CamG14 Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi, I am thinking about picking up a portable fish finder for a small 14' aluminum boat What I am wondering is will it work in the kind of water we fish in. We generally only target pan fish and spend most of our time on small (shallow) bodies of water, such as Valens conservation, Binbrook (lake Niapenco) and Frenchmans Bay. I am wondering if I should be looking for somthing that will show me the structure under the boat more than the fish, That way I can find drop offs, rock piles, and other types of structure. I would appreciate any advice, Thanks Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiro Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 I use one in the kayak all the time, great for finding structure. I can see the bottom contours in the welland river and the deepest part we go is 14 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnfshn Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 It would help find creek channels in reservoirs as well as structure as mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centre_Pin_Assasin Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Yea it will be best used to find structure and drop offs. But not fish. As every little bit of debries will be marked as a fish. It will be better for deep water for locating fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefMick Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 agreed...get a good sonar that shows structure and/or bottom composition, chances are the fish will be there anyway!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthemoney Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I use a Piranha Max 160 portable great little unit, show's structure and drop off or fish from 3 feet out to 600 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niagarangler89 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I use a Piranha Max 160 portable great little unit, show's structure and drop off or fish from 3 feet out to 600 feet. I'll second the Piranha Max portable (I have the 150) as a great starter's unit. Have used it on the canoe, my buddy's little tinner, and ice fishing this past winter. For just over $100, you can't go wrong. It's great for temperature, depth, structure, and in cleaner, deeper water, you can even use the raw sonar returns to mark fish. For shallower water (<5ft), unless really clean or a really hard bottom, the graph doesn't work as well (and in those conditions/that depth, you're probably better off sight fishing). So keep that in mind. I'm not sure there are any good units for shallow water purposes, unless you're willing to spend a decent amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthemoney Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I use a Piranha Max 160 portable great little unit, show's structure and drop off or fish from 3 feet out to 600 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 is there an echo in here?... 3 hours later? LOL G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefMick Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Ive heard good thing about the piranha max 160!!!!! to G. from Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogman Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I had a PiranhaMAX 160 it was ok. I upgraded to a down imaging model and I'm loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOE FISHIN Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 HI I had (have) a Piranahmax 160... I loved it... but the prop ate the transducer. Humminbird came out with a new product called the 196 ci. portable. Instead of replacing the transducer I'm saving up for this one. (Its a few extra bucks... not much... but it comes with GPS.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamG14 Posted April 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Thank you for all the responses You convinced me to get a fish finder. I picked up a garmin 300c and I am playing around with it in the demo mode. I can't wait to try it out, unfortunatly all the conservation lakes we go to are closed until may 1st so I am going to try and find somewhere to go this weekend to try it out. Thinking of Jordan area I will let you know how it works Thanks, Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyMunter Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 definatley the pirhanamax 160. i picked one up on clearance from canadian tire after christmas and used it for ice fishing all winter, and now in my canoe ... works great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Fish_Dawg Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 lowrance x64c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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