Fish Finder screens

I've use Matrix 17's for a long time now.  Solid unit.  The 717 looks like the evolution of the 17.  My main buying points were the following: on the cheaper side, but not the cheapest.  Decent resolution, not the lowest and not the highest.  And decent reputation for durability.  I use it mainly to mark depth, structure, and suspended bait balls.  I don't rely on it for ultimate precision, rather it is a signal that I'm more or less in the zone.

-Allen

Got my first "fishfinder" back about 1975, a Lowrance rotary flasher. Soon upgraded to a Lowrance paper graph, it had fantastic resolution---you could easily see the thermocline in local lakes--but the paper was expensive, and the thing was pretty noisy.  In 1981 moved to the PNW, and got a Lowrance X85, which was great.  This year I found a new Humminbird Matrix 97 combo DF/GPS on Cragislist and put it in on my 15' Arima, fantastic unit with great resolution.  The X85 is getting mounted on my Hobie 'yak as I write this...a little bit big, but it's paid for! I hope Humminbird is a reliable as Lowrance----never a problem in 30 years of various models. 

 Cheap? Did someone say cheap? I'm Cheap!  I tend toward the low end to minimize the loss due to the harsh environment (and because I'm cheap ) Although good installation will minimize damage loss, it does nothing for butterfingers (kerplunk!) I have collected a few units over the  years and all of them work just fine for the basics. Color is nice, but i hear it eats batteries.

That said, I came off of the under $100 mark and scored a Lowrance M56 for $160. It looks like the very best bang for the buck. The M56 is the basic, non-color, ff/gps with pretty basic mapping functions. What it does have is a built-in tide function that I find indispensable for Florida and nice to have in Oregon (but less so in LA). I have not found that on any other unit under $500. Eagle makes an equivalent unit (Cuda 250 s/map) for around that price ($200 at Cabela's),with the tide function. In fact I think my unit is obsolete and the Eagle is the only unit currently available (exact same unit).

 I use a FF primarily to look for changes in depth, and 2nd, to tell me where I am (ff/gps). I find that the ocean or other big water environment is when the FF is most useful as there as fewer visible structural references and the bottom tends to be farther than a paddle length away (as opposed to the marsh). This unit does that just fine and its the first I've had that I could see my bait on screen.  The other function is the GPS. That shines when your marking a hole and to help find your way back from where you've been. I also like the ff/gps combo as its one less thing on deck. Previous to my current M56, I was using a Matrix 10. Very nice, but required an outboard gps unit and did not have the tide function. The other nice thing about the Lowrance/Eagle units is that they are small. The downside is if it breaks, you have neither and geocacheing with a fishfinder just looks funny. That said, I'm VERY hard on my gear and its been working like a champ for 2+ years now.

Wali
 a legend in my own mind

sounds like a good idea to me...and i confused chartplotter with the trackplotter option on the 717

hey anybody know how the wireless option deal works on the 717?

wanderingrichard are you gonna go with a gps unit that is mounted or just a handheld

dont think i answered you on this, so here's another reply just in case.

right now, it's looking like adding on a handheld with cable to something like a rhynobar to one side of the FF i intend to mount. and since my trident didnt come with a built in battery shelf like other models from O.K. do, i'm working on an under deck plan for that too. i like what scawfish of great white did with his trident, but unlike him, i actually use the tray that slides under the rod pod cover for more than just a junk rack..in his case, he uses it as a battery shelf.

but, if i can get a bargain on a combo unit that has it built in, i'm gonna just bite the bullet and go that way instead... and, btw, i have yet to see a retailer in my area [ draw a 25 mi. circle around my place] that carries the 717 so it'll be ordered online.

as for that wireless receiver set up, i dug into humminbirds whitepapers and this is what i think it is supposed to do....:


http://store.humminbird.com/humminbird-products/accessories/system-modules/as-rsl-wireless-sonar-link-/prod700032-1.html

go to the bottom and click "download manual" and read up on it... pretty interesting idea, especially if you are the owner of a charter or power boat and want to cover a lot of water fast....

now, have i gotten off my tuchis yet and done this?? not entirely.. funding being what it is, i had a mechanical breakdown the other day and had to dip into my mad money to cover it.. so it's build back time again...right now, i'm resigned to doing what most other guys do, pimping my boat  during the winter months so that next season is better than this one...