By way of introduction I am a water rat akin to the character in Kenneth
Grahame's book "The Wind in the Willows"

I started fishing this spring and find it more pleasant than ever to
spend time on and about bodies of water. Now that I've found ReefMaster
and seen the power in consumer fish finders I am plunging into Mapping
with ReefMaster and tracking the wiley walleyes, crappies, and catfish
where ever and when ever I can.

The units I've been looking at are:

$483USD - Lowrance 000-11655-001 Elite-5 CHIRP with 83/200+455/800 Transducer
$450USD - Humminbird 409640-1 HELIX 5 SI Fish Finder with Side-Imaging and GPS

I should note that my fishing platform is an inexpensive 10 foot sit
on top kayak. For the most part my future boats will be light weight
craft I can carry on a car top carrier.

My goal is to balance the price, on water chart quality and ReefMaster
data quality.

What say you on fish finders I should consider?

My current travel rig

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1RULYKI2zCV7LHMgh5xpOOaR9Noz-wSkzPFF33qLvcs=w700

I'm not seeng the image, not sure what I did wrong

Another try.



edit: I think I fixed it for you Craig!

Hi Craig,
I'm not completely familiar with the price of units in the US, but a few general thoughts:

If you want to use the maps that you create on your unit, then Lowrance is the best option by far. RM can create full colour contour maps, with other options such as sidescan mosaic images. Mapping options for Humminbird are limited to lines (with no labels).

Are you interested in sidescan mosaics? If so you'll want a unit that can record sidescan, but I'm not sure that there is a Lowrance option in your price range. Having said that, sidescan transducers are big and can get a little unwieldy on kayaks (and can't be mounted to shoot thru the hull, as far as I know), so a 2D/downscan option might be better for your situation. I fish a lot off my kayak (Hobie Revolution) and on that I use a Lowrance Elite 4 HDI which is great. Maybe a little small for general use, but very cost effective and fully capable of both recording mapping data and displaying maps. A larger Elite would probably serve you well, although the HDS series are a little more capable when it comes to displaying maps (although the Elite do just fine).

Matt

A less expensive Lowrance it then then.
Matt wrote:
Interested, but don't have the budget I guess.

Matt wrote:
I see these 2 HDI models on Amazon:

$600USD - LOWRANCE LOW-000-11145-004 / Elite-5 HDI Fishfinder/Chartplotter

$600 is to expensive.

$300USD - Lowrance Elite-4 HDI Chartplotter/Fishfinder Combo w/83/200/455/800 Transom Mount Transducer

This looks like one to consider.
Matt wrote:
As far as I can tell the HDS are to expensive for my budget.

I will look at 4 and 5 inch models. Are there any used units for me
to consider?

I'm ready to purchase ReefMaster Pro and a Lowrance Unit. My short list is one of these 2.

Lowrance Elite 6 Chirp - new - $400 USD
Lowrance HDS5 Gen 1 - used - ~$240 USD - head unit only

I'd like to hear opinions on why one or the other. Also what will be required to purchase to get the HDS5 head unit working on my kayak?

I plan to use the sonar units for making my own bathymetric charts and to support fishing.

Thanks.

Next up will be mounting on my 10 foot plastic sit on top kayak.

If you get the rest of the stuff you need for the HDS at a decent price, I would go with that option. You need:
Powercable (and a battery, at least 12A but I would recommend a larger one)
Ducer, HST-WSBL is your cheapest option and good enough for shallow water down to around 30 meters. If you buy a used ducer, make sure it is relatively new as they wear out.
Stand with the screws that match the threads in your HDS.

You could then add a second HDS, radar, VHF, stereo, StructureScan, BSM-3, Airmar R599 and so on but it might overload your wessel. ;)

If you can wait, search for a used HDS 5 Gen2.

If your Gen1 head unit is without any accessories, you also need a power cable and a mount including screws. These parts are relatively expensive. You should remember this.