Fish/depth finder for river and current

Hello. I have a helix 10 for lake fishing walleye/crappie and it works well. Problem is last spring when I went to the river and fished downstream of the spillway a hundred yards or so my hummingbird wouldn’t read the depth. Something to do with the current im guessing. And the current wasnt even that bad. Question is are there any cheap models that work well in current and in the river ? Not looking to spend a fortune since i dont fish the river much. $2-500 price range. Thanks.

What’s a humminbird 11? Like an 1198?

Also, define what “cheap” means? $200? $500? $1000?

First thing I would do is try dial in your settings. The heavy current can washout the image on a graph. I haven’t seen the depth be an issue but moving and swirling water will affect them. I’m not an hbird guy but there are a lot on this site and a lot that river fish so they may be more helpful.

As for a different option you’ll need to define a price range. It’s a get what you pay for deal. Any of the lower end hbird, garmin, lowrance should handle your needs though.

I am in the minority here but I really like using a flasher on the river or any open water for that matter. A FL-8 is budget minded and works well in heavy current. Pair it with a hi speed transducer otherwise the unit won’t work at cruising speed.

I have caught many walleyes open water, vertical jigging while watching my lure on the flasher.

My mistake i have the helix 10. And cheap would be in the price range of $2-500. I dont fish the river much so not wanting to spend a ton.

Drake Purcell wrote:

My mistake i have the helix 10. And cheap would be in the price range of $2-500. I dont fish the river much so not wanting to spend a ton.

A helix 10 should work just fine. I ran a helix 9 about 5 years ago and worked fine in current.

If you were running the same setting as the lake I think that’s your issue. I’d check your bottom settings and the sensitivity. Maybe someone who has a current helix setup will chime in. You may also want to check the hbird forum.

I have a Lowrance that does the same thing sometimes.Only happens when I am driving the boat thru very strong current with alot of surface commotion large boils,whirlpools,really fast current.Not sure but thought maybe its the bubbles created by the drag of the transducer in the current.I dont fish in current that heavy so it doesnt bother me any.

Your Helix should work fine, I’d spend some time learning how it works, and troubleshooting any issue that is preventing it from getting a good reading.

I dont spend much time on the river either but fishing the Mississippi in the spring near Clayton Iowa I had no trouble with my Helix 12. As said, I would play with the settings and get online. Tons of advice and users there as well.
My two cents