Your Opinons on Fish Finders

I did a search!  I swear I did...  The last time this question was asked was almost two years ago.

I'm in need of a fish finder and I'm trying to learn, and get brand/model opinions from folks who actually use them in kayaks.  I thought I'd ask first, then start shopping.

You might ask how I've fished from a kayak for so long and not had a fish finder?  Didn't need one.  I've been fishing the small coastal streams with water as clear as Dasani and I can see the bottom - and the fish.

This will be for saltwater use.  It's for a 2014 Revo with the transducer pocket.  I probably might use the Hobie kit for installation - seems everyone is pleased with the battery in that kit - but I'm not sure yet.

I am thinking I'll go with a more compact display and mount it pretty close to my seat... old eyes, and I don't particularly want to be swapping between sunglasses and my Wally World reading glasses all the time.
 
Price range to around $400 unless there's a good argument for a more expensive unit.  Definitely not going above $500 for my first-ever unit, though.

I would like to hear what you like and why you like it.  And remember that a total puddinhead asked the question.

You might try searching the brand names, hummingbird lowrance, dragon fly.

You get a lot of value out of a unit like the lowrance elite 5. The size is also about right, when you're in the ocean you will generally want to run a split screen between your GPS and FF very often. It helps you find or Mark structure, and then come back to that same spot after your drift. I believe most of the elite 5 units come preloaded with  navionics maps. I personally like hummingbird a bit better but you have to pay extra to get a chip with the maps. Something similar to their 587/597 units.

To dsi or not to dsi. I personally am not a fan of dsi, the cone on a non dsi unit is wider and still provides good detail. I can still see my jog head going up and down in the salt. Personal choice but i generally try to avoid them.

Once you decide on a unit you should then pick a battery to support it. Look at the draw of the unit to figure out how big of a battery. Generally larger the screen more juice it sucks

This battery works pretty well and has enough capacity for the larger units.
Aukey 18000mah Multi-voltage (5v 12v 16v 19v)External Battery with Quick Charge for iPhone 6S 6S Plus 6 Samsung Galaxy Google Nexus LG HTC Motorola and many other USB Powered Mobile Devices(Silver) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NBI1GQK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_inxFwbNNSPJYT

You might try searching the brand names, hummingbird lowrance, dragon fly...
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Thank you, Noah.  Merry Christmas, and I hope that you and all of yours are having a safe and happy Holiday.

I may be doing the search wrong, but generally I'm finding posts from people who either just bought one and want someone to tell them about it, or have already decided on what they want.

I don't know enough - as in "Tinker is too dumb" - to make a choice yet, but my eyes are weary from reading.

I'm not far enough into it to favor one brand over any other, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Hobie's built-in transducer mount is specific to Lowrance - so I'd like to read people's explanation of what they're using and how it's working for them.

pmmpete made a comment that suggested that I might want to consider a color display to make it more easy to recognize what's the bottom and what's not bottom at a glance.  I got that far.

I don't want to start a brand-fan war.  I'm trying to learn about the features and what might work well for someone who's Tinker-dumb.

What is it about dsi that doesn't quite work for you?  Just the extra cost?

This battery works pretty well and has enough capacity for the larger units.
Aukey 18000mah Multi-voltage (5v 12v 16v 19v)External Battery with Quick Charge for iPhone 6S 6S Plus 6 Samsung Galaxy Google Nexus LG HTC Motorola and many other USB Powered Mobile Devices(Silver) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NBI1GQK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_inxFwbNNSPJYT

Thanks for bringing up batteries, too, Noah.  Went through what seems to be at least 10,000 old "blue brick" comments this morning and finally started to understand how these compact "better than the brick" external power supplies can be adapted to power a fish finder.  I'd bookmarked a couple, but not the unit you linked to.

You might try searching the brand names, hummingbird lowrance, dragon fly...
....

Thank you, Noah.  Merry Christmas, and I hope that you and all of yours are having a safe and happy Holiday.

I may be doing the search wrong, but generally I'm finding posts from people who either just bought one and want someone to tell them about it, or have already decided on what they want.

I don't know enough - as in "Tinker is too dumb" - to make a choice yet, but my eyes are weary from reading.

I'm not far enough into it to favor one brand over any other, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Hobie's built-in transducer mount is specific to Lowrance - so I'd like to read people's explanation of what they're using and how it's working for them.

pmmpete made a comment that suggested that I might want to consider a color display to make it more easy to recognize what's the bottom and what's not bottom at a glance.  I got that far.

I don't want to start a brand-fan war.  I'm trying to learn about the features and what might work well for someone who's Tinker-dumb.

What is it about dsi that doesn't quite work for you?  Just the extra cost?

Thanks, you too buddy.

