Fish Finder/Depth
 

I have read quite a bit about this and quite honestly, there's a lot of
info out there. I plan to fish offshore - 40% , inshore - 55% and some
lake - 5%. I live in central Florida. I would like something that
looks below the boat as well as range outside of the boat.

The boat is 18' 6" CC. I would like something fairly inexpensive, and
of good quality. I don't need tons of bells and whistles, however, it
will be on this boat for at least 3-5 years.

TIA!

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:38:12 GMT, "TC" wrote:

I have read quite a bit about this and quite honestly, there's a lot of
info out there. I plan to fish offshore - 40% , inshore - 55% and some
lake - 5%. I live in central Florida. I would like something that
looks below the boat as well as range outside of the boat.

The boat is 18' 6" CC. I would like something fairly inexpensive, and
of good quality. I don't need tons of bells and whistles, however, it
will be on this boat for at least 3-5 years.

Looking directly below the boat would require shooting through the
hull and that may be problematic in your case - you may not have
access to a hatch which will allow you to place a transducer puck in
the appropriate spot, never mind running the cable. Shooting through
the hull has advantages and disadvantages - more the later than the
former (unless you want to drill a hole in your hull and epoxy in a
transducer).

I have through the hull on my Ranger and believe it or not, hang
transducers off the stern of my Contender. The stern hung transducers
beat the hell out of the through the hull transducers. Identical
display/transmitter units I might add.

The real use of a finder/sonar is to see what structure is on the
bottom, bait balls and not necessarily to "find fish". Nine times out
of ten, what you are seeing even in a through hull situation is not
real time - you are about one to two seconds behind what the display
is showing. It can help with trolling situations because it can tell
you if something is coming up, but if you are just looking for
structure to fish, you are WAY behind the real time situation.

With respect to gray screen or color - color hands down. I was pretty
used to gray screen and could really tweak it, but the color screens
are just in a whole other universe. With the new digital signal
processing and computing power in these new machines, it is amazing
what you can discriminate out of any particular bottom, structure or
target species.

In either case, what you want to do is get a dual frequency transducer
and a display/transmitter that will allow you to do split screen and
split frequencies

Garmin (not one of my favorite manufacturers), Lowrance and Raymarine
all make good sounders in the $300/600 dollar range that will serve
you well. I have Raymarine color finders, but I have used Lowrance
and have never been disappointed. I feel that the Lowrance finders
are a better bang-per-buck than Garmin and in my experience, not
shared by others I might add just to be fair, Garmin service sucks -
big time.

Good luck and if you have a specific question(s), ask away.

Later,

Tom
-----------
"Angling may be said to be so
like the mathematics that it
can never be fully learnt..."

Izaak Walton "The Compleat Angler", 1653

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:38:12 GMT, "TC" wrote:

I have read quite a bit about this and quite honestly, there's a
lot of info out there. I plan to fish offshore - 40% , inshore -
55% and some lake - 5%. I live in central Florida. I would like
something that looks below the boat as well as range outside of the
boat.

The boat is 18' 6" CC. I would like something fairly inexpensive,
and of good quality. I don't need tons of bells and whistles,
however, it will be on this boat for at least 3-5 years.

Looking directly below the boat would require shooting through the
hull and that may be problematic in your case - you may not have
access to a hatch which will allow you to place a transducer puck in
the appropriate spot, never mind running the cable. Shooting through
the hull has advantages and disadvantages - more the later than the
former (unless you want to drill a hole in your hull and epoxy in a
transducer).

Hmmm. I dont' really want to do any drilling on my new boat.
Although, I do plan to own it at least 5 years. So, I guess that is an
option. I do have access to the battery storage area and there is a
round hatch at the back of the transom near the motor.



I have through the hull on my Ranger and believe it or not, hang
transducers off the stern of my Contender. The stern hung transducers
beat the hell out of the through the hull transducers. Identical
display/transmitter units I might add.

Do these work while moving?


The real use of a finder/sonar is to see what structure is on the
bottom, bait balls and not necessarily to "find fish". Nine times out
of ten, what you are seeing even in a through hull situation is not
real time - you are about one to two seconds behind what the display
is showing. It can help with trolling situations because it can tell
you if something is coming up, but if you are just looking for
structure to fish, you are WAY behind the real time situation.

Mostly, I am looking for structures.


With respect to gray screen or color - color hands down. I was pretty
used to gray screen and could really tweak it, but the color screens
are just in a whole other universe. With the new digital signal
processing and computing power in these new machines, it is amazing
what you can discriminate out of any particular bottom, structure or
target species.

