Fish finder - But different...

[Lwapo]

Ok, I'm looking for a fish finder. I've searched and read MANY MANY threads about this but none of them addressed the question I have. Most people are looking for the cheapest, etc... I want one that WORKS.

I'm fishing inland lakes. 99.99% of the time they are 35 feet MAX depth. I will never fish a lake deeper than 80 ft with this boat.

What is a good (perfer easy to use) fish finder that will read/mark fish (and/or weeds) in water that is 10-20 feet deep?

What features should I be looking for? Is color worth it? Etc?

Please include make and model so I can find it!

Thank you in advance!

[ALLEYES]

Hard to go wrong with a Lowrance. Just find one in your price range.

[sfw1960]

I'm a Lowrance devotee .... I've used a buncha different brands - but I keep coming back to what I feel is the best (or one of the very best) out there.

First off I should mention that most manufacturors have pretty good units , forget the cheapies - they are better than nothin' but ......

You get what you pay for- like with ANYTHING. First ya gotta ask yourself:
How much can I / Do I want to spend??
I have two color units ($1400 worth or electronics on a $5000 boat , how sick is that??).
One is a LM-S332c (http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/LMS-332C.asp) (480x480pixel) which has GPS built in ; the X102c (http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/X102C.asp) is the stand-alone Sonar one retails for $649 the other $499 , although Three Rivers Marine Electronics (http://www.threeriversmarine.com/) in PA. can get you a better price - if you eMail them for it as well as a few other board sponors here.
My other unit is a Humminbird 787c2 (http://www.humminbird.com/products.asp?ID=560) (640x480 pixel) @ $699 MSRP which doesn't have as many 'creature comforts' OR the flexibility the Lowrance unit does. Each has different bells & whistles , and the menus differ - but I like a machine that I can manipulate in many ways. I also like my LMS more B/C the screen is wider than the 'Bird and I can plug in upper and lower limits on the LMS to really zoom into a section of water.
Screen Shots:

LMS-332c http://pages.pathwaynet.com/~sfw1960/LMS332C_SS1.jpg (http://pages.pathwaynet.com/%7Esfw1960/LMS332C_SS1.jpg)

787c2 http://pages.pathwaynet.com/~sfw1960/Bird_787c2_2743sized.jpg (http://pages.pathwaynet.com/%7Esfw1960/Bird_787c2_2743sized.jpg)

You can read about the feature sets in the provided links. WaterFoul & I were discussing the other day how NICE it would be to have an LCX111C-HD (http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/LCX-111Chd.asp) or even the HumminBird 987cSI (http://www.humminbird.com/products.asp?ID=512) but @ around $2000-2200 it ain't gunna happen anytime soon!
:lol:


This is a great article by the outdoor writer Allan Tarvid , he's quite the Sonar Expert....
:evilsmile

http://www.bassandwalleyeboats.com/output.cfm?id=942499

HumminBird doesn't offer product emulators like Lowrance does...
I'd HIGHLY suggest you download the X102c or LMS emulator & see what the product does before you make any hard & fast decisions...

http://www.lowrance.com/software/PCSoftware/Install/X102C/X102C_demo.exe
[5MB Download]

So unless you try to get out cheap ,anything decent will probably impress you as long as you take time to learn how to interpret what the machine is showing you.
There's plenty of tutorials online to READ: (http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108567)
I hope this serves to help rather than confuse!!
:evilsmile
G'Luck ~
Robert
~ :D ~

[The Whale]

Lowrance x67c "Ice Machine". I bought one for ice fishing. $299.99. Color unit. It rocks. Pick up the warm water tranducer too for year round use. Your choice of "flasher" or "graph" displays. Performs as well as if not better than the highly touted "Vex" units. Infinitely more adjustable settings. Can't say enough for this unit. Download the emulator as stated above. You would not be sorry for buying this unit. Very comfortable pricing, too. ;) :fish2:

[steelers fan]

I have a lowrance x15 and love it, I just received cabelas sale paper and the price is way down from what I payed. $549.00 with gps.