Fish finder recommendations

[hvny]

Looking for some advice on a fish finder.  Hoping to buy my first boat this week and would like to put a fish finder on it.  Ill be largely bass fishing on Lake George.  If all goes according to plan it will be a 20ft deck boat.  There are all types of reviews out there and no clear cut consensus.  Hoping someone here has some good recommendations.  Would like to keep the price under 500. Thanks in advance. 

[Buckmaster7600]

I’m a hummingbird guy, they have the best customer service in the industry.
 

do you want gps? Down imaging/side imaging is nice but not sure it’s possible for under 500$ 

 

500$ isn’t much for a fish finder. I run a helix 5 on my atv for ice fishing and it gets the crap kicked out of it and still works perfect. I’m not sure if they’re under 500$ or not. 

[hvny]

Thanks. I’d rather spend more once than 500 twice.  I’ll take a look at the helix 5. 

[Buckmaster7600]

5 minutes ago, hvny said:

Thanks. I’d rather spend more once than 500 twice.  I’ll take a look at the helix 5. 

Depends on what you want it to do. Do you want it for mapping and depth or actual fish finding? 
 

Down imaging and side imaging is a game changer for finding fish especially bass fishing a lake like lake George where most all of the structure is deep and not visible above the surface. Finding rock piles is the key to finding smallies on lake George!

[Wolc123]

You don’t have to spend that much to get a good one these days.  A Garmin Stryker plus can be had for around $140.  Those are a very good fish finder with gps.  I’ve had one up front on my 17.5 footer for a few years and it’s been great. Thats what I use for most of my bass fishing.  The transducer is attached to my bow mount trolling motor, and the monitor is up front, where I can see it easy, from the front casting deck.  
 

My personal experience with Hummingbird has been poor (I got the Garmin to replace the last Hummingbird that I wore out) but I’ve only had 2 or 3 of their older flashers.  Those things really do “hum” rather loudly, so I see where they got their name.  They also never lasted very long for me, maybe 8 years on average.  
 

By contrast, I still have and use the first fish finder that I ever purchased, an Eagle silent 60 flasher.  That thing runs very quiet and has been mounted on the dash, in front of the steering wheel on my dual council 17.5 foot Sylvan, since 1989. I bought it for my first boat (a 14 ft StarCraft rowboat with a 9.5 Evinrude) when I was still in high school.  
 

Its transducer is mounted on the stern and it still accurately reads the depth in shallower waters, at top speed of the boat, despite being 43 years old.  That old flasher is especially nice at night, when the bright red output line is very easy to see.  
 

I also have an older (maybe 25 years old), Eagle liquid crystal graph on the back of the boat.  That one works well in deeper water (up to 1000 ft) and is mostly what I use when trolling for salmon on Lake Ontario.  It also had a stern mounted transducer.  I like having the graph in back then, because everybody is always looking back to see if a downrigger releases.  Sometimes, I use it when I’m sitting in the stern chair and back trolling for walleyes with my tiller operated “kicker” motor.  

Since my boat was 3 motors (technically (2) 2-stroke gas engines and 1 electric motor), each operated from a different position, I need (3) fish finders.  The Eagle flasher in the middle is my favorite but you can’t buy those new anymore.  
 

The main reason I ran a Humingbird on front and and Eagles on back (for many years) was because they ran at two different frequencies, so there was no interference when I ran them both at the same time.  It’s nice to run a front and rear transducer with flashers, to see how steep the bottom is.  
 

The Garmin also does not interfere with the Eagles on back, so it must run a different frequency.  I can’t run both of the stern mount transducer Eagles together though, because both displays get wacky if I try.  
 

 

[Robhuntandfish]

Garmin, Hummingbird and Lowrance all make quality fish finders.  You can get one with down and side imaging for under $500.  However if your looking for live scope or GPS lake mapping or touch screen you'll be up to $800 +.  I would go to a cabelas or bass pro and check them out in person and see what you like.   If you looking to pair it to a trolling motor then the brand will matter more to match them up easily.   

 

Edited June 8, 2024 by Robhuntandfish

[Robhuntandfish]

The lowrance hook2 9" with triple scan is a pretty good setup for about $400.   But won't have detailed lake mapping I believe which is really nice to have.   Been looking to upgrade myself a bit.   And have been eyeing a hummingbird or lowrance for some betting mapping options than what I have now.