Yeah there is an adapter for the lowrance pocket for a humming bird, but I just used some zip ties to make my hummingbird transducer fit.

Color is the way to go, it provides a much easier to read picture of the bottom, bait, fish, etc.

I'll see if I can find the thread that explains dsi pretty well, but in general the dsi fish finders are shooting a much higher frequency that results in a narrow, highly detailed cone. However you start to lose the extra detail the deeper you go. At least in my experience. I had a lowrance Mark 4 dsi and it had good detail between 25-45 feet but either shallower or deeper and you lost the detail. The other thing that I've noticed is if I'm trolling side by side my with another guy with a dsi unit is my non-dsi picks up schools of fish better than their units. Wider cone. In my opinion a dsi unit would be good for fishing structure for bass and warm water fish but for the salt and salmon fishing I'll take a non-dsi unit.

I'm far from a fish finder expert, but I can share my experience with the Lowrance Elite-4 HDI.  It was my first fish finder, and I have had it for about two years.  Here are some pros and cons based on my experience:

Pros: 
Cost.  These are very affordable units.
It works.  It tells me where bottom is and occasionally shows me a fish.  At my novice level that's about as much as I can expect.

Cons:
User interface.  The menus are small, and the buttons are either too touchy or not sensitive enough for the way I push them when I am on the water.  I have no problems navigating menus on solid ground where I can devote my full attention, but out at sea it's an exercise in frustration because I have to be on constant look-out for waves. 
I get fog in the screen at extreme cold temperatures (below 20F), which is a problem for me. 


My second fish finder is a Raymarine Dragonfly 7.  I can't give any first hand accounts of it because it's still in the box.  I chose it because its construction will eliminate the fog problems I had with Lowrance (optical gel between the outer screen and LCD), and the reviews on Amazon and the owner's manual suggest that the controls and menus are very user friendly. 

This is a good read about dsi.

Down imaging??
http://NorthWestKayakAnglers.com/index.php?topic=9126

I think it's easier to search through the web. I just did a search with tapatalk and it was a pain.

Good enough where you stopped, Noah.  I was under the impression that down-scanning sonars penetrated deeper water than the standard sonars, and maybe they do, but if the detail drops off, it loses most of that advantage.  From most of the posts I've been reading, loss of detail in deeper water appears to be the general consensus - but if it's the same when not shooting through the hull, then I don't see a reason for DSI for a rank amateur.

Low_Sky the Dragonfly 7 looks sweet, but the specs suggest it's larger than I want - and costlier, too.  I checked the specs on the smaller Dragonfly units - the 4 and the 5 - and it they share the simpler interface. Thank you for your thoughts on the Elite-4.  If I run across one that's powered-up somewhere, I'll fiddle with the buttons and test their sensitivity.  that would be an issue for me, too.
 

   

A couple of general comments about fish finders:

1. With fish finders, as with many other things, size is important.  If you get a fish finder with a small screen, and you mount the fish finder too far away from your seat, you may have difficulty reading the screen.  Figure out where you are going to mount your fish finder, go to an outdoor store, and view the demo fish finders from that distance.  This will help you buy a fish finder which is large enough to read easily.  In addition, if you want a fish finder with GPS, be sure to get one with a screen which is big enough to view sonar and GPS at the same time.

2. Color is very helpful in reading fish finder screens, and definitely worth some extra money.

3. Fish finders have many useful features, but if you mount your fish finder too far from your seat, it'll be inconvenient and awkward to use those features.  I have an Ocean Kayak Trident with a fish finder mounted in the protected pocket in front of my feet.  It's a real hassle for me to operate that fish finder.  I have to heave myself forward in front of the seat and reach past my feet to operate the fish finder.  I have a 13' Hobie Revolution with the fish finder mounted on the gunwale just past my knee, and the fish finder is real easy to read and operate in that location.  Be sure to chose a location for your fish finder which won't interfere with climbing back into your kayak if you get dumped in the water.

4. If you fish close to shore or other clearly identifiable landmarks, such as casting into weed beds for bass or pike, you probably won't find GPS very helpful.  If you fish away from shore, GPS is extremely helpful, as it can help you return to schools of fish you passed over, and it helps you return to and fish underwater structures.

5. One of my fish finders has down imaging, but I haven't found down-imaging to be at all helpful in locating fish or structure, and wish I hadn't paid the extra money for down imaging on that fish finder.  But that is probably because I tend to fish deeper water.  If you fish shallow water with a lot of weeds, logs, and other features, down imaging might be more useful.

6. Before you buy a fish finder with side imaging, check the requirements for where you mount the transducer.  You will probably find that you need to mount the transducer below the level of the keel of your kayak, or behind the hull and rudder of your kayak.  Figure out what you would need to do to mount a side imaging transducer properly before you buy a fish finder with side imaging.

