Looking for fish finder recommendation

[guysmiley]

Hi there,

I'm new to this site but from the posts I've read you all are the ones to ask about fishing gear.

I'm looking for a fish finder for my canoe but I've never used one before. It doesn't need to be a portable unit but it could be.

I've done research but only confused myself. I don't know if I need single beam, double beam, triple beam, quad beam, side beam etc.....

My goal is to get a depth, see botom detail and find out what depth the fish are sitting at.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Garrick.

[JohninAB]

I would recommend looking at the Humminbird Piranha Max series of portable fish finders. Easy to use, very portable and run on 8 AA batteries for a long time. I have the Piranha Max 10, bought it 4 years ago for $140 or so from the Fishing Hole, never had a single problem with it. Plus the Piranha Max series has better resolution (more pixels) than the Eagle Cuda.

[guysmiley]

I had considered the pirahnamax 240 (20 degree plus two side beams).


It seemed to have a good amount of features for the money.

Does yours effectively ID fish? Can you effectively read the bottom contour? I have no experience with fish finders but I can't seem to figure out how you read a drop off in 2D unless you drive over it perpendicularly. Maybe I'm missing something!


Garrick.

[JohninAB]

Yes, the Fishfinder works well. Shows the bottom contour well and ID's fish if ya want it too. Very happy with it. Works as well as my higher priced fishfinders I have mounted in my boat.

When I say higher priced I mean the $300 to $400 variety, not the $2000 side imaging color GPS variety.

[bowfin]

i have the bottom line portable fish finder and its works real good ever has temp and side view runs on 3 c cell bat comes with a clamp you clamp on your boat and slide the unit into clamp and i find it real good for ice fishing also

[Jorg]

For portables I have an Eagle fishmark 320 and a Humminbird smartcast Rf-15
The Eagle works well but I love the smartcast, the wireless transducer floats and can be cast out to 50 feet and sends back the readings. It can be used from shore or boat,I like the fact that I can check out an area without taking the boat on to it and possibly spooking the fish.The transducer can also be used as a bobber which is kinda fun you can put a jig etc. under it and slowly reel it in till you mark fish