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I am looking to buy a new fish finder. I don't want to spend more than $500.00. Any help would be great. Also the one i have now is 15 or so years old. And show's what i have believed to be fish , as fish. Some of the ones i have looked at show color on top of water as well as the bottom. And show stuff in the water to look like boomerangs. What is this all saying to me? Also what would a school of bait fish look like on a unit like this? Thanks for any insite.[cool]
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The best thing to do would be to go to Cabelas or Sportmans and ask the guys there so they can explain everything to you while you are looking at them.
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get a lowrance X135 or X-510-c you will be happy with ether one and both are under 500.00..
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Color "on top of the water" is merely surface clutter, of no significance. Color on the bottom represents the hardness and/or content of the bottom (mud, rock, stones, etc.) The boomerang "stuff" in the water is fish!!! The upsidedown boomerangs are how the sonar interprets the "target." The lower, outside part of the boomerang is the instant that the fish is on the outside of your signal cone. The center of the boomerang is the instant the fish is in the center of your signal cone (shortest distance between transducer and the target is straight down). A school of bait fish will appear as a cluster of thinner boomerangs, or a "glob" of echos rather than a defined boomerang.
Get yourself a video tutorial, or look on line for one, to understand the basics of how sonar works. Or, find someone who REALLY knows how they work and uses them regularly in all their fishing.
And yes, get the best Lowrance you can find. Anything around $500 will be very high quality from Lowrance. The X-series, and the LCX series are both excellent.
And don't listen to any of the bunk that any of these screens give you a "delayed" reading. That's the biggest hogwash ever spoken about liquid crystal sonars. What is IMMEDIATE is printing on the right side of the screen. Sure, the stuff that printed 3 seconds ago or 20 seconds ago is still scrolling to the left, but that's ancient history. When the fish or bottom are printing on the far right edge, it is IMMEDIATE. Just put a jig down under the sonar and move it up and down to see for yourself. Just as immediate as any flasher. Sonar is sonar, it all works on the same principle of a sound wave returning an "echo". Only the displays and features change.
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Thanks for the replies, It looks like the lowrance is what i will be getting. I had looked at them and thought they were the ones to beat. Tarponjim that was the exact kind of info i was looking for about how to know what i was seeing. Jplacquay, I had talked to the guy at sportsman. He was nice and talked to me but said he really did'nt know that much about them. Besides i think the info on here is a more hands on opinion. The people here know there stuff[fishin]
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dont go with garmin Ive got them on my boat and i hate them go with lorwance or eagle. ps.. color is very overrated hope u wack em!!
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Last week while I was at cabelas I saw about three Lowance units in the bargain cave..................[fishin]
I didn't notice types or prices because I already have one.Sometimes in the bargain cave if you take it up to the counter they will even do better than the marked price if you ask.
Rapala that which is irresistible to fish will always be irresistible to the fisherman.
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], there is alot of choices out there. If you want more info on this Eagle PM me [fishin]. Good Luck