Fish finder?

[Appalachian American]

I have always wondered about using a fish finder but I've always told myself I can't figure one out and it probablly wouldn't help anyway. I've just started looking today and it seems that they aren't too unreasonable. I have a kayak that I take out maybe 10x's/year and I'd love to be more productive fishing from it. I mainly just fish where the creek meets the lake but don't always have luck.

I have a few questions:


What price range should I reasonably expect to have a fish finder which is really useful?

Does anyone out there use a fish finder for your kayak? If so how do you like it?

I'd imagine from when I anchor down that I'm usually never in more than 15ft of water. Is the fish finder going to prove very useful?

Can you actually see fish with them or are they basically better at depth finding and having some idea about various structures on the bottom?

Is the technology changing so rapidly that it wouldn't be best to buy the latest and greatest because it will be obsolete within five years?

Thanks so much in advance!
-AA

 

[X-Tennessean]

Price wise you can go as far as you want to go but for a good unit for a kayak I'd say in the $300-$700 with the later being a VERY nice unit for a kayak.
I don't know that you would want a SI unit for a kayak but I am sure there are several out there using them in that application, several people use graphs on their kayaks. For me SI works best traveling at or around 5-7 mph, don't know that you can reach those speeds in a kayak!

It would be very beneficial in finding structure and even fish if set up properly.
Technology wise.....it is just that, it changes faster than than we can imagine! It is more like 1 year instead of 5 years.

My suggestion and I am strictly a Humminbird guy so I can't help much with Lowrance, Garmin etc.
Take a look at the Helix 5 possibly 7 in a down imaging unit with gps.
Some of the Lowrance guys may chime in with a comparable for those units, they are all good units and have pros and cons compared to each other.

 

[bigquacks]

If you are on Facebook join the Kayak DIY Projects & Tutorials page. Some of those guys have pimped out their rigs.

 

[RUGER]

Take a look at the Helix 5 possibly 7 in a down imaging unit with gps.
.

I had the 5 with side imaging.
Very good unit but just like they said on here before I bought it, you will like the 7 much better due to the size.
With that being said, my 5 crapped out after about 5 trips on the water.

 

[wobblegobble]

Low ranch elite 5 or hook 5! Easy to use with everything you need. The elite has been on sale or less than $250

 

[TRIGGER]

IMO if you only go 10 times a year save your money and fish. It takes time to figure out what your looking at on your screen and what it means.

I have spent many of days on the water simply driving around looking at things with very little fishing just to try to make sense of it all.

As far as being obsolete these units are upgrading fast. A new unit now will be old stuff next year.

 

[nitro_z17]

It takes time to figure out what your looking at on your screen and what it means.
I have spent many of days on the water simply driving around looking at things with very little fishing just to try to make sense of it all.

yep!

 

[nitro_z17]

but in your scenario id go with a lowrance hook 4

 

[bluball]

IMO if you only go 10 times a year save your money and fish. It takes time to figure out what your looking at on your screen and what it means.

I have spent many of days on the water simply driving around looking at things with very little fishing just to try to make sense of it all.

As far as being obsolete these units are upgrading fast. A new unit now will be old stuff next year.

Yep,I have spent 4hrs looking to fish 2 hrs[emoji3]

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[jard]

for you, I would go humminbird helix 5 DI/sonar. cheap and small and does everything you need. Extremely user friendly and humminbird's setting are pretty much spot on out of the box.

I have 2 999 HD SI linked on my boat and I spend many, many days on the water (especially in the summer) just driving and scanning ledges. Tons of time and trial and error. For the river, just slap it on on go.

 

[DRSJ35]

i just got a hummingbird piranhamax 197c di.Its small but it does down imaging and 2d.also has the depth and water temp.i got it for 89.00 at cabelas on sale.not sure what it is normally.and it has fish identification i havnt tried that yet though.check it out

 

[wobblegobble]

i just got a hummingbird piranhamax 197c di.Its small but it does down imaging and 2d.also has the depth and water temp.i got it for 89.00 at cabelas on sale.not sure what it is normally.and it has fish identification i havnt tried that yet though.check it out

I just took that one off my boat, it was 2 years old retailed about $150

 

[walker]

As far as mapping goes hummingbird are hands down the winner imo. For down imigining.lowrance is better for me!

 

[smalljawbasser]

You can use navionics on your smartphone for mapping. $10 gets you extremely detailed, constantly updated contour mapping.


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[Appalachian American]

Thanks everyone who took the time to reply. I really appreciate the feedback. I like the idea of smaller $150 unit as I'm not needing to be real sophisticated or fancy. Maybe once I learn to use the lower priced model, I'll be able to understand if I'd need a more expensive unit and what features I'd need personally. Thanks again!

-AA

 

[Smo]

You can use navionics on your smartphone for mapping. $10 gets you extremely detailed, constantly updated contour mapping.


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How does that work? Will the phone connect to the finder? If so does that eliminate the need for the card?

 

[smalljawbasser]

You can use navionics on your smartphone for mapping. $10 gets you extremely detailed, constantly updated contour mapping.


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How does that work? Will the phone connect to the finder? If so does that eliminate the need for the card?

No, you literally just use your phone's gps. You can download whatever areas you want to your phone in case you don't have cellular data available on the lake.

It's pretty cool. You can go get a free trial. I don't use it on the lake, but if I was a kayaker I would certainly try it.

You can use it right now on your couch and just browse around any lake in the country. They have a free trial, I'd highly encourage anybody to check it.

Most of the pros use it to pre-scout lakes.


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[Smo]

I understand I thought there was someway to tie the two that I wasn't aware of. Thanks

 

[Rollo]

I have 2 fishing yaks and have a Lowrance Elite 4 CHIRP on one and just ordered a Garmin EchoMAP 43dv for the other. The Lowrance is harder to navigate around and kind of fidgety but once it's set you pretty much can leave it alone. I agree the Hummingbirds are probably the easiest to use. Electronics have helped me catch lots of fish over the years, especially looking for schooling baitfish in deeper water. They are also crucial in finding humps and structure that may not be on a navmap. Especially nice to have when fishing new areas. Only time I don't use it is when I'm fishing shallow waters on the spawn. Then I'm just watching the water temp. Plenty of decent options out there for around $200