Cozy up to your new fish finder

The open water season is coming upon us. Many of us will be in the market for a new fish finder this spring. There are many good sales going on right now and the many fishing shows around the country can offer some great buys as well.
In my opinion , my fish finder is my most important piece of equipment I have in my boat next to my cellular phone and a quality outboard. But my finder is something I’m going to be using more than those two items. My finder’s are my eyes below the surface. They give me a picture of what’s going on under the surface. I can then translate that into my mind and visualize what I’m fishing.
A lot of guys will make the mistake of buying a new finder, stare at the box until the ice melts,mount it on the boat and turn it on for the first time opening weekend. You then find yourself scratching your head and referring to the manual when you should be fishing and catching fish. Now, it will take a lesson on the water or two to get the most out of your finder. But you can save yourself some time by wiring your finder to a flasher battery or deep cycle and running through the unit’s menu and options in your home. Get familiar with the unit long before you hit the water. Obviously your not going to get readings unless the transducer is in the water, but you can follow the manual and be prepared long before you put it to use. It will make much more sense on the water to you. You rely on your finder to tell you what you need to know. Your finder relies on you to tell it what it needs to know.
I can’t say this enough but I see too many anglers with $15,000+ boats and then the dealer sells them a $100 finder. Don’t cheat yourself on electronics. You get what you pay for in finders. Is catching more fish worth an extra boat payment or two? There are many quality finders on the market. Check out the new Vexilar Edge2 with it’s dual transducer concept. This is one of many good finders that will help make you a better angler.

Derek,
Some good points, I have also seen too many anglers on the water opening day with electronics that did not work. If you rig it yourself or have a dealer do it, make sure everything is working before your first outing. There are some awesome new electronics out there, and the prices are lower every year.
See ya on the water, Don

hey do you really need a fish locator ? just go fish where everyone else is he he

No going without it! I am hooked… I love my Vexilar.
Dave Hoggard

I just got done mounting my FL-18 on my boat next to my X15. I hope to get to the river soon.

Anybody have any experience with the Lowrance LMS 240 sonar/gps unit? I just bought a boat equipped with one, and I’m curious to find out if anyone has used any Hotspots Navionics MMC cards with it….I’m considering purchasing the Wisconsin chip. Any info at all about the unit would be helpful. Thanks.

Derek,

I have been running the Vexilar Edge now for 3 seasons. I consider it to be the best LCR out there. The “Cone in a Cone” concept is unique and very usefull. It is bacially 2 units in one! One unit runs at 107 khz and the other 400 khz. What does all that mean??? lol

Here is a link to Vexilar that explains it all. You can also print out the owners manual.

http://www.vexilar.com/products/lc507.html

One of the other features I like is the fact you can save 3 personal settings or “Modes”. Find a setting that works well in the mud, save it as Mode 1. Find a setting that works great on the rock, save it as mode 2. Find the setting that tracks bottom at wide open throttle, save it as mode 3. Then you can quickly change setting as you move from spot to spot. And the best thing is the unit “Remembers” your setting after you turn it off! (That’s my biggest gripe with all the Lowrance Stuff. The units re-set every time you turn them on and off)

Jon J.

That sounds great Jon, i’m glad you like your edge. There isn’t a unit like it anywhere.

Has anyone tried the new 320 by 320 pixel Eagle or Lowrance units yet? Seems like a lot of pixels for a little cash. Thinking about buying one myself and starting at $200 for all those pixels might be a no-brainer.

Derek,
Good advice,
Question, I see a few boats using the new FL18 Vexilar as bow mount unit. I always thought of it as primarily an ice-fishing unit, but hey it makes sense if you’re vertical jigging open water. Would you use the same transducer on a bow mount set-up as you would ice fishing? or is there a different transducer used?
thanks,
Dave C.

I’ve been using my Clearwater Classic as my bow locator. It’s worked great, you get the same effect as when your ice fishing. I’ve used the high speed transducer mounted to my front trolling motor. It can be a pain with the cable attached to the trolling motor. I would like to kill two birds with one stone. Get a new Minn-Kota with the universal sonar. Does anyone know if the ‘universal sonar’ works with flashers?

You can buy a cable for connecting a FL18 to the universal sonar at Cabela’s. I have a FL18 and a X15 Lawrance on my dash for this summer hope they work well together.

FEAR NO FISH!!!!!

Sounders are nice tools to have, but if my electric trolling motor suddenly had problems, that would probably end my day. Cannot say the same for my sounders.