Which FIshfinder to buy

[alex1young]

Looking to buy a new fishfinder.  I've always had humminbirds, but i see the HDS series and I hear good things about the Dragonfly.  I troll primarily but do a good amount of jigging in the summer in the finger lakes. Anyone have suggestions on a nice unit and why? 

[TyeeTanic]

Looking to buy a new fishfinder.  I've always had humminbirds, but i see the HDS series and I hear good things about the Dragonfly.  I troll primarily but do a good amount of jigging in the summer in the finger lakes. Anyone have suggestions on a nice unit and why? 

I have an HDS Gen 1, it is really nice, powerful unit, good features, easy to use. Have had it 4 years now, no problems.

The HDS Gen 2's are really nice, especially the touch screens - so easy to navigate where you want to in the system, and zoom in/out, etc.  That's where I would invest.

[markmonkey1]

I can't speak of the others, but I love my Lowrance HDS-7 Gen2. It's processor is fast, which means no lag when panning. The 7" screen is plenty good. I recommend the 50khz transducer for deep water trolling.

[alex1young]

Appreciate it guys, I'm thinking it will be either the HDS 5 or 7 Gen 2.  I rarely fish deeper then 120, would the standard transducer work alright for that depth? 

[markmonkey1]

Back when I was researching, I asked Lowrance which transducer is best for targeting fish (Ontario salmon) at depths of 40 to 150 ft down. Also, I'd use it on Lake Erie and target fish 30-60 ft down, in water < 100ft deep. They recommended the 50/200 kHz xducer. They also make an 83/200, but the 50/200 is supposed to be better for deeper water. I love mine! The 200 is used for shallow water, and the lower freq (50 or 83) for deeper. But the 83/200 will work and many folks use that.

I have been told the HDS5 5" screen is kinda small when both GPS and sonar are up, those folks said they wished they would have got the 7"---so that's why I did.

Hope I didn't confuse you! There's another forum website thehulltruth.com which discusses specifics on the transducers if your interested in more detail...

Good luck!

[markmonkey1]

Btw, the HDS can be bought w/o xducer, or standard with 83/200 kHz, and the 50/200 kHz was a $50 upgrade last I checked.

[Finchdude]

We have a dragonfly 7. Which we like. But it currently is sent back to raymarine for them to repair the transducer plug and plug on unit itself. All pins broke off inside plug?? I take some responsibility for this. But it is a cincy design. And I think the whole mount is cincy too!! Unit has great screen and very detailed and accurate. But it is currently broke. Once it comes back it will prolly stayed mounted and never removed. So the thieves can just have at it !! Oh have like 4 hummingbirds on this boat and another boat that are nice too, and never any issues!

Edited July 22, 2014 by Finchdude

[muskie magnet]

Humminbird 999HDSI ..Awesome unit

[TyeeTanic]

Appreciate it guys, I'm thinking it will be either the HDS 5 or 7 Gen 2.  I rarely fish deeper then 120, would the standard transducer work alright for that depth? 

 

Go for the 7, seriously. I have the 5, the screen is a tad bit too small especially when I split screen the map and sonar. Maps are important so you can mark fish/hits and follow your trails back.  It's okay in my setup because I also have a Standard Horizon GPS, so with two units I can full screen both.

[alex1young]

Anyone have experience mounting thru-hull transducers on aluminum boats?

[jigstick]

_{The new Simrad NSS EVO units are pretty awesome.  Lots of features for the price point as well.}

[laker1]

Anyone have experience mounting thru-hull transducers on aluminum boats?

Alex, I have a Lund and had my dealer professionally mount a transducer board and then my transducer. I used to mount transducers directly onto aluminum boats but found myself over worrying about the hole drilling and how long the silicone would last. This worry and a blinding attack of sciatica caused me to reassess what I was doing. Now I just go fishing and don't fret about a leak or whatever. If I hit a deadhead I can easily replace , adjust or move my transducer. Four screws in and four screws out, no problem. I like using screws with Robertson heads. Good luck!

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[Missdemeanor]

Furuno 587.....Marks fish unbelievable....

[zackblain]

The simrad nss units look pretty impressive

[BAZOOKAJOE]

My buddy has a Furano 1870 and its a great unit! And will be next.

[jigstick]

The simrad nss units look pretty impressive

This right here is good advice.  I will be replacing my Raymarine unit with a Simrad NSS EVO unit next year.  Chirp Technology…better user interface…NMEA2000 compatible….bigger display…great price point as well.  The screen shots I have seen of these SImrad units in action are very impressive.

[freespirit1]

furano  587  worth the extra money unbelievable screen ask anyone who has one

[FleetTracker]

Even better - get 2 of the HDS 5 units to get 10" of screen. I have 4 of these, 2 on each boat. Comparable price to one 7 not a whole lot more $ spent. This gives you dedicated screens for your fish finder and chart plotter and respective settings dedicated to each screen. Also gives you 'back-up' capability should anything fail etc... Nice piece of mind.

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[Diversion]

furano  587  worth the extra money unbelievable screen ask anyone who has one

x2  Very happy with mine

[GANGGREEN]

This isn't directed at anyone in particular, but I think that sometimes we go overboard with our electronics.  If you don't need the mapping features, don't need side-scan or down-scan, etc. and you only want to see the fish (or structure) that are under the boat, it doesn't really take much and fishing electronics have come a LONG way in the last decade or two.  In fact, the $100 and $150 units are far more accurate and powerful than anything that was out there a number of years ago.

 

I have an Elite 7HDI (no down-scan) and a cheaper Eagle 320 on the bow and I've been perfectly content with them for 99% of my fishing and I do know how to use electronics, I use them a lot and they catch me a lot of fish that I'd otherwise miss. Now if fishing and boating are your only hobby and you don't mind paying good money to have the best that's out there, I agree that some of the new stuff is just mind-numbing in what it can do, but for most of us and most situations, the really expensive stuff is NOT necessary. 

 

Just my two cents.

[ontherise]

Get the 7

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[alex1young]

Just to update everyone, I just purchased the HDS 7 G2.