Perennial FF question

I'm thinking about getting a fish finder (again.)  I haven't looked at what's out there for a while.  What are the best cheapos (< $150) and what is the current best-of-the-best?

Jonathan

PiranhaMax 20 is good on the low end.  The screen resolution is better than the others in the family and it has a dual cone transducer.  The bracket sucks; very delicate and difficult to remove.

The mid-range, the Matrix series is nice and you can add additional functions (GPS, Smartcast, ect).  The screen is big and resolution high.

Lots of yakkers also use the Humminbird 5XX series.  Again, high resolution and large 5" screen.

Not so sure on the highend.  Personally, I wouldn't put an expensive unit on a kayak.  Just too exposed to saltwater and sand.

I recently purchased an Eagle Fisheasy 240 and am very impressed with it. I think it's probably the best value in the < $130 range (cost $119 ).  It offers incredible resolution and grayline features. A dramatic improvement over my old Humminbird Piranha unit.

Here is the comparison to the Garmin 120 that I posted previously.  

For the same price as the Garmin 120, the Fisheasy 240 has better features....16 level grayscale versus 4 level grayscale in the Garmin, 240 x 160 pixel resoulution versus 240 x 128 in the Garmin, 1500 W power versus 800 W in the Garmin, 800 foot depth capability versus 600 in the Garmin.

Here's a link at Cabelas.com

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml?id=0029861017595a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnString=hasJS=true&_D%3AhasJS=+&QueryText=fisheasy+240&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jhtml.22&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=fisheasy+240&noImage=0&returnPage=search-results1.jhtml

How does the fisheasy 240 do in saltwater?  How deep has the water been where you use the fisheasy?  How well does it pick up bait balls?  I am considering the fisheasy, humminbird 535 and the matrix 17.  I will mostly be fishing in the Monterey bay for salmon and halibut.
Rich

How does the fisheasy 240 do in saltwater?  How deep has the water been where you use the fisheasy?  How well does it pick up bait balls?  I am considering the fisheasy, humminbird 535 and the matrix 17.  I will mostly be fishing in the Monterey bay for salmon and halibut.
Rich

I've only been out three times since I installed the fisheasy... so far only in water less than 40 feet.  

My old Pirhana unit was listed as a 600 foot capacity, but with shooting through the hull, it petered out at about 300 feet... only a problem at Moss Landing over deep canyons.  The fisheasy has like twice the power output... so I'm sure it will perform much better in deep water.  I had to turn the sensitivity way down in the shallow bay because it was marking too much debris and noise from extremely muddy water.

So far so good in saltwater... I filled the speed transducer connection with silicone to seal it up and used dielectric grease for the transducer/temperature connection... but the connections seal very well compared to my old Pirhana unit.  So far there is no indication of water intrusion... which, with my Pirhana, would manifest as a fogging of the screen if it got splashed on too much or after being washed down.  

Extremely good resolution for picking up bait and structure... 16 level grayscale offers very good resolution.  

Basically... when comparing apples... look at power output as  an indicator of the depth capacity.   This has 1500 W power and will still run all day long on a 12 V 5Ah battery.  Cone angle will give an indication of your coverage area... 60 degrees seems to be the best these days in this price range.  Screen pixel count will give you an indication of resolution... higher is better.  Number of shades of gray will give you an indication of how well the unit will allow you to differentiate between different types of structures and bottom composition.

Erik

I don't think there's really ever a reason to care how deep it is past a couple hundred feet.  Max depth you can go for rockfish is 240 in the south-central zone, and there's only a couple places where that's in paddle-range.  Otherwise, salmon and baitballs are usually in the top 100ft of water.

I use the eagle trifinder on my yak for 3 years running now, i think? I love the eagle, have been very happy with the resolution which is the same as the fisheasy 2.

-Brian

hmmm.  ok, looks like maybe I'll give Eagle a try.  Thanks for the input folks

Jonathan