Things to Look When Choosing a Fish Finder
If you like fishing, there will be so much gear and tackle to consider. So buying a fish finder will be an awesome idea for you. It is an extremely effective tool that will allow you to see fish and structure you never knew were there. But since there are a lot of different models out there. So you have to be very careful about choosing fishfinder. One misstep could lose up a few hundred dollars.
Here some tips for you to choose the right fish finder.
Transducers are the most important part of a fishfinder which emit and receive sonar waves. These waves, once emitted into the water, bounce off of different objects. Then they get picked up by the transducer. Which translates the signal into a picture that we can see and understand. Maximum fishfinder units we carry come with transom mount transducers. The easiest one to install is the transom mount. As your needs (or boat) get more and more advanced, you can opt for another type, like the thru-hull mount.
Depending on which type of boat you'll be using, transducers come in different materials that are suited to a particular type of boat. We just need to pick the right transducer material. Most of the fish finder units we stock come with plastic transom mount transducers out of the box. They are compatible with all kinds of boats.
If you're using a transducer with a thru-hull or an in-hull mount, plastic housings are recommended for fiberglass or metal hulls. Aluminum or steel hulls need stainless steel housings. Bronze housings are for boats with fiberglass or wood hulls.
If you want a through-hull transducer, you have a choice between bronze and plastic. For wooden hulls, it’s better to use bronze rather than plastic.
When looking at displays, the amount of pixels is also an important factor to consider. The more pixels you have, the more detail your screen can show you. You should select at least 240 x 160 pixels. Even then, the image will be pretty blocky. If you can spare the money, it's worth paying more for a higher resolution display.
Many dual frequency transducers have both 60 and 20-degree cones available. It’s a big factor in transducers. Most transducers usually come with 200, 192, 83 or 50 kHz frequencies. Your best choice in shallower water is like 192 and 200 kHz. The low 50 kHz transducers work best for professional and commercial use in deep water. The important thing to remember is that the higher the frequency, the more sonar waves your transducer sends out and receives.
Multiple frequencies- which will show images with incredible detail, and allow switching between wider and narrower views.
Consider is the cone angle is an important aspect of choosing a transducer. It tells you how wide of a beam is sent from the bottom of your boat into the water. A wider cone means the larger area is that is being covered. Transducers come with cones that range from 9-degrees to greater than 60-degrees. Usually Most devices you will come across tend to be between 16 and 20-degrees. So a 20-degree cone is an excellent choice to start at for anglers that fish in different water depths.
You should consider the power of the fish finder before you make your purchase. a high wattage unit can give you a unit of faster and deeper readings. Keep in mind that at 50 kHz, for every 100 watts of power, your finder/transducer can show readings up to 400 feet. And For every 100 watts of power at 200 kHz, your fish finder will show depth reading of up to 100 feet.
