What's a good budght fishfinder for a small 2 man boat?

[silentarcher]

I got a small boat and trailer yesterday and it's setup pretty good. It's nice enough I'm going to upgrade a few things and invest in a fish finder for it. At first I figured I'd get one down the line but I took it out this morning and right off the bat I kept glancing down where it should be to check for structure/changes and depth changes. The boat fishes really good and has a foot controlled motorguide 46lb trolling motor and live well as well as some other nice features but after being out on the water in it already I realize just how nice it was just having the basic info at the flip of the switch. I might as well go ahead and put one on it. I don't need something high dollar but something that's accurate and dependable. The only ones I've used are the smaller cheaper ones til now. So if you have one or were getting another one around $100-$150 range what would you recommend or get again?

 

[beauhunter41031]

I put a garmin striker 4cv on my console. It was cheap enough and does good telling me depth, speed and I can see fish sometimes!!
I like garmin and might get one of there bigger screen models to put up front

 

[silentarcher]

I'll look at them. Thanks for the info. When you say see fish sometimes do you mean because of issues with clarity or because there's not many fish to see? Lol

 

[woodsman92]

I’ve used the garmin striker 4 as well, good unit used mostly for depth, you’ll see some structure and fish, it’s just on those screens images are moving pretty quick, by the time you see the structure it’s already scrolled off the screen.

 

[slobear]

Lowrance.

 

[hunt-4-life21]

Helix 7 with down and side imaging. Imo, a depth finder does no good. You can use sonar but your cone that sonar puts off under the boat is very small. You have to drive within feet of the structure. With DI/SI, you can see structure up to 60-75ft on each side of the boat, plus under the boat. If it's outside of your price range, save up for it.

 

[silentarcher]

Thanks for the tips and info.

 

[ribsplitter]

For $100- $150 you'd be better off buying a rock and some string. Not trying to be a smart elic but I would save my money and get a unit that actually helps you find fish. All of the big 3, Birds, Lowrance, and Garmin make great units. Each one does some things better than the others.

 

[woodsman92]

I’ll agree with what’s being stated above. I had the garmin striker 4 on my jon boat and I didn’t really use it to find fish or structure, mainly just watched depth so I could find ledges. But when I got my garmin 73sv which is a 7” screen with side view, I’m actually learning to find fish and structure and mark them brush piles and go back to them with gps. I wouldn’t fool with that on the small screen.

 

[hunt]

Lowrance.

I agree, for the price range I don't think there's a better sonar unit than the Lowrance Hook2 for $95 off Amazon. Lowrance sonar is excellent and paints a great bottom composition and that is key on shallow water impoundments/strip pits, etc. Just learn to read what you're looking at, hard bottoms are key.

I have a Hook7 Tripleshot with side and down imagining on my jon boat, but I quickly learned that in shallower water that the regular sonar was way better than any of the imagining.

I use regular sonar more than anything on the places I fish, and it's not even close. U can upgrade to the Hook2 GPS if you wanna mark specific spots, that unit is $120 and falls in the price range you're looking at.

There's no doubt that down/side imaging have their place on deeper lakes with significant structure changes and will give a detailed view of what's down there, but for a budget unit on shallow water impoundments, good sonar is your friend and the Lowrance units do just that.

 

[drakeshooter]

Hard to beat a Lowrance for the $, caught a bunch of fish with an old black and white Eagle 20 years ago that I gave $70 for new. They’ve come a long way since.

Lowrance HOOK2 Fish Finder https://a.co/d/5daKCE0

 

[slobear]

Lowrance 2d sonar is unapproachable. The old grayscale units including Eagle were impeccable. Learn to read the colors and simply not a better fish finder on the market.

I’ve had birds and garmin and neither has caught fish comparable to Lowrance. I have no idea about livescope and likely won’t as I bought a 3d and still rely on 2d sonar. It’s lights out fish is there.

 

[slobear]

Also I should add that unless you plan on cruising around 3-4 mph in that two man boat you can throw out side scan and down imaging.

A good color unit will mark fish sitting dead still anchored up. You can see them on screen almost as good as livescope.

 

[RKF11]

When I was looking for my boat at the garmin 73 I found a few on marketplace for 250-350. They’re new at west marine or scheels for around 499$.
I went ahead and bought the 93 and so far I like it but need a little more adjusting to get it just right
With all the new stuff coming out I see the 73 dropping even lower soon
Good luck

 

[silentarcher]

Thanks for the suggestions. I looked at and read up on several different units most of which was recommended from you all. I liked some of the nicer ones but just dont need alot of the features I'd be paying for. Even with GPS and plotting features there was a huge price increase and since I'll be fishing smaller lakes and old coal mine pits I don't really need it. Especially when I can use my cellphone to mark gps coordinates for free. I decided to try the hummingbird piranha max 4 DI since I've heard and read good reviews on it. Also the place I bought it from said it's one of their best sellers for small boats. I'm gonna try it out and see how I like it and will keep an eye out for one of the more expensive ones used on marketplace. For some reason I figure I'll end up with another boat down the road anyway. Lol