There are plenty of fish in the sea - and there may be even more fish finders on the market.
With so many new devices coming out each year, it can be hard for an angler to find the fish finder that’s right for them. We designed this brief guide to help.
There are 4 things you want to consider - how you fish, how much you want to spend, the return policy on the device, and what other people have to say about the fish finder.
And there’s nothing fishy about any of that. Let’s get started.
“Think about how you fish” covers a lot of territory. What we want you to think about is:
If you’re on the lake every day, you fish in shallow and deep water, you’re very competitive, and you want a powerful, all-in-one device, we’re going to recommend you get a high-end fish finder/chartplotter.
If, on the other hand, you go out ice fishing once or twice a year with your buddies, you probably won’t need to go beyond a really rugged flasher with an iceducer.
This all to say, don’t get caught up in all the bells and whistles a device can offer. When you see a feature, think seriously about how often you’ll use it, and where and when it will come in handy.
Pretty obvious, but it’s important to point out that price is a factor.
You’d be amazed, however, at how many features you can get on relatively low priced units. There are fish finders out there for ~$600 bucks that come with chartplotting, Down Imaging, and loads of other features.
Take advantage of deals if your budget is too small for the fish finder you want. While fresh out of the box is always better, you can sometimes find anglers who are upgrading and selling their old fish finder at a discount.
Garmin, Humminbird, and Lowrance all have comprehensive return policies that give you some leeway. If you buy a fish finder, and you’re not satisfied with the results, you can return it.
That means you can try before you buy - as long as you’re not too rough with the device. If you don’t want to try it out on the water, almost all fish finders come with a simulation mode.
You can also try the devices in-store.
There are a lot of websites out there doing fish finder reviews - websites like ours. Enthusiasts like us spend time and energy reviewing almost every fish finder on the market to help you decide on what’s best.
It’s enjoyable work, believe us. We think it’s valuable, too. You can compare reviews, get different viewpoints, and figure out which fish finder is best for you.Want a good place to start? Check out our fish finder reviews for 2021. There are units at all sorts of different price points, for boats of any size, and anglers of all levels.
