Looking for opinions on best fish finder...

[RockAndRye]

I'm thinking about putting a fish finder on my new hobie pa 14 ...was leaning towards the Lowrance Elite 4x...

Anyone have opinions as the right choice for a yak?

I'm not trying to spend a mint but I'll entertain any thought you might have...thanks!

[azmdted]

Your subject says best, but then your message says 'right choice'. If you want best then you may be talking about a 7" screen, side, down, around scan and all the bells and whistles. And no doubt those are the best, and also highly pricy. On the other end of the spectrum is 'good enough'. That's where I am. I use a Hook 4x and I think it has everything I need and most everything I want. The image is great, the downscan is useful, the size is good enough, and the price is definitely right. I opted not to get the GPS version because in my couple years of kayaking I've really only used it for entertainment and to check my speed. I'm sure that others make proper use of theirs, but I haven't so I saved some money.

Humminbirds are good too. I'm sure that you'll find lots of good choices. In fact when I was looking around for my new one I discovered that you really can't go too far wrong. Basic question is whether you want GPS and whether downscan is important to you. Oh ya, what tipped me to Lowrance was the Hobie built in transducer mount. I think that's a sweet feature and smart of Lowrance to work with Hobie on that.

[mchottie]

Similar to anything technology related, buy the best you can afford.

[willf650]

I just made my first foray into side imaging and really like it. I like it to the point I’m adding it to my big boat over the winter which will not be cheap. I have to add a networked sonar module to my system and a pretty expensive transducer.

I got a Hummingbird Helix 5 si recently for my kayak and can recommend it. My friend bought a Garmin striker 7 sv which is probably a little better fish finder then the Hummingbird but it’s not a chart plotter. At the price point of either of these units you have to trade off features for savings.

I have 2 models of Lowrance Elite 4 and would recommend the Hummingbird Helix 5 or the Garmin Striker 7 over the Elite 4. I dont know if it is a fair comparison though as the Elite 4/Hook 4 is 40% less money than either. I have difficulty seeing the screen on my Elite 4s in bright sun. I haven’t had as much difficultly with the Hummingbird Helix 5 or the big Garmins on my boat.

Price gets you better features. I wish I went with a 7” fish finder for my kayak instead of the Helix 5 but I was trying to save money.

Even if your trying to save money I would still elect to get a unit with a gps. If you find some fishy structure once mark it so you don’t have to hunt for it a second time.

[richellealessi]

Humminbird Down Imaging. Sometimes, to catch fish, not only do you have to think like one, you've got to see like one. ... As you patrol the water, you'll watch fish, reefs, timber, brush, bridge pilings, rocks, and any other structure or cover pop with stunning detail.
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richell

[Oldbayrunner]

All of today's manufactured Fishfinders are pretty equal so what people choose to use is a matter of their personal preference. My advise is to go to Cabela's or Bass Pro and take a look at their demos and decide which you like the best. I went through a progression of using a 4x to an Elite 5 now I use an Elite7ti as my choice.

Many like not having a gps finder but to me it is invaluable not just for spotting where you are and where you are going but it has many other what I find to be invaluable uses. For one with a card one can get bathymeteric mapping and be able to either map their own or get updated maps, which I find to be a huge advantage especially if fishing new spots. Once learned how to read with bathymetric mapping one can look at the mapping and have a pretty good indication of where to start looking for fish.

Using the gps routes and tracking with way points is a two fold advantage. If one ever has gotten deep into an area without a gps map and there is several channel trails it can be easy to get into a situation of being caught in a maze without knowing which is the correct way out...Been there and exactly why I got rid of my 4x real soon. Outside of that using these features one can have a pre planned route for their fishing day, be able to mark where interesting structure was found, where fish were found and caught then be able to save that information for later fishing trips to that location.

Now as for size that's a matter of preference and how well one wants to be able to see detail, especially if using multiple screens. I'll be honest I went the extra for sidescan and really like this feature but I will admit for most of the areas I fish I don't use it all that often. I use my Bathymetric mapping,2D and downscan a lot more often.

So afaic it really depends on how detailed you want your fishing information to be and the affordability for that.