Fish finders, or depth finders, are an important tool for fishing success. It sends a sound wave into the water by way of a transducer. The sound wave reflects off an object such as a fish, or the bottom, and is detected by the transducer also. These echoes are interpreted by the fish finder and sent to the display. This gives an image of what is going on under water beneath the boat. With a fish finder you will spend more time fishing and less time guessing where the fish are.

Fish finders can reveal a wide range of underwater items. Schools of fish or just one, bottom composition, thermoclines (an abrupt change in water temperature), weeds, many types of structure and much more. Fish finders with added features can also provide surface water temperature, speed, barometric pressure, and location (GPS). A good fish finder is a must have for fishing or trolling in open water to help determine line and lure depth.

Choose a Fish Finder

Your individual fishing style will help you decide what features you need.

Choosing the Transducer and Display.

Transducer

• Wide beam, narrow beam, both, or specialized beam?

  The transducer sends down a sound wave usually in the shape of a cone with the tip of the cone at the transducer. A narrow beam usually has an angle of about 20 degrees. If you are in 20 feet of water, that would translate into a circle on the bottom about 7 feet across. If you had a wide beam transducer (usually about 60 degree angle), it would form a circle on the bottom 22 feet across. Your fish finder can only give you information on objects that are within the cone. The wider beam covers more area under water and can locate more fish within its larger cone. The drawback of the wider beam is that it loses strength much quicker. Because of this, it cannot go as deep as the narrow beam. The narrow beam can penetrate water much deeper and even in shallower water; can give more information on the composition of the bottom (mud, weed, rock, etc.)

  The best of both worlds is the dual beam, that combines both features into one transducer.

  There are also specialized transducers. Some have multiple beams (4 or more) that cover a very large area underwater and can create a 3D image on the display. There are also side beam transducers that actually shoot their beam to the sides to increase the search area for fish.

• How will you mount your transducer?

  The transducer that is included with your fish finder will probably be one that attaches to the transom of your boat. If you have a single hulled fiberglass boat, you can usually mount the transducer to the inside bottom of your boat with epoxy.

• Pixels

  A pixel is the smallest dot (or square) on the display screen. More pixels means more detailed display, and the more money you'll spend. A low priced finder may list the display as 160V x 132H. That would be a display that is 160 pixels vertically and 132 pixels horizontally. But even with a low priced finder, that amounts to a screen with 21,120 dots on it. A higher priced fish finder may have 640V x 320H which would squeeze about 10 times more dots on the screen giving you better resolution.

  Each pixel can have varying degrees of black. A Low priced fish finder may have no grey scale at all or a 4 level grey scale. Higher priced fish finders may have 12 levels of grey for each pixel.

• Color

  Fish finders with Color display are also available but will cost you more. You will also pay in the amount of resolution you get. The typical color display will cost more and have fewer pixels than a similar black and white fish finder. But instead of 12 levels of grey, each pixel may have up to 256 color choices.

  You'll have to decide for yourself whether you want color or black and white, and the resolution you require

• Other display features: There is usually a lengthy list of display features for a fish finder. You'll have to decide if any of them are important to you.

The power of the fish finder determines its maximum usable depth. A 100 watts of power can reach up to 600 feet. While a 500 watt fish finder can go to 1500 feet. Salt water absorbs more energy so higher power models are preferred.

Portable Fish finders

Portable fish finders are entirely self-contained. The fish finder comes in its own carrying case with battery power supply. The transducer is attached to the transom by way of a suction cup.

Manufacturers         Shop for Fish Finders

The fish finders that AMO offers are Eagle, Humminbird, and Lowrance.

Miscellaneous Features

These are all the extra features manufacturers attach to their fish finders to make them better or different than their competition. They include things like: backlit screen, adjustable display speed, freeze frame, and many more.

GPS

Affordable GPS is a "must have" fishing item. Having one unit on your console that is both a finder and a GPS is economical and a real space saver. Just like fish finder features, the GPS component can range from basic features to elaborate detail with color background maps.

Why you should have GPS?

• Saving hot fishing locations: The ability to find a hot fishing spot, mark it on your GPS and be able to return to the same spot in the future is a powerful feature. Most GPS capable finders give you the ability to mark hundreds or thousands of spots (called waypoints) for future use.

  For example your favorite fishing spot is a submerged tree in the middle of a lake. Finding this spot out in open water without a fish finder and GPS can be difficult. If you have just a fish finder, you may be able to find it, but it takes a lot of time zigzagging around until you happen to go over it. With a GPS, your fish finder GPS combo gives you a heading and a distance that will put you right on top of it with no wasted fishing time.

  How Close Will a GPS Get You? Your basic GPS will get you within about 50 feet of your waypoint. Most GPS units now come with WAAS. This enhancement adds additional accuracy to your location and can get you within 10 feet of your waypoint every time.

• Navigation: If you need to refer to charts to navigate your way, you should select a fish finder GPS combo unit with background maps and charts included.

• Safety: When you start your day of fishing, you mark your starting point with a waypoint on your GPS. You are now free to fish wherever you choose with the confidence that your GPS will point you home. You may have followed a random path of fishing locations throughout the day, lost sight of land, or severe weather has rolled in limiting your visibility and your GPS can tell you exactly what heading to go and how far away "home" is.

  New marine radios have a feature that allows you to connect your GPS fish finder combo unit to your marine radio. Should you have to activate your radio's DSC distress feature, it can transmit your exact location to get help to you the quickest.

Fish finder Accessories

Common accessories are:

• Transducer replacement: The transducer that comes with your finder is usually the only one you will ever need. All manufacturers offer alternate transducers.

• Speed sensor: If you don't have GPS, adding a speed sensor can be quite helpful if your fishing method includes trolling.

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