minnesotahunter

Hey folks,

Question for you. I’ve been thinking about upgrading the fish finder on a boat we have up at our family’s cabin in WI. The old one reminds me of the original Nintendo Gameboy, and was never accurate by any means. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about spending around $200 on something pretty basic. I be using this on just one lake, so I don’t need GPS etc. Color isn’t a necessity either. I just want something that’s accurate, and that’s pretty easy to use. I’ve been thinking about a Lowrance x96 or x67c, and Humminbird 565 to name a few. It’s somewhat of an older boat, used mostly for recreation (pontoon). Am I going to run in to any problems with power, etc.? Do you guys have any suggestions/recommendations? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Chuck7

I have this one. There is no drilling necesary and it works good for me.

Actually I have the 1600 series .It cost me 219.00





Bottom Line Fishin' Buddy 1200

Chuck7

There's mine .This is from Bass Pro


[align=center]
Bottom Line® Fishin' Buddy™ 4200 Fishfinder[/align]












[ul][*]Ultra-sharp 4.14"H x 4.05"W monochrome display[*]5.8" diagonal viewing area[*]320V x 320H dot matrix[*]102400 total pixels at 6095 pixels per square inch[*]0.4" maximum target resolution[*]200 kHz operating frequency[*]240' maximum freshwater depth and 120' distance to side[*]Transducer cone angle of 18°[*]Sidefinder cone angle of 9°[*]400 power RMS/peak watts[*]Runs on 3 D-cell batteries (not included)[*]Unit dimensions: 5" x 3.5" x 32.5" [/ul]

minnesotahunter

Thanks Chuck. I take it you've been pretty happy with it?

I plan on using one mainly for walleye fishing. I've done a lot of bass fishing on our lake, but never spent to much time going after walleyes. I figure it'd be a lot easier to atleast determine a good area with one of these.

Champlain Islander

I have a couple of humminbirds on my bass boat and if you want to target walleyes get one with a zoom feature that will expand the bottom. Hbird, Lowrance, Eagle, Garmin all make nice units at a small cost.

Chuck7

Thanks Chuck. I take it you've been pretty happy with it?

I'll be straight with ya since I won't benenfit from a sale either way.

Positives,
-no drilling
- I've opnly replaced the batteries once
- It's helped me catch crappie
- it shows brush piles , points etc.
- very portable

Negatives.
- took me a while to figure out how to use the many settings.
- the end gets dirty easy so you need to pull it out and wipe it off about 4 times a fishing trip..other wise the settings go nuts
I simply pull it up and wipe it on my t shirt and it's fine.

Summary....it's ok but I hardly ever use it now. I simply fish old pits for crappie and usually fish the entire place from deep to shoreline. Bass fishing is simple...I flip the shoreline during the spawn and fish shiners the other times. I would not buy another one if this one broke. If I were to buy one though this would be the one. It's very portable.

mez

Either Lowrance model you mentioned would be goodl. I have the 67 mounted in the front of my boat and an X15 by the steering wheel. If you were choosing one I would go with the x96, you will like the bigger screen if it is your only unit. The little color unit is nice but I hate the small screens. With the bigger screen you can run it split, on half you can have a normal view and on the other half you can have a 4x view of the bottom, that would be very handy for walleye. You can run the 67 the same way but with the small screen it would be hard to read.
The only advantage you are going to gain with the color unit is the hardness of the bottom and it is easier to see.

JoshKeller

eagle 480.

minnesotahunter

Thanks guys. I appreciate the suggestions. I'll let you know what I decide on.

bigiron

Second that for a cheap graph there probley my favorite. we put one on the duck boat in case the birds werent flying the fish might be biting. But still swear by my lowrance x-16 but a little more then what a duck boat needs