Fishfinders

[chrisjpainter]

Calling all you chaps who own/regularly use boats and preferably small ones. I'm in the market for a small fishfinder to use from my kayak. Is DownVision/DownVu really worth having? I know it gives great definition on the bed, but is it worth paying the extra for it? I'm currently looking at either the Garmin Striker 4 or the 4 DV

 

Many thanks

Chris

[rodp]

What you really need is a tame heron

 

 

[digger]

I went out of Newhaven on my mates boat. He had a brand new state of the art fish finder installed. went two miles out to a mark, finder showed plenty of fish. Not a nibble after an hour so went to another mark. Same again , loads showing but not even a knock.

After a blank day we went back to the slip and got pulled onto the trailer. I went into the cabin to get something and glanced at his expensive toy - still showing fish. Muppet had forgotten to take the sticker off the screen.

[greenergp]

I have had a few fishfinders and i would say the downview/downscan only fishfinders are a bit disappointing they are good for showing bottom structure but poor when it comes to showing actual fish, you can get combo units that allow you switch between traditional sonar and the downscan view or overlay both views on the screen.

 

If i were you i would get lowrance or humminbird GPS/Sonar that has mapping capabilities like the lowrance Hook4, this allows you record your sonar data and make your own depth charts of the areas you fish it makes a huge difference where all the drop offs or reefs are in relation to your boat/kayak

 

Look at sites like insight genesis or reefmaster for info on mapping