So you are buying a Fish Finder, what should I look for, and where can I buy one cheap?

When my dad was off to work, and the school system wasn’t trying to ruin me by teaching me how to get a job, my grandfather taught me what really mattered in life, how to fish.

My grandfather had a special anointing that allowed him to look over the water and notice the slightest variation in the surface, he would point to it and say, “there that is where the fish are feeding”, after those words I knew we would be having fish dinner that night. What I would give for another day of fishing with my grandfather.

But those days are gone, and if your like me, and cannot discern from looking at the surface of the water where the fish are, you need a fish finder. Don’t be ashamed to admit it.

The sport of fishing has embraced fish finders the way you wished you had embraced your prom date and the way you told your friends you did.

When that state trooper sounded his siren to catch you in your GTO, the state trooper used sound to catch you. That is what fish finders use to help you locate and catch fish, sound.

To get technical the fish finder sends an electronic signal to the transducer. The transducer converts that signal into a sound wave that is transmitted through the water downward. The sound wave that is transmitted will travel downward until it hits structure, (most often the bottom), when the sound wave hits structure it bounces back, (this is called the echo), to the transducer. The transducer then sends the information that it heard the echo to the fish finder. This process repeats itself about 40 times per second. The fish finder will perform an analysis of the echo’s and send the results to the screen. These screen results can include depth, structure of the bottom, plant life, water temperature, and most importantly any fish that were located.

During the gas crisis of 1973 I was gapping the points on grandfather’s Super Sport when he told me that my cousin bought a 4 cylinder car and the engine sounded like a pop corn machine. I knew if I wanted to keep fishing with my grandfather I couldn’t grow my hair like a hippie and I couldn’t insult him by picking him up in car without the power of an American Muscle car. I know if my grandfather were alive today he would say “if your going to buy a fish finder get plenty of power, before anything else you need enough power”, and he would be right.

Fish finder power is measured in watts, the higher the wattage, the more powerful the overall unit will be. You will often hear the wattage described as “Peak to Peak”. Low wattage fish finders will produce slow readouts, causing delayed or late readings of a spots you travel over. In shallow water you need less power but even here the minimum you should consider purchasing would be an 800 watt unit. If it is your intention to venture out of the shallow water "Peak to Peak" wattage should be at least 3000 watts. However if you’re a deep water fisherman fishing in the great lakes or the ocean go for all the “Peak to Peak” wattage you can afford.

I used to watch Captain Kangaroo on a 9 inch black and white television screen mornings before kindergarten, we eventually upgraded to the 24 inch black and white console. When we finally upgraded to our Color TV we bought a Motorola with the works in the draw. By that time it seemed everyone had a color TV, and now in large part color television is being usurped by High Definition Television.

It is the same with fish finder screens, a color screen should be considered standard.

If a fish finder with a black and white screen is all that fits your budget, you won’t be disappointed, it will give you all the valuable information you need. A fish finder with a black and white screen also makes an excellent gift for that young angler that could put it use as his first, for a learning tool. As a general rule, however, if you have the budget get a fish finder with a color screen.

When considering the quality of the screen this is measured in Pixels. A Pixel is a dot that helps shape the images you will see on your fish finder’s screen. A small number of Pixels and the images on the screen will tend to have sharp edges with limited detail. With a large number of Pixels the detail on the screen and the image sharpness is noticeably better. This screen definition is important it helps you see the structure and fish in plain detail, in different hues, making your decisions about where to fish that much easier. Please do not consider going below 240 X 240 pixels when making a purchase. Fish finder screens vary in size. If your unit has GPS features and or charts you will want to be at a minimum a five inch screen. I would consider a smaller size only if these features were not included.

As you may know like the old time color TV’s, the color fish finder screens have competition from the new high definition screens. What high definition TV has done to the home television experience, high definition fish finder screens are doing to the fish finder experience. This represents an additional expense, but if you can afford it, it is well worth it, especially if your fish finder is has dual cone angel features, which I will review the next section.

To evaluate your transducer you must understand cone angle. Imagine an ice cream cone, not the flat bottomed cone from a soft serve shop, but the traditional sugar cone with the pointy end like you get with a Nutty Buddy. Now imagine that cone upside down, that is the shape of the sound wave the transducer makes, (cone angle). You can also mimic the cone angle by holding a flashlight and pointing the light beam at the floor. Lifting it up and down you can see how the cone angle illuminates more or less of the floor, (the bottom), as the height, (depth), of the flashlight is changed. In a boat as you go into deeper and deeper waters coverage of the cone angle widens, and sensitivity can diminish. With this in mind transducers can be purchased with cone angles from 9 to over 60 degrees. High teens to 20 degree cone angle units are fairly standard. Transducers transmit on frequencies, (kHz); higher frequencies work best in shallow water, and lower frequencies in deep water.

You can also purchase a dual beam cone angle transducer that will come with a 20 and 60 degree cone. If your fishing takes you to shallow water the dual beam cone is preferable since you will be able to cover a bigger area under your boat. Transducers also come with triple beam and side beam cone angles. Think of each beam as my grandfather looking at a different part of the lake for you to fish that is what I do. Your fish finder’s transducer can see through murky water and display on the screen fish and structure that otherwise you would not have known were there.

Most Fish Finders have a distance and speed gauge as standard equipment along with a water temperature gauge. Some low end models will offer these features as options. If you troll or drift fish you can put the speed and distance features to good use. The temperature gauge helps you find that temperate water your targeted fish loves.

I love the GPS features that are included on most fish finders. These combination finders include depth sounders and chart plotters as well. This really helps you to mark your favorite locations.

Fish finders have become an integral part of the anglers boating experience.

Portable fish finders usually come in convenient carrying cases and have the same features and benefits as fish finders that are fixed permanently to the boat. Often the transducer on the portable models will have a suction cup for easy mounting.

I have had good luck finding deals on Amazon.com, find some examples below, be sure to take advantage of this on line opportunity to compare models and pricing in a one stop location. It sure makes your buying decision easier.

Please watch for specific fish finder product reviews in my future posts. I will try to remember to link them to this page.