opinions needed for which fish finder to buy

[pleasure unit]

Well here is my problem. I have a older ff that only works down to about 100 fow. Not a good feature for trolling the Big O. I am going to buy a new fish finder and I am looking for some opinions about what to buy. It will be used for trolling on Lake Ontario chasing Salmon and Trout. 99% of the time. The other 1% I have to take the boat out for "fun" times with my gf and her friends.... I have a 21 foot Thompson boat that I will be using this on. Would like to keep the price under $800 if possible, but it is better for me to get something that will last over just the price issue.

[ray koziatek]

checkbass pro eagle 642c with gps mapping its 599.00,,, dual freq,speed,temp its got bout ever toy a rec fisherman needs there are much better units out there but this is easy to use and does bout everything a finder can do ...i know what its like tring to decide as the salesperson reads the display card to ya that you been looking at for 5 min then says my uncles brother little brother has one and he loves it..look for in my bumbling opinion surface speed,temp,delay temp chart ..showes ya temp for last 20 min in case ya ran over a temp change and missed it (good feature to use) dual freq.200hz deeper stuff20 degreecone 50hz better coverage of lures and fish rising to bait60 to 90 degree cone,,gps ,,waas,mapping,map card slot .. with todays tech . ive never used a really expensive unit id probly spend 1200.00 on a autopiolet before id spend that much on fish unit, but i fish alone alot so i need auto piolet more... get ready for 20 diff, opinions hope i helps some Ray K.

[waterlogged]

For about 300 - 400 more I'd recommend the Furuno FCV-582L. Just bought one for our boat and have fished with several others who have them. Extremely reliable and worth the extra $$.

Clarke

[Fishstix]

Furuno FCV667 They have made this model as long as I can remember,and they still make them.its a CRT. If the one Ive got ever dies I will replace it with a new 667. Just like my old one. If you search around the web you can pick them up new around $600 bucks or so.

[Rich D]

Pleasure unit,

I would recommend the new Furuno FCV 620 unit. It is color and has 600 watts of power, and it is the new Digital series, which clears up the screen a lot. This was my first color graph, and boy was I missing out on a lot of fish until now. You can get the unit and Trans. mount triducer, which will give you speed and temp for under 800 dollars. Let me know if you are interested and I will send you the website I dealt with. Good Luck.

Rich

[L&M]

Stix: Your right FCV667. If you have the room for it, there isnt a better unit out there for the money. Just old school talkin here.

[Fishstix]

L&M ....cant see the cannon balls ,to fast......,red or yellow cannonballs ,to slow,...... Thin green line you catch fish . Ive got down speed and temp but the probe stays in the cuddy It only gets used for temp checks when I cant get anything going. A little more "old school"

[reel escape]

Stix: have you used the FCV667 in any shallow water fishing, if or when your not trolling, does it give detail if your just jigging?

[pleasure unit]

I do have a new sub troll 900? with down speed and temp already. Should I consider units without or with as a back up?

[ray koziatek]

units with surface speed usually have trip log which is not nessary but sometimes is (fun) and helpful if ya need to find waypoints for emergency navagation reasons,and surface temp will show temp breaks on surface (upwellings) also last year i found out from several of the top charters the importance of 1\2 of 1 degree on the surface during spring fishing ,,major help in finding fishing areas also ,, digital data with temp graph is great feature with surface temp if your setting rigs or fighting fish and miss a warm temp. break this graph displays temp for last 20 min. and you can return on your trail to exact spot .. Before last spring I read several times about minor temp breaks I had no clue how big 1\2 degree on surface was for ....SPRING... fishing..many times it helped me find those dime size pods of fish near the surface but scatter to side as boat approaches ..sometimes its the little things in life(and fishing) that have big rewards.. to answer your question YES!!!

1\2 degree was a big deal

[Fishstix]

