Fish finders / sonar/ gps

[Girlsfishtoo]

School me on ones that aren't gonna break the bank!? What's the lowrance hook 4x chirp like!? Anyother to look at thanks

[GoneFishingEDM]

I just got my first boat, and have been looking around at Fish Finders as well. So far I'm leaning towards the Garmin Striker 4CV. display is a bit small, but has GPS and allows you to enter a bunch of waypoints. Cabelas has it on for $230 right now.

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/96544/garmin-striker-4cv-sonargps-combo

[Willowtrail]

The Hook 4 is a great entry level unit. You can do Insight Genesis mapping on it so you can get free lake maps. Has true downscan. Great unit and you won't be disappointed.

If you can afford more I also recommend the Elite Ti 5. Gets you a little bigger screen, a widescreen format and also touch screen.

[EZM]

I would strongly suggest getting a unit with GPS so you can mark hot spots, use maps to find better structure and, of course, for safety on larger bodies of water.

Cabela's - Lowrance Elite 4 chirp combo

This unit is priced at $299 ( $100 off) AND has GPS (which is a big plus and a huge benefit).

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/74693/lowrance-elite-4-chirp-combo

Another Option ... more money - but full features with GPS and has a bigger screen which you will love ....... $409

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/93662/humminbird-helix-5-chirp-sonargps-g2-combo

[Willowtrail]

I missed the "X" in the original post.

The 4X does not have gps as EZM pointed out. Gps is a great feature for sure. The 4X is sonar only and can also get it with downscan. With downscan you can do the "Downscan Overlay" feature. With this you can have your regular 2D sonar with the downscan screen laid on top of it so you get the best of both worlds on one screen.

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

search "fish finder" kijiji

[KegRiver]

I find the enty level fish finders are better described as bottom finders.

I have a cheap Hummingbird 180 on my little boat. It reports fish where there are no fish and doesn't see fish that are there.

Kid brother has a Furuno FCV 295 on his big boat, that thing can track your hook. But it cost over $2,000.00 dollars.

[Wes_G]

I have an Elite 4 right now and it works great. If you are using it in split screen with the bottom map and sonar screen on at the same time though, it makes for a very small screen. Save up for another couple months and get a bigger screen unit, you wont regret it!