Which sounder are you using and are happy with (for offshore fishing only)?

[Almako]

For those of you who are offshore fishing, which sounder are you using? and why do you like it?

[chocolatemoose]

i fish off the south west victorian coast , from apollo bay to port mac. upwards of 40km. i use a garmin 7408xsv with a gt51 600w-m chirp transom transducer. . i used to run a simrad nss7evo2 with a p66 600w 50/200 airmar. which was fine and nice. but i like being able to distinguish larger fish among st school fish in the top 150m. i also find it stupidly easy to use.

[Almako]

Thanks Moose just the type of response I'm looking for.

[Spaniard_King]

I was running a Furuno 585 and 1kw through hull, have just upgraded to a New Garmin 7412 and a Garmin 7410 with 1kw b175M medium chirp transducer. we fish anywhere up to 400m the new chirp wide beam transducer are amazing

[The Black Unicorn]

I fish mainly around the 50-70m mark with the odd trip deeper. Am using a Lowrance HDS5 Gen 1 and recently purchased a 7 Gen 2. Cheap and nasty. Just how I like them. But honestly they are snubbed by many but they do the job for my fishing. I truly don't believe owning a 3k unit would catch me more fish. Below is a pic on the HDS5 Gen1 in 140m of water. Shows up OK I reckon.

[Jsmfun]

i use a garmin 751xs as my sounder and untill recently had a tm150 300w was good to 100m but just upgraded to the b75m 600w thru hull just for more power and definition in the deep
works awsome

[Crunchy]

I fish mainly around the 50-70m mark with the odd trip deeper. Am using a Lowrance HDS5 Gen 1 and recently purchased a 7 Gen 2. Cheap and nasty. Just how I like them. But honestly they are snubbed by many but they do the job for my fishing. I truly don't believe owning a 3k unit would catch me more fish. Below is a pic on the HDS5 Gen1 in 140m of water. Shows up OK I reckon.

You hiding spot X there mate

[Crunchy]

Just got the ol FCV620 with P66, tried and tested but yeh not exactly breaking edge technology any longer but does a good job for the type of fishing I do.

[Sheik]

Have a little Garmin 501DV and screen size over about 30M is very limiting. That's the sounder of course, not the down view. LIttle disappointed really, as I thought the DV would give me better views in creek and estuary. Can't see much at 90M at all on the bottom and zooming is pointless as it just becomes a mess of pixels. Oh well...

[JulianDeMarchi]

Using a Raymarine E7D with P58. No compliants so far, great readings.

[The Black Unicorn]

You hiding spot X there mate

Yes Crunchy. But I can be loosened up with good bourbon. Oh...... You already know that!

[shane69]

Used to run furuno 585 with 1kw and gp7000 maps.
moving to garmin now. Same setup as gary. 7412 and 7410 with ss175m.
cant wait too see the garmin in action.
furuno was good but want chirp.

shane

[Brightsbane]

I've gone with the GPSMAP 7407xsv (yet to install). I'm a bit worried about my choice of the GT50 300w transducer, although I'll be mostly in shallow water I will want to occasionally go into 100-150m. Will I loose clarity in shallower water if I go for the GT51 or does the GT50 manage ok in mid range depths?

[STUIE63]

Eight year old fcv620 for me i won't be upgrading till it dies. I only fish up to 80m deep

[thylacene]

Have a Garmin 740S that is dedicated as a sounder, was less than impressed with the standard 500W transducer, but recently fitted a TM260 which improved the usability out of sight.

I would have preferred a wide cone setup TM270 but no longer available. I sourced the 740S for about $700 nd the transducer secondhand for $750 (including cable), the target separation with the 1kw transducer is so much better. Have only used it once, but can honestly say it is much better. Marked a school of bait with larger fish (marlin) and coudl tell the difference, marked ooglies at 380M with no issues. Still have some minor adjustments to make, and some learning on setting gain and noise rejection, but getting good results.

I will admit that I have little to compare to, only the previous Lowrance unit (X52) which was very ordinary. That said, i get consistent results, and every trip I improve my fine tuning skills. I think that the Furuno 587 would be a better head unit, mainly because the screen is taller than my current unit, giving better perception of spread, and the Furuno offers full post processing capability, but I had to work to a budget.

The last time we were out, marked bait at 150-180M, dropped a jig and pulled full strings both times. Also hooked up to the very large fish that marked in the bait ball third drop, but the bait jig gave way quickly.

If you are on a budget, look at the stuff that others are parting with as they go CHIRP. Our setup owes me < $1500 and is effective for offshore. Not idela in shallow water, but offshore is where the excitement is

I do get some interference from the motor if I dial the gain up too far,