How to rig your boat electronically; Fishfinders make it easier to score a bull’s-eye
3/24/2006 2:39:50 PM by Marshall Brodie
Fishing without a fish finder is sort of like playing darts blindfolded. If you can’t see where the fish are, then it is just a shot in the dark as to what place to drop your hook. Successful anglers know that a fishfinder is essential to improving their game.
Fishfinders can be a simple stand-alone unit,
part of a chartplotter/fishfinder combo or as a “black box” addition to
a multi-function display that may include radar, weather and other
capabilities. Which one is right for you? That depends on what kind of
fish you seek, installation space on your console, how much fishing you
do and like many other things in life…your budget.
This
time though, we are going to look at the latest stand-alone units.
Their advantage lies with the dedicated display that will constantly
provide full screen views of the fish below. With these, there is no
need to share valuable display area with navigation and other
functions.
Fishfinders range from small economical monochrome units up to sophisticated color displays that can show just a single fish hundreds, if not thousands of feet below the surface. Large high-resolution displays provide the most detail when trying to separate fish from others and bottom clutter. But many times a small compact unit is all that is needed, especially for shallower waters. Dual frequency transducers give increased definition in shallow waters and deep-water capability. For maximum depth, use lower frequencies and for best resolution down to about 200-feet, use higher frequencies. Higher power outputs will, of course, give increased depth range.
Furuno introduced the first commercial fishfinder shortly after World
War II in 1948. Now, nearly 60 years later, Furuno offers state of the
art technology with (DSP) Digital Signal Processing. DSP automatically
adjusts gain, power output and other settings to suppress clutter and
offer clearer and easier to interpret images on your screen. The latest
stand alone color fishfinders from Furuno are the new FCV620 with a
5.6-inch display and the FCV585 with an 8.4-inch screen. Both are
sunlight viewable. These units feature operator selectable frequencies
of 50 kHz or 200kHz to adjust for shallow or deepwater conditions.
Power output is 600-watts RMS for both units but can be increased to
1,000-watts on the FCV620 that increases the depth range up to 2,500
feet according to Furuno. Prices were not yet formalized at press time
for these units.
Garmin is introducing a series of fishfinders for 2006
to compliment their line of GPS chartplotters. Their entry level unit
is the Fishfinder 90, designed for near shore anglers. Even though it
is at the bottom of the lineup, it includes a dual frequency
transducer, fast refresh times and a sharp four-inch monochrome
display. Most saltwater anglers though will gravitate toward the
Fishfinder 340C (SRP $471.41) that has a five-inch color display and is
sunlight viewable. This fully featured unit includes drift alarms,
timers, temperature logs and more. The 340C also includes Garmin’s
proprietary CANet system that will share sonar data with an onboard
Garmin chartplotter. Garmin offers the choice of two dual frequency
transducers. Deepwater anglers will prefer one of the 50/200 kHz units
while shallow water enthusiasts may pick the wider beam and coverage of
the 80/200 kHz transducer. In between the Fishfinder 90 and 340, Garmin
is offering the 140 and 160C as well.
Humminbird’s extensive lineup of fishfinders just grew
larger with the addition of the 300 and 700 series. The attractively
priced 300 series are compact 3.5-inch (color) and 4-inch (monochrome)
units suitable for small inshore boats. They feature sunlight viewable
screens, choice of mounting options and 300-watt RMS output. A dual
frequency transom mount transducer is standard. Suggested retail prices
start at $179 for the monochromatic 323 and the color 343c is $279.
Humminbird’s 700 series of fishfinders produce 500 watts
RMS output, enough to reach 1,000 feet or more. The 700 series like the
300 series feature a screen “Snap Shot” function
that will freeze and store a
particular image on the screen. It’s handy if you want
to show someone that huge fish that just wouldn’t bite. Available in
both monochrome and color, the 700 series feature 640 vertical pixels
for increased resolution on their five-inch diagonal screens. The color
screens are claimed to have been adapted from military aircraft
applications and feature “hemispherical” 180-degree viewing angles so
you will no longer have to stand directly in front of the unit to see
the images clearly. Humminbird’s “QuadraBeam” transducer is an
available option (standard on the 737) on all units in the 700 series.
This transducer offers
the capability to give coverage of twice the bottom
depth. For instance, if your depth is 40-feet, the QuadraBeam can scan
an area 80-feet wide to locate fish outside the normal sonar beam. The
suggested retail price for the monochrome 727 is $279 and $379 for the
737. The 777c color fishfinder is $549.
Lowrance has added a number of
new products to their lineup. Among them are the
monochrome X86DS and X96 fishfinders. The economically priced X86DS
(SRP $159) offers simultaneous dual frequency 83/200 kHz operation for
good performance in shallow or deep water up to 600 according to
Lowrance with a rated output of 188-watts RMS. The X86 DS has a large
4.5-inch 240 x 240-pixel screen. The X96 (SRP $199) is a slightly
larger unit with
a 320 x 320-pixel sunlight readable five-inch display.
It comes with a single frequency 200 kHz transom mount transducer that
includes a built-in water temperature sensor.
Raymarine
is the only company to feature digital technology on
all of their fishfinders, which they claim will automatically adjust
the unit’s settings more than 220 times per second to changing
conditions. The result is nearly hands-free operation, reduced
interference and more clearly defined fish images. Raymarine produces
three stand alone fishfinders, the DS400X, DS500X and DS600X with four,
five and six-inch (as indicated by the series number) color screens.
The suggested retail price is $360-$635, $770-$1,045 and $1,010-
$1,285, respectively, depending on the transducer selected.
SI-TEX is launching several new fishfinders this year. The CVS-106Mkll
(SRP $699) is a compact LCD model with features found on SI-TEX’s
larger CRT models. The TFT, 5.6-inch daylight viewable display offers
white, blue or black backgrounds and brightness and contrast controls
for daytime or night use. Rated power is 300 watts RMS. The larger
CVS-833 and CVS-833C feature an eight-inch color TFT color screen. The
16-color displays
provide 640 x 480 pixels along with selectable background color, contrast and brightness controls. Rotary knobs enable quick
selection of menu functions. The 833 provide 600-watts
RMS of power while the more powerful 833C boast 1,000 watts RMS of
power through their dual frequency transducers.
This is only a sampling of the fishfinders available. Do your homework, talk to knowledgeable friends and sales persons and you will be able to pick the unit that is best for you. A fishfinder does not guarantee that you will catch fish but it is certainly much easier to score a bull’s-eye when you can see them.