Fish Finder on a Budget

[cowan-cowboy]

Hi Guys,

Just getting back in to fishing and I am looking at getting a budget sounder.

I would be using the sounder in the Hawkesbury,Pittwater and Cowan Creek.

Looking at spending around $100-$300.

I have seen CONDOR F-238 200KHz for about $99.

What are the most important things when looking for a black/white finder?

Thanks,

CC

[Geoff]

Personally , I would be sticking with the well know brands.

Eagle , Humminbird , Garmin all have B & W sounders under $200

Of the 3 , the Eagle Cuda 300 has the best resolution at 240 x 160 & is competitive at $149.00

Other aspects like Output , trans freq., screen size & water temp are the same for all 3 units

Geoff

Edited April 25, 2011 by Geoff

[Guest Aussie007]

BIAS has the eagle cuda 300 for $99 cheap enough to leave in the boat in case someone takes a liking to it i have the same fish finder i remove it from the mount and leave it below the dash or in between the seats under the tarp its a good cheap unit i paid $170 for mine typical electronics these days it has the highest resolution of the cheaper models $99-$170 some have shocking resolution huge pixels and not many of them this fish finder picks up my down rigger weight in 25ft or less it also picks up big fish like kingies following the downrigger just before the take any shallow water is a bit of hit and miss as u get a lot of mess on the surface im assuming this is from the prop? deeper water it works well ive used it to around 50-60 foot its not great at finding fish sometimes the fish show up it will show up big tight schools of king fish but when there spread out they dont show on the fish finder everytime even though your catching them it also works pretty well at around 30kph u wont be seeing fish but u can see the bottom it also shows the bottom well weather it be reef or sand so the big question if i had $300 i wouldnt be buying a cuda i'd be looking at a decent fish finder from the USA #$#$#$,west marine,bass pro most of these shops give u a shipping price after u add the item to your cart and check out before submitting the order they show u the total cost

[micksfishn]

look in the states man or you could look at a second hand unit always people upgrading might be the best way to go about it lowrance x125 are great b/w units around the $200 mark s/h

pm sent also

mick

[cowan-cowboy]

I didn't do much fishing at all last year, so didn't get around to getting a sounder.

I am looking at buying the Garmin Echo 200, they are now only $199.

Is anyone using the Echo 200. The reports sound ok but it would be great if I can get a Raiders feedback.

Cheers,

CC.

[cowan-cowboy]

Finally purchased the sounder.

Hopefully installing tonight, in the hope to help me find some kingies on Saturday.