Best fish finder for under $1000

[KsRancher]

Was curious what people's opinions on what is the best fish finder for $1000 or less. It will be going on a 17ft bass tracker. Mostly be fishing small lakes 50-350 acres. Occasionally take it to a larger reservoir 3,000-8,000 acres. And hopefully some year take it Lake Texoma and fish for stripers. Main fish species I will be targeting is crappie, walleye and white bass.

 

[UpTop]

“Best” is a highly contested subject, but the Garmin 93sv UHD is a solid choice in that price range. With the spring sales you can probably find it with the gt56 transducer for right at 1000. If not you can get it with the gt54 transducer which is still pretty nice for right at 700 right now. The side imaging is pretty impressive. Check out some YouTube videos. I really like that you can add livescope to it down the road. I think livescope is still by far the best live imaging by a good margin. Mine doubles as an ice fishing unit as well. I really don’t think this unit can be topped in that price range.

 

[Chesapeake173]

“Best” is a highly contested subject, but the Garmin 93sv UHD is a solid choice in that price range. With the spring sales you can probably find it with the gt56 transducer for right at 1000. If not you can get it with the gt54 transducer which is still pretty nice for right at 700 right now. The side imaging is pretty impressive. Check out some YouTube videos. I really like that you can add livescope to it down the road. I think livescope is still by far the best live imaging by a good margin. Mine doubles as an ice fishing unit as well. I really don’t think this unit can be topped in that price range.

Agree that you can’t go wrong with the Garmin. I’ve also had very good luck with the Raymarine Axiom series.

I have a 12 and buddy has the 9. The 9 should be in your price range.


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[svivian]

Another vote for the Garmin UHD 93sv. Used it for the last two years and picked it up on a Black Friday deal for $599

 

[wyosteve]

I"ve been very happy with my Humminbird Heliix's.

 

[Homebrew454]

Another vote for the Garmin UHD 93sv.

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[IdahoElk]

I have a Hummingbird Helix 7 and it works awesome, love it.

 

[archp625]

If I had to do it all over again I would go Garmin. Another word of advice. The smallest I would go is 7" I think 9 is where I would start.

 

[Fridaythe13th]

Helix 7

 

[Gman12]

Garmin 9". I have one on my boat and love it. Extremely easy to use and I am very technology challenged.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Idk if it's the best but Walmarts websites had Lowrance Elite TI2 12" units the other day for $1000. Thought it was a pretty good deal.

 

[Silveroddo]

I’ve got a 5” and 7” lowrance, the 7” has side and down imaging, the 5” I use for the gps and mapping. Performance wise I’m satisfied for what I do, but if I had to run 1 screen I’d get a 7” or bigger humminbird because of the ability to run their smart strike software.

 

[roadrunner]

“Best” is a highly contested subject, but the Garmin 93sv UHD is a solid choice in that price range. With the spring sales you can probably find it with the gt56 transducer for right at 1000. If not you can get it with the gt54 transducer which is still pretty nice for right at 700 right now. The side imaging is pretty impressive. Check out some YouTube videos. I really like that you can add livescope to it down the road. I think livescope is still by far the best live imaging by a good margin. Mine doubles as an ice fishing unit as well. I really don’t think this unit can be topped in that price range.

Can't argue with this post. For whites, side scan is almost a must.

Another thought is instead of dumping all the money into one unit, what about buying two, one for the console and one for the trolling motor up front and slaving them together?

Side scan on a trolling motor can get things kind of screwy, but the down scan is awesome.

 

[menhaden_man]

HDS-7 Gen3 | Fishfinder & Chartplotter | Lowrance | Lowrance USA

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Had this on my last boat. Great on rivers lakes reservoirs and the ocean. Good luck, lots of good options out there.

 

[KsRancher]

Can't argue with this post. For whites, side scan is almost a must.

Another thought is instead of dumping all the money into one unit, what about buying two, one for the console and one for the trolling motor up front and slaving them together?

Side scan on a trolling motor can get things kind of screwy, but the down scan is awesome.

Thanks. But can you dumb this down for me. I just purchased my first boat and want to get a nice to me fish finder/sonar unit for it. I know absolutely nothing about these things. Side scan vs down scan I assume it just means where the images on your screen are from wether it's below the boat or out in front of boat? Is the livescope is a camera that drops down and gives real time video?

I appreciate all the the replies, keep the suggestions coming. So far from

 

[wilkINkc]

Never had lowrance, but have had good luck with both Garmin 93sv and Humminbird Helixs. I prefer the humminbird mapping for a console graph personally however.

 

[Rich M]

I have a garmin striker 7sv and got a 9sv. Both have gps, speed, water temp, etc. store like 500 spots.

If had to choose 1 would be the 9 inch. At $600 its a great buy. I use it for saltwater intracoastal and nearshore offshore fishing. Side view is excellent.

It also has some kind of self mapping program that sets topo lines when you want it too, will map a large area, probably several lakes. keep saying im gonna try it out.

Anyway, i been happy w these.

Down scan shows bottom. Side scan reaches out to the sides, deeper the water, further they look.

 

[JBrew]

Tip: Shop your local marine shops for "used".

I'm currently using a couple of older Humminbird units, but would buy Garmin if/when I upgrade.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks. But can you dumb this down for me. I just purchased my first boat and want to get a nice to me fish finder/sonar unit for it. I know absolutely nothing about these things. Side scan vs down scan I assume it just means where the images on your screen are from wether it's below the boat or out in front of boat? Is the livescope is a camera that drops down and gives real time video?

I appreciate all the the replies, keep the suggestions coming. So far from

Side scan shoots the sonar out to the sides of the boat to whatever range you set, the max is usually 150 ft. So, as you're motoring along forward, your display will show the water column in a map view format that will show the bottom below you and out to whatever range you set (for 150 ft it will show 150 ft on the port side and 150 ft on the starboard side). This will show fish and structure that is not directly beneath you.

The picture looks just like a black and white photograph as the image is from the absence of a sonar echo so you will in fact see "shadows" under the water (the absence of a sonar echo). You will also be able to see schools of bait fish and game fish such as shad and crappie. You can also move you cursor to something you see off to the side of the boat and mark it as a way point. You can later navigate to this waypoint without having to do a criss-cross search pattern for it.

Down scan does the same thing, just directly below you like and sonar does.

If you have the trolling motor unit set to side scan, anytime you turn the motor, the image is changed to whatever direction the prop and nose are facing, so what was once port and starboard are now bow and stern or a combination of the two.

Two units slaved together, you can send the console units waypoint you see on the side scan to you trolling motor unit and navigate to this waypoint while fishing.

You can also adjust the gain on your trolling motor unit to actually see your bait/jig movement below you and the fish striking it prior to hook up.

 

[wyo]

The Lowrance HDS Carbon 9s for $799 are the best value on the market right now. Scoop one up if you can find one.