Honestly I dont know how it would be jig fishing. But I know it would show if something was down there.It shows fish on the bottom real well. It has ten different depth ranges that you can set manually .Im sure you can control the screen speed also.I think the shallowest I have mine set is 0 to 30ft deepest is 0 to 250. It will go to 1000ft but I have no need for that. I usually set it for the depth im fishing and leave it at that. It has a zoom, bottom lock and several special features that I have never figured out. Ive never really needed them either. I set the gain on mine manually also. You can see the thermalcline, clouds of sea fleas etc. It is a heavy unit it probably weighs 8lbs or so. Its like a little color TV. I dont believe its waterproof . Its splash proff though.I know of several boats running them . Ive heard they are hard to see in direct sunlight . Mine hangs from the roof so the sun never really is directly on it. Also Ive heard of them loosing brilliance. Something that may be going on with mine I have the brilliance turned all the way up . I have no idea how old my unit is I bought it used. Another thing about these say your in 300FOW and you have your depth set at 0 to 120. Your depthfinder will not tell you how deep of water your in . The depth is out of range.If you set it 0 to 350 it would tell you your water depth. This is probably not an entry level depthfinder. It takes a little while to get it figured out. I figured the ball track color thing out myself from just observing when I was catching fish and when I wasnt. Mine shows fish in the color red most of the time. I dont really like to see big red arcs. the fish are stationary. I would reather see red bips. I think its telling me the fish are moving and only in the cone for a second.

[Guest ReelDiel]

opinions are like......ha ha!!! seriously all the major brands make a nice unit. for lake o i would say the general advice is anything over 500W RMS will do ya fine. once you meet that requirment therest is finding what other goodies you want,budget and other applications.

My opinion if you have strickly a lake boat I would go with the best furuno or raymarine you can afford. If you have a trailerable open bow boat that you chase many species I would go with lowrance, hummingbird or garmin (easy to network and such if you run 2) my 2 cents

[Yankee Troller]

First off pleasure unit.....you said 1% of the time your taking our Gf and her friends out on the boat? Why didnt I get a PM or a phone call?

Back to your topic.....Look at the raymarine DSX500. I have this unit and it is a great unit with lots of power. Small enough to fit on the dash of your boat. It comes with a dual freq. transducer which is real nice. A friend of mine bought the model under that one and he loves it too. He doesnt need the power I do becasue he fishes the fingerlakes for the most part.

I have a Furuno 582 and it is a real sweet unit, but it takes up a lot of space. I think Rich D has the new Furuno and he seems to like the new digital image it displays. It might be a little above your price range though.

Seriousl check out the DSX500 and call me if your GF brings out her GF's!

[Guest ReelDiel]

Yt, you are a man after my own heart always trolling....100% fisherman

[Yankee Troller]

LOL....

[capt ace]

http://furuno.psicompany.com/prodweb/fish/585l.htm

Here's a link to the new furuno which came out last year. At the advice of my buddies Kevin Davis and Hat Trick Jimmy Staves I upgraded to this unit last year. It is phenomenal in it's performance. With a thru hull transducer we can mark fish going over 25mph up on plane and mark them clearly. You can adjust the screen speed to accommodate the faster boat speed to mark the fish. Shopping around on the internet last year we were able to pick up the display and the thru hull for 1400.00. It has been well worth the money.

Capt. Jimmy Samia

www.acecharters.com

[L&M]

With a thru hull transducer we can mark fish going over 25mph up on plane and mark them clearly.

I find that hard to believe. Bait yes. Individual fish and or fish?

Furuno is a great unit, but seeing fish at 25 mph or knt's is pushing it.

I'll have to take a ride with you or Jim some time.

[capt ace]

The new technology is awesome. It really does mark fish going that fast. After a blow and everybody is in search mode, it is at its best.

Last year when coming in from the morning trip I marked a bunch of big hooks just off the bottom in 100 ft of water. I called Kevin to let him know and they finished out their limit with the five more kings they needed.

I used a raytheon v850 for the last 12 years and the faster you went the smaller the targets would show up on the screen till the screen became all cluttered. The chart speed on the new furuno can be set to go fast enough to off set the shrinking of the targets on the screen as the boat speed increases. The digital technology in the new furuno allows for the clearer picture.

It will do what I say. If you know Jim Staves well enough and even if you don't, just ask him. I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing.

Capt. Jimmy Samia

www.acecharters.com

[pleasure unit]

Well I have looked at the offers.. I think I am leaning towards the Furno FCV-620 I wouldn't mind the 585L but I think the cost is a bit too high after you add transducer. Is the thru hull better one to get??? Thanks guys for your opinions. And YT I'll let you know when the GF GF's are abord!

[muskybob]

And YT I'll let you know when the GF GF's are abord!

Pics please!

[spoonfed-1]

PU,

I switched from a transom mount to a thru hull on my Furuno last spring on the advice of King Me and it is like night and day when you are on plane. I would never run a transom mount again.

L&M, I got to back up Capt. Ace.I have seen bait AND hooks while on plane also. If I remember correctly it wasn't real choppy when this happens though.

Glen