure and thus increase your fishing success. I’ll never fish without it.
Click to expand...

I have the same and agree.
 
Joe you will be real happy with the Helix or Lowrance get a 9” though. You will be happy you did when you are splitting screens or zoomed in running skinny water following a trail. . I have both Helix and Lowrance units and both are great. Also get the side scan you will use it. Used a Garmin Livescope over the winter VROD is right it is a amazing but for what you want a 9” Helix or 9” Lowrance HDS will fit you perfectly.
I also like having a touchscreen and buttons
to navigate as different functions or rain, etc. influence how things work or how I use them.
 
I went to a Humminbird workshop at Scheels several weeks ago (pre pandemic). The Pro doing the workshop mentioned get the Mega + or DI +. It wasn't paying close attention at that point, so the key point he was making was be sure to get the models with the "+" as the models without the "+" were glitchy some how. The non "+" models were on sale for about 50% off. I wonder why?

You Tube has been a great help for me to try and understand all the features this thing has. This is my first fish finder, I'm using it for ice fishing because I don't even own a boat but the All Season package has the regular 'ducer as well as the ice 'ducer. The regular 'ducer (I wonder why folks call them 'ducer instead of tranny?) also comes with a hard mount and a portable suction cup mount. Now I just need to figure out how to sneak the extra 15 pounds of fish finder past my personal guide so I can try to use it in Canada. My personal guide will probably see the extra 5 gallon bucket of gear this year and will make me choose gear or beer. Every ounce counts.

There are a lot of people using Garmin for hard water but I don't know if it's livescope or panoptics. Maybe get a twofer? Use the same machine for hard and open water?
 
and like others have said get at least a 9 inch screen if you aren't just purchasing a 2d sonar. Touchscreen is great as well
 
Sorry I was just getting my livescope fine tuned at the time. I don't usually see much chatter about fishing on here since its a whitetail site.
Especially Ice Fishing which I think is the best way to fish now-with all the gear it is extremely enjoyable
 
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