Which Fish Finder?

Hello All.

Going nuts here and about ready to pull out what little hair I have left.

Picking up my Old Town PDL on Wednesday but I can't decide on a Humminbird Helix 5 or 7 or a Lowrance FS-7.

I do a lot of lake and Delta angling but the ocean is where my future interests lay.  Staying at Albion Sept 7-21 and looking to retire up in Trinidad.

Dennis

Have you tried looking for reviews and comparisons online?  Talked to anyone you know who owns one or the other?

I've owned all three that you've mentioned.  I'm pretty anal about my gear, still all three have failed at some point and two where replaced by the manufacturers.  The Helix 7 is the most recent - it went down in less than 30 days and the vendor will replace it (quicker to return it to the shop than to wait on Humminbird).

I no longer have the Lowrance.  I kept both of the Humminbirds.  All three work/worked fine out in the ocean.  Of the three, I liked the performance of the Humminbird Helix units better than that of the Lowrance, but that's purely my personal preference and has no real relevance to your decision. 

ALso owned both Humminbird Helix and Lowrance Hook. The Humminbird had some nice features, but will say the Lowrance seems to be more sturdy/built better for the salt. Just my $.02...

I went with Garmin after reading a plethora of water intrusion issue posts about lowrance. I don't regret it at all.. Love these garmins much more than my DSi Lowrance

There you go. Get a Humminbird, Lowrance or Garmin.  Does the transducer of any of them fit your kayak best? Do you like the mounting system of one better than the others?  Are the add on maps a better fit for your fishing?

I prefer Garmin or lowrance, but pricing to me matter most. Like when it take a drink of saltwater, how much is it gonna cost me to replace it.

So many choices. Currently I’m running a Raymarine element 7 on my 2019 Outback. I’m very happy with it.

In your shoes I would
1: Make sure it fits your application and budget.
2: Make sure it does the things you want it to do.
3: Play with them in the shop. See what you like and don’t like.
4: Make sure it supports the mapping that you want to use.
5: Don’t rush your purchase. You can kayak and fish just fine without a fishfinder at first. Yeah, you won’t know what’s going on below you, but you can spend that time getting comfortable in the new yak and not staring at a FF screen.

Good luck, hopefully you find one that you like!

Good advice from all.  THANK YOU!!!

I've been on the water for about 5 years but all on fresh water.

One thing that came up that worries me is the effects on the finder should I get hit by a wave or tip over.....Dead finder???

Also, wife has convinced me to double my life insurance policy and I can understand her concerns but she bought a life-sized decal of a seal and pasted it to the bottom of my yak saying it will attract fish.  I'm a tad worried.

5: Don’t rush your purchase. You can kayak and fish just fine without a fishfinder at first. Yeah, you won’t know what’s going on below you, but you can spend that time getting comfortable in the new yak and not staring at a FF screen.

The Navionics Boating App could be a cheap temporary solution in the meantime.

Good advice from all.  THANK YOU!!!

I've been on the water for about 5 years but all on fresh water.

One thing that came up that worries me is the effects on the finder should I get hit by a wave or tip over.....Dead finder???

Also, wife has convinced me to double my life insurance policy and I can understand her concerns but she bought a life-sized decal of a seal and pasted it to the bottom of my yak saying it will attract fish.  I'm a tad worried.

Oh it will attract fish…really big fish!!

The helix is an easy fit for transducer. Others u may have to make device to hold transducer. Friend has same boat and it was simple to install helix.

If you haven't already, use the search function to look for reviews and comparisons. There were some good ones in the past. Here's a link to one I wrote awhile back.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=94664.msg1065938#msg1065938

I can recommend the Garmin Echomap 64CV after selling my Lowrance Hook 2 that was nothing but problems with their press fit connectors.

If you bottom fish a lot on specific marks you should consider adding the Garmin Steadycast via a NEMA network cable.

Does anyone know of a slim transducer to put on the bottom of a new Hobie? I broke off my stock hummingbird the last time out.

Most if not all of the electronics brands offer through the hull transducers.  I'm not sure if that is just for down imaging versus side scan.