Ok, thinking of upgrading my fish finder. I have one of the cheap Eagle ones that I feel only gives me a good depth and temperature reading and thats all. After fishing all last week it became obvious I need one on the bow too. I am thinking of moving the Eagle one to the bow and getting a good one for the console. I would like to get some good input before I make a purchase. Please post your opinions. Thanks!
Do you just want a fish finder or do you want a combo GPS/Sounder? I have a Garmin 441S I really like. The only thing I might do differently is pay a little more and get the bigger screen on the 551. Just my .02 worth.
Yeah well, I don’t know. I would like a GPS but don’t really need one. I don’t know much about the combos. I saw that some don’t have the transducer. Does that mean the sounder will not work unless one is added?
You need a transducer for the sounder part of a combo to work!
You can buy them with/without but as Easy said, no transducer, no sounder. If you fish the same areas all the time, you probably don’t need a GPS but, I have been to several different parts of Florida and would have been lost (literally) without GPS.
I think any of the new Lowrance color or DSI units are hard to beat. I have a Garmin 441s, and while I love all that it does, the fishfinder portion isn’t that great. The amount of color and pixel count leaves something to be desired. I am about to add another unit to the bow as well, and I am in betweeen the Elite 5x and the 4 DSI both by lowrance.
The lowrance Elite 4 DSI looks pretty nice, and not too hard on the bank.
i love my lowrance elite 5
- I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.
The Garmin 551 is a solid unit. Check it out!
Humminbird is my favorite.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair
Anyone have any personal experience using Structure Scan in salt water? How well does it work, at depth over 100 ft?
Not saltwater personaly, but I have used a Hummingbird side and bottom structure scan in 100’+ water at Lake Murray. Works really well. Not sure about anything over 150’ though, you would have to ask some of the offshore guys. Just get the biggest screen possible if you want to read anything that deep.
If you want another Eagle I’ll sell you my old one with transducer $25.
The 551 is only useful in Australia and surrounding areas. Not much use in Charleston.
Lowrance HDS system is pretty tough to beat. On my second set of HDS8’s as I sold the last pair with last year’s boat. Structure Scan is phenominal
Chuck D - Hilton Head, SC
Ranger z21 Intracoastal