In either case, what you want to do is get a dual frequency transducer
and a display/transmitter that will allow you to do split screen and
split frequencies

What does the split frequency do?


Garmin (not one of my favorite manufacturers), Lowrance and Raymarine
all make good sounders in the $300/600 dollar range that will serve
you well. I have Raymarine color finders, but I have used Lowrance
and have never been disappointed. I feel that the Lowrance finders
are a better bang-per-buck than Garmin and in my experience, not
shared by others I might add just to be fair, Garmin service sucks -
big time.

Good luck and if you have a specific question(s), ask away.


Thanks Tom! You have answered so many questions for me and I really
appreciate your time and efforts.


Later,

Tom
-----------
"Angling may be said to be so
like the mathematics that it
can never be fully learnt..."

Izaak Walton "The Compleat Angler", 1653

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 12:01:28 GMT, "TC" wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:38:12 GMT, "TC" wrote:

I have read quite a bit about this and quite honestly, there's a
lot of info out there. I plan to fish offshore - 40% , inshore -
55% and some lake - 5%. I live in central Florida. I would like
something that looks below the boat as well as range outside of the
boat.

The boat is 18' 6" CC. I would like something fairly inexpensive,
and of good quality. I don't need tons of bells and whistles,
however, it will be on this boat for at least 3-5 years.

Looking directly below the boat would require shooting through the
hull and that may be problematic in your case - you may not have
access to a hatch which will allow you to place a transducer puck in
the appropriate spot, never mind running the cable. Shooting through
the hull has advantages and disadvantages - more the later than the
former (unless you want to drill a hole in your hull and epoxy in a
transducer).

Hmmm. I dont' really want to do any drilling on my new boat.
Although, I do plan to own it at least 5 years. So, I guess that is an
option. I do have access to the battery storage area and there is a
round hatch at the back of the transom near the motor.

Then you might have access to the inside of the hull surface where you
could mount a transducer puck, but it would be better to place it on
the transom. Wire routing can also be a problem in the through hull
situation, but then again, I don't know how your boat is set up.
Looking around for a wire or cable run to the console would be your
best bet - run a length of line up the cable run, then pull the
transducer wire through.

I have through the hull on my Ranger and believe it or not, hang
transducers off the stern of my Contender. The stern hung transducers
beat the hell out of the through the hull transducers. Identical
display/transmitter units I might add.

Do these work while moving?

Very well in fact. As long as you keep the transducer at least 18 to
24" away from the engine(s), you will be ok. Just make sure that the
transducer is mounted below the bottom of the hull deep enough to stay
in the water on plane. Depending on the style of boat you have,
mounting should be fairly easy. And it can be made to look neat, you
just have to take your time.

Most people are afraid to mount transducers on a transom for looks
reasons, but if time is taken, a transom mount can look just as neat
as any other type of outside the hull installation.

The real use of a finder/sonar is to see what structure is on the
bottom, bait balls and not necessarily to "find fish". Nine times out
of ten, what you are seeing even in a through hull situation is not
real time - you are about one to two seconds behind what the display
is showing. It can help with trolling situations because it can tell
you if something is coming up, but if you are just looking for
structure to fish, you are WAY behind the real time situation.

Mostly, I am looking for structures.

Most probably, the through the hull will work for that, but you won't
get quite the definition you would with a transom mount. You might
also want to consider spending some extra money and get a unit with
GPS receiver attachment. Its a great way to mark structure, it stays
in flash memory and you can always return to it time after time.

Again, it's a question of money. :)

With respect to gray screen or color - color hands down. I was pretty
used to gray screen and could really tweak it, but the color screens
are just in a whole other universe. With the new digital signal
processing and computing power in these new machines, it is amazing
what you can discriminate out of any particular bottom, structure or
target species.

In either case, what you want to do is get a dual frequency transducer
and a display/transmitter that will allow you to do split screen and
split frequencies

What does the split frequency do?

Gives you better definition inshore and offshore. The two frequencies
available 50/200 Khz are for deep/shallow water operations. If you
are going to be inshore most of the time, then 200 Khz is fine. If
you are planning on really deep water, then dual frequency is the way
to go.

Thanks Tom! You have answered so many questions for me and I really
appreciate your time and efforts.

No problem. Glad it helped.

Later,

Tom

"Beware the one legged man in a butt
kicking contest - he is there for a
reason."

Wun Hung Lo - date unknown