Fish Finder Help

Hey Guys,
So I am looking at buying a new fish finder for my boat. I’ve never really used electronics for much more than finding the depth. This year I really want to start learning to fish open water. (Locating bait balls in deep water 30-100ft) I am extremely unfamiliar with the new technologies out there and what’s worth the money and what isn’t. Any advice for me? If there’s anyone who has a bunch of knowledge on the subject and would like to help me out that would be awesome!

I’m certainly not an expert on any fishing electronics I have spent a lot of time over the past couple years really trying to understand what my electronics are showing and how to adjust the settings to get optimal display. Over the past 5 years I have been using Humminbird devices ranging from 698 & 798 and upgrading to Helix 7&9 G2 and G3. I really like the Helix units. the Chirp sonar works fantastic for structure and locating fish. I’m dialing in the side imaging on my console Helix and it is very helpful locating structure and fish out from the boat. Humminbird has a lot of training resources available, there are a bunch of YouTube videos on settings and using. It seems the technology is changing rapidly and most manufacturers updating on a yearly basis. The displays and imaging is amazing and makes me want to update but hard to dish out a couple grand for new units.

So would you say there is a drastic difference between like a 500 dollar Hummingbird DI SI compared to a 2,000 dollar one?

Luke VanLanen wrote:

So would you say there is a drastic difference between like a 500 dollar Hummingbird DI SI compared to a 2,000 dollar one?

depends. My buddy has a $270.00 hummingbird and a $100.00 lake chip. That’s the route I am trying to convince my wife I gotta have.

What does it depend on? Could you possibly highlight what you are gaining by spending the money. Or what features are a must have, and what ones are more along the lines of bonus features. For instance; I’m okay with saving money and opting for a smaller screen. My best bet would probably go to a Cabela’s or boat shop and have someone walk me through everything, I just don’t want to get a salesman pitch and then get sold on stuff I don’t need, or won’t use.

They generally go up in price based on screen size. So first, figure out what size screen is adequate for you.

Second, Scott is right. Electronics have rapidly evolved and the technology only in the last decade is mind boggling. So whatever you end up buying, it will seem outdated in a couple years.

A lot of guys run Birds because they sync up with bow mounts and i-pilot. Its a nice feature. Sort of a whole-boat system. So that may be something to keep in mind.

I use Lowarance simply because I’ve been using them for 20 years now and I am familiar with their operating system. If you are open to Lowrance, Humminbird, or Garmin, then its worth going to the local store and playing around with all three brands.

Okay thank you. As far as ability to indentify suspended fish or minute bottom contour differences is there any specific unit, technology, or brand you would recommend over another?

Luke VanLanen wrote:

Okay thank you. As far as ability to indentify suspended fish or minute bottom contour differences is there any specific unit, technology, or brand you would recommend over another?

I am not familiar with identifying suspended fish as it is not something I use my electronics for. Maybe someone else will chime in with their suggestion on that one.

Thanks for your input. I mostly musky fish 10ft weed breaks. Use the wind and barely touch the trolling motor. So electronics haven’t ever really been a big part of my fishing. I really am interested in getting after deep water muskies feeding on white fish and cisco’s. So I need to get some electronics that will out me in the game on those fish.

Luke VanLanen wrote:

Thanks for your input. I mostly musky fish 10ft weed breaks. Use the wind and barely touch the trolling motor. So electronics haven’t ever really been a big part of my fishing. I really am interested in getting after deep water muskies feeding on white fish and cisco’s. So I need to get some electronics that will out me in the game on those fish.

