Fish Finders

[Jcc]

Hey guys, I'm interested in getting some opinions on fish finders. What's a good brand for mainly river fishing what sort of dollors do you need to spend. And advice appreciated thanks. 

[jeffb5.8]

I have a Lowrance Hook 5 and wish I bought a Hook 7 as the bigger screen the better.

im no expert but it does the job, not sure on price as it came with my boat.

1. Biggest screen that fits you boat

 

whats you budget and type of boat?

Edited February 4, 2017 by jeffb5.8

[mii11x]

49 minutes ago, jeffb5.8 said:

I have a Lowrance Hook 5 and wish I bought a Hook 7 as the bigger screen the better.

im now expert but it does the job, not sure on price as it came with my boat.

1. Biggest screen that fits you boat

 

whats you budget and type of boat?

hahaha i like your thinking jeff......cos who need to see out there front windscreen hahhahaa, I also bought a ram mount so i can swivel it anywhere........i love it, i dont struggle to see anything on the screen.  The -7 it replaced was pretty good as well, but i wanted larger sidescreen and down imaging views and the ability to 4xsplit the screen.

 

JCC - get the biggest screen you can afford,  most people like the -7's of most brands.  As for brands, you will get both opinions on simrad over lowrance over hummingbird etc.  Go to a store and play with a few, see which one you like better in terms of menu setout etc......also do you plan on connecting it to a trolling motor, hence I purchased a lowrance to connect to my MG leccy.  

Remember if you get a gps model sounder you will have to buy some sort of nav card to make it worthwhile as the base maps are pretty simple.

Unfortunately though with a bigger screen you'll never want to go down in size, so my next sounder purchase will more than likely be a gen3 hds12 = sell my kidneys hahaha

[Raymondo]

The base maps that come with Garmin units as standard are excellent, no need to upgrade. 

[PaddyT]

Good rule of thumb based on the "more you spend the better the unit" fact of life. Spend 10%of your boats value on electronics. If the boat is worth 10K then spend 1K on electronics. Always a good option is to wait until a manufacturer upgrades their models then you can get a superseeded option for up to half the price if you keep your eyes out. Lowrance are regularily doing that as do other manufacturers.

[Jcc]

Thanks guys really appreciate the advice.