7. If you buy a cheap fish finder, you'll probably wish you had spent a bit more money for a more capable fish finder.  If you buy a really expensive fish finder, you'll probably decide that you could have done just as well with a less expensive fish finder.  Unfortunately, until you've owned a couple of fish finders, you may not be able to tell from the manufacturer's descriptions whether you will later decide that a fish finder is too cheap, too expensive, or just about right.

Low_Sky the Dragonfly 7 looks sweet, but the specs suggest it's larger than I want - and costlier, too.  I checked the specs on the smaller Dragonfly units - the 4 and the 5 - and it they share the simpler interface. Thank you for your thoughts on the Elite-4.  If I run across one that's powered-up somewhere, I'll fiddle with the buttons and test their sensitivity.  that would be an issue for me, too.

Since my Lowrance doesn't have GPS, I didn't find the small screen to be much of a problem.  I wanted my new unit to have GPS because my Garmin hand-held left a lot to be desired on the water.  The general consensus on screen size seems to be "more is more" if you're trying to watch charts and sonar at the same time.  They are spendy, but I got a screaming Cyber Monday deal straight from Raymarine's website.  I will write up a review once I have had some time with it on the water, but that's probably a couple months out. 

pmmpete, Merry Christmas! - and I was hoping you'd add to the conversation.

I believe I've lost a lot of interest in down-imaging - but I'm noticing that it's hard to find models at online retailers that have maps and GPS but don't have DI.

From the one review of side-scanning sonars I found here, I don't see how that helps me - even without considering where and how to mount the transducer.  Someone with more experience may benefit, but not me.

My plans at the moment are to mount the display unit in a similar location to where you've described mounting it on your Revo, where I can reach it, but that's subject to change as I practice deep water reentry and know where I most often fling my posterior when scrambling back on board.

I'd be interested in knowing what you chose for your Revo, since the one I buy is meant for a Revo, too.

I'm doing my best to go about mid-range in price but now that I'm seeing kayak-capable units selling for around $2,000, I guess that budgeting $300-$400 has me shopping the bargain basement.  Again.

Low_Sky, I apologize: Merry Christmas to you!  I'll bear screen size in mind, but at the moment, I intend to mount the display unit as close to the seat as safety allows and I think the width of the unit affects where I can put it.  Can't testify to that and I really should tape together some cardboard to match the dimensions of various units and see if I'm making good or poor assumptions.


Is CHIRP more or less standard on most units these days?  I'm noticing that not many descriptions on the WWW list CHIRP as a feature.

And hey!  On Cabela's website, I saw a Humminbird ICE-45 one of the old flashers much like the last finder I owned.  I cannot believe anyone would give a darn about that technology.  I know I don't have fond memories of them.
   

pmmpete, Merry Christmas! . . . I'd be interested in knowing what you chose for your Revo, since the one I buy is meant for a Revo, too.

What I have on my Revolution is a Humminbird 597ciH Down Imaging, a couple years old.  I wish I hadn't bought the down imaging.  I'm not up to speed on the latest fish finders, and I don't know what kind of fishing you like to do, so I don't have any recommendations about brands and models of fish finder you could buy.  But for starters, you could look at fish finders with sonar and GPS, with a big enough color screen for comfortable viewing and to permit you to view sonar and GPS at the same time.

Thanks.  I don't know what kind of fishing I like to do!  I've spent all my time paddling in the coastal rivers, so far.  This one will be for the ocean.  Rockfish, lingcod, salmon, surf perch, halibut (sooner or later).  I'm going fishing for whatever's around wherever I can reach.

So see, I'm no help.

Noah also mentioned the 597, but it's been discontinued.  But I can read the specs and take a guess at why you're using it.

I'm not looking for a recommendation.  I'm trying to learn what works for other people and why it works, and learn from that.  I try very hard to avoid asking "Tell me what to do" questions because I prefer to blame myself if I make a mistake.  Like buying a 10-foot Tarpon.

It would be great for Fish Finders to be one of the topics for a Thirsty Thursday or kayak fishing seminar (if anyone like Rawkfish or Spot might be reading this thread). 

FF have numerous features to adjust and tune (regardless of manufacturer).  I've been looking at Raymarine Dragonfly 5PRO, Lowrance Elite 4 or Elite5 chirp, and Garmin echomap 54dv.  It helps to read the manuals ( ) - provides some insight to how to dial in each unit and how many button pushes are required to get any certain feature.  I'll be checking them out at the sportsman shows or stores to get a feel for the buttons/menus.  The only units I've actually used are a Humminbird 581i (I think that was it) and Eagle Nav or something like that really basic -- both units I was using the suctioncup mount positioned manually under my seat, so I think my eminent purchase will be a nice accessory.