Based on this I think something with side scan would be very useful for you. That way you are extending your range out to each side versus just below your boat with a traditional 2d sonar. Get a large enough screen within your budget so you can split the screen.
Aside from screen size meaning the price going up the other things that often come along with it are networking capabilities. There are multiple ways to do this whether it is ethernet or NMEA 2000. I have 3 Lowrance units in my boat. 2 at the console and 1 at the bow. Mine are all 7″ models and I bought these because the jump to 9 inch was a significantly more money. I dont buy all new units in a year so I swap one out every few years. I like having two at the console so I use a dedicated GPS map and then one dedicated for sonar/side scan. All of my units via ethernet. What this does for me is allows me to share map chips between the units so I only have to buy 1 instead of 3. It also allows me to mark a waypoint on one unit and its instantly on ALL of the units within the network. I have a motorguide trolling motor and I can control my trolling motor from my Lowrance unit.
Pretty much any unit will allow you to see suspended fish and bait you just have to play with the settings to show it better. Often times guys run everything in “auto” settings and what that does is actually take away much of the detail. So I like to play around with the settings.
It really doesnt matter what brand you go with they each have tons of models with very much the same or similar features.
CHIRP is a relatively new technology and that will give you a better ability to see more detail as well. I think all the big companies have this and most models come with a “all in one” type transducer so you dont have to put a bunch of holes in your boat. One thing Lowrance has on the newer models is called Fish Reveal. Sometimes its hard in a traditional 2D sonar view to determine if something is really a fish, whether its in the weeds or hugging bottom. This makes the fish pop out much more. You really cannot go wrong with any of the brands out there.
If you get into the NMEA 2000 networking which would require the top of the line model that affords you the ability to have engine diagnostics on your unit as well. This was something I considered, but havent gone that far yet.

Thank you this is super helpful.

My opinion – If you want to fish suspended bait balls you will want to use the map/chart feature. That way you can lay down waypoints and stay on top of the bait. So i would figure that taking up half the screen just for the map/chart. Leaving the other half of the screen for down or side sonar.

Yeah I’m looking at the Hummingbirds Helix 8 Mega SI. Does anyone have any experience with the 360 imaging from Hummingbird?

Helix 8 MSI is a great option! Decent size screen, great resolution and the side imaging is probably the best part of the thing. For me side imaging has changed the way and the structure I fish. So much easier to find structure like fish cribs on SI. For the 360, IDO has done some shows this winter using 360 while ice fishing and they are able to locate the fish in reference to the where they are scanning from and drill holes right on top of the fish. Like side and down imaging it takes a while to be able to decipher what exactly you are looking at but once you do it makes getting on top of the fish easier.

Ya I was curious how to decipher the depth a fish is at using the 360 imaging. Obviously if the fish is tight to the bottom it’s easy to know where it is. But if you are in 40ft of water and the fish is suspended at 20. Would you be able to know that using the 360 imaging?

Luke VanLanen wrote:

What does it depend on? Could you possibly highlight what you are gaining by spending the money. Or what features are a must have, and what ones are more along the lines of bonus features. For instance; I’m okay with saving money and opting for a smaller screen. My best bet would probably go to a Cabela’s or boat shop and have someone walk me through everything, I just don’t want to get a salesman pitch and then get sold on stuff I don’t need, or won’t use.

to answer your question to me, i dont use a fish finder to mark fish, mainly depth. the lake chip is great to follow weedlines, and structure. and finding structure…thats what i was impressed with.

and it was in a price range i could get my wife on board with.

Luke VanLanen wrote:

But if you are in 40ft of water and the fish is suspended at 20. Would you be able to know that using the 360 imaging?

No, I don’t think that’s how it works. It’s better for bottom hugging fish and other features on the bottom. Side imaging and traditional sonar will be better tools for locating suspended fish than 360.

Humminbird 360 to locate the structure/fish then live scope to drop it right in their face! 😁
Tossing musky lures all day, get a 10 inch screen, looking down at a 8 inch screen is going to frustrate you. Side imaging is great. Find a fish drop a way point on the mark and circle back and cast at the fish or troll over it.
Side imagining will make you want to pull your hair out until you figure it out and then you will wonder how you fished with out it, live scope as well.

You need a decent unit with side, down, and mapping. If you are searching open water for suspended bait and fish that’s where I would start. I run garmins now but ran birds in the past. Both are good. I think livescope (I have it) and mega 360 are really geared towards open water panfish. Nothing wrong with either but side imaging will give you greater view from the boat outward.

I’d go with a 10” screen if you have the space. You should be able to find what you need for less than a thousand bucks. The garmin 93SV models have been on sale all over. I think the helix 8 is pretty comparable.

Could you explain live scope?

You might be best served googling some of these specific items and watching videos to see it first hand versus have others talk about it. All brands have a version of live scope, active target etc it’s all the same thing. Search for videos and see how it works. In layman’s terms it’s like an ice fishing sonar watching the fish react to you but you see a huge area beneath you and can see the fish moving around you and reacting to your bait. Almost like an arcade game.

Get the BIGGEST screen you can afford. When you start splitting the screen for different views you just need the biggest screen possible.