Fish Finder for Rookie

[kwiggy]

Okay Gang, I am mostly an ice fisherman, but have recently acquired a 14 ft aluminum boat. I am interested in buying a fishfinder to use with this boat. I use a vexilar for winter, but I know next to nothing about summer fishfinders. What type of features should I look for and how much should I expect to spend? I am a typical guy who usually thinks he needs all the bells and whistles, but usually doesn't. The problem here is, I have no idea what the bells and whistles are let alone if I actually need them.

My fishing style: Walleye and perch and am learning crappies and sunnies, slip bobber or jigs, sometimes troll for northern, usually fish with 12 yr old son, but have two younger daughters I am trying to interest. I hope to have my son learn to operate the boat and the finder as well.

Thanks for the help. I might head down to the sportsman's show this weekend to compare brands/models.

[Bassinbob84]

The lowrance hds 5 has all the bells and whistles with only a 5" screen. Gps, color, HD screen what more could you want for a little over $500

[Deitz Dittrich]

If you wanted to go on the cheap.. just buy a high speed ducer for you Vex. It will work just fine.

If you are looking for bells and whilstles, keep your eye out for any color fishfinder/GPS combo. With the chips you can buy, it will help you learn a lake much quicker.

[kwiggy]

I have a line on a new Fishlite 642CI from Eagle for $350, plus I have $90 in gift cards so it gets even cheaper. Looks like a great deal, but was wondering what opinions were on this finder. It has a built in GPS with a 640-480 screen. FYI... I am a part-timer on the open water so I am thinking this is just what I need. Thanks all, for any info.

[Twins 57 Fan]

You would be happy with that unit. It is pretty much the same as a Lowrance 522. I run the Lowrance 520 system on my boat and love it. The only difference between the 522 and 520 is the external gps puck.

Because the eagle and the lowrance are so similar, I think it is a smart move on your part. I would also recommend you to listen to Deitz and mount the vexilar on your boat. I have a lot of buddys who use them on the front of their boats.

Just my 2 pennies.

[Tullibee]

I second getting the high speed ducer for the vexilar. For my 14' lund I have the alumaducer, which actually reads through the hull directly under where I sit. I can pick up my jig now and then when I am vertical and see walleyes come in and whack it! I liked this option for that reason and the fact that it requires no drilling to install.

[fasternu]

I was going to mount my Vexilar to my Bow mount trolling motor for this coming year, but was wondering, will the Trolling motor interfere at all with the Vex? Just wanted to make sure it was worth it.

[mainbutter]

I don't bother with fish finders for anything other than depth when I have them.

GPS and a lake structure map along with something that tells me accurate depths is all I need.

SOMETIMES it's nice to see bait fish on a depth finder, but most of the fishing I do (musky, northern, bass) I let the fish tell me if they are in an area, not the electronic gizmo.

If I was looking for large schools of deep fish in 50+ FOW then I might find the "fish finder" aspect of fish finders useful.

[croixflats]

I was going to mount my Vexilar to my Bow mount trolling motor for this coming year, but was wondering, will the Trolling motor interfere at all with the Vex? Just wanted to make sure it was worth it.

No interference from the trolling motor or from another sonar thats in the back. I have one on mine and it works great for real time depth.

[Ed Carlson]

A Vexilar TK-Kit for open water use will run you about $79.99, and you will have a full 4 season use unit that will serve you very well.

In the TK-Kits, you will have an Hi-Speed option, a shoot through the hull option, and a puck mount trolling motor mount option to choose from. Just get the kit that will serve you best.

I have been running the Vexilar's on my boats for 30 years now, would feel naked without one on the boat.

[kwiggy]

Thanks for the info everybody, I think you saved me some money. I am going to go with the Vexilar option. I have used a graph in the past and didn't quite understand how they worked as a fish finder. I see the demos in the store and think wow, but on the open water it just didn't work right. That is why I asked the question about Bells and Whistles because I was looking at an economical unit and thought it was missing something. I have the same outlook as Mainbutter, I just want depth. I have an H2O with lake chip so I like to think I am hunting the fish versus spotting them. I guess that's because I'm more serious about fishing than catching!

Thanks again everybody for taking the time to offer your advice.

[fishwacker1]

I also drag along my Vex FL18 in summer and use the original transducer that came with it to shoot sound through my aluminum hull on my lundd. I get accurate depth readings, and have picked up signal where I had to stop. Sure enough school of crappie. In my opinion I would try the equiptment you own before a purchase. Make sure there is couplant (water, or vaseline) between face of ducer and aluminum. Good fishing

[hamms-scooter]

I have used my vex in the boat the last 2 years and i love it for vert fishing! I have not done anything fancy with it and just put the regular ducer over the side. I am rigging up a piece of pvc to put the ducer down so i can troll a little more efficiently. Nothing fancy here just using what i have and works great.