Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Any suggestions on what would be a good choice? Is there anything good in the $300 range.? Thanks

Absolutely. Lowrance or Garmin have good units around $300.

I have had nothing but bad luck with a HumminBird 325 depth finder. Defective from new, on it's way back to the factory again since the speed function does not work properly. This is the 3rd speed/temp sensor, 2nd extension cable, all of which were new in package. Horrible product. I had a HumminBird "Wideview" that worked great for many years, but got to be too old to repair. I can't speak about all of their products, but the 325 unit I bought new has been nothing but a headache. Very sorry I bought it.

Ron Burgundy wrote:Absolutely. Lowrance or Garmin have good units around $300.

Cabela just had the Lowrance Mark 4 DSI on sale for 199.99 ( hundred bucks off). I was fortunate to live only 7 mins from Cabelas and here is the kicker they had them in stock... I have installed, but have not water tested. It had enough transducer cord to switch sides on my pontoon to stay away from swim ladder.(old owners depth finder broke cause of swimmer stepping on ouch!) Also, the features listed man, seems like a lot of unit for the money. (thats what she said)

You can always do like they used to on the Mississippi. Just do "soundings" with a weighted rope to find your depth. Much cheaper than those high-falutin technobobbles, and just as accurate.

Fish finder? Who needs a fish finder, when you have a fish call.

Cut the bottom out of a paper-cup. Put the "top" of the cup in the water, leaving the bottom of the cup above the water. Place your mouth just above the bottom of the cup (which is the TOP of the fish call), and loudly say "Here Fish! Here Fish!". Of course this is generic. If you're fishing specifically for Bass, say "Here Bass! Here Bass!".

Can you believe that on the internet, you get this amazing advice for FREE?

What are you wanting from the new unit deckedout?
The less expensive units can give you basic information on depth, and bottom details, maybe a bit more as you learn it.
I had a basic unit Lowrance and could never figure out how to find baitfish (shad).
Upgraded probably more than I needed to but am VERY happy with a better unit as I can now find shad in deeper water and see details of structure like never before.

Before I go on I was just wondering what you want out of your new FF.
What are you wanting to see underwater?

steveiam wrote:What are you wanting from the new unit deckedout?
The less expensive units can give you basic information on depth, and bottom details, maybe a bit more as you learn it.
I had a basic unit Lowrance and could never figure out how to find baitfish (shad).
Upgraded probably more than I needed to but am VERY happy with a better unit as I can now find shad in deeper water and see details of structure like never before.

Before I go on I was just wondering what you want out of your new FF.
What are you wanting to see underwater?

I thought it might be a good idea to be able to see underwater structures. Keep track of my depth for safety and be able to see fish. Mostly trout or bass. Maby on fish that small they wouldnt show up well any way.

deckedout wrote:

steveiam wrote:What are you wanting from the new unit deckedout?
The less expensive units can give you basic information on depth, and bottom details, maybe a bit more as you learn it.
I had a basic unit Lowrance and could never figure out how to find baitfish (shad).
Upgraded probably more than I needed to but am VERY happy with a better unit as I can now find shad in deeper water and see details of structure like never before.

Before I go on I was just wondering what you want out of your new FF.
What are you wanting to see underwater?

I thought it might be a good idea to be able to see underwater structures. Keep track of my depth for safety and be able to see fish. Mostly trout or bass. Maby on fish that small they wouldnt show up well any way.

To be honest with you I would recommend you go somewhere they sell these units and if you can find someone that really knows their product, and I know that is hit or miss, but if you do find that someone that is where you can get your best answers on the most current FF's.
They advance so much each year its almost like describing new cell phones.

steveiam wrote:

deckedout wrote:

steveiam wrote:What are you wanting from the new unit deckedout?
The less expensive units can give you basic information on depth, and bottom details, maybe a bit more as you learn it.
I had a basic unit Lowrance and could never figure out how to find baitfish (shad).
Upgraded probably more than I needed to but am VERY happy with a better unit as I can now find shad in deeper water and see details of structure like never before.

Before I go on I was just wondering what you want out of your new FF.
What are you wanting to see underwater?

I thought it might be a good idea to be able to see underwater structures. Keep track of my depth for safety and be able to see fish. Mostly trout or bass. Maby on fish that small they wouldnt show up well any way.

To be honest with you I would recommend you go somewhere they sell these units and if you can find someone that really knows their product, and I know that is hit or miss, but if you do find that someone that is where you can get your best answers on the most current FF's.
They advance so much each year its almost like describing new cell phones.

Thanks I go check out the local Cabel's and see what they know.

I will add one thing I think is important--
I have an HDS 8 with structure scan unit and I absolutely love it.
That being said I am on a very active fishing forum here in Texas and I have seen this type of question come up quite a bit.
The one thing I do hear a lot is that Hummingbird give very good service when someone has a problem, and I hear many times that Lowrance is not near as responsive on the same type things.
With my Lowarance I have to have two separate transducers, one for sonar and one for structure/sidescan.
The newest Lowrance may have come down to one transducer on the newest FF, but the Hummingbird only uses one from what I understand.
You should be able to get some very good used deals from folks upgrading to the newest units and still be getting a very good unit that will last many years and yet making your budget stretch quite a bit over a new unit.
If this is appealing look for a generation 1 unit ( gen 1 ) gen 2 qnd 3 are out so you should be able to find a great deal on one.
I've had my used one for about 11/2 yrs now.
When I bought my Unit it was three years old, the guy still had the boxes for them (it comes in two units,structure scan and sonar) and he paid right $2400.00 for it.
No way i would spend that much but now that I have had this level of FF, I will always have this level if I can. LOVE IT!
This also has the Navonics map on it and that is a great help also.
Anyway I hope this extra typing does someone some good.

steveiam wrote:I will add one thing I think is important--
I have an HDS 8 with structure scan unit and I absolutely love it.
That being said I am on a very active fishing forum here in Texas and I have seen this type of question come up quite a bit.
The one thing I do hear a lot is that Hummingbird give very good service when someone has a problem, and I hear many times that Lowrance is not near as responsive on the same type things.
With my Lowarance I have to have two separate transducers, one for sonar and one for structure/sidescan.
The newest Lowrance may have come down to one transducer on the newest FF, but the Hummingbird only uses one from what I understand.
You should be able to get some very good used deals from folks upgrading to the newest units and still be getting a very good unit that will last many years and yet making your budget stretch quite a bit over a new unit.
If this is appealing look for a generation 1 unit ( gen 1 ) gen 2 qnd 3 are out so you should be able to find a great deal on one.
I've had my used one for about 11/2 yrs now.
When I bought my Unit it was three years old, the guy still had the boxes for them (it comes in two units,structure scan and sonar) and he paid right $2400.00 for it.
No way i would spend that much but now that I have had this level of FF, I will always have this level if I can. LOVE IT!
This also has the Navonics map on it and that is a great help also.
Anyway I hope this extra typing does someone some good.

Good info thanks.