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Fish finders

Ian Murfin

Ian Murfin

Senior Member
I'm thinking of maybe getting a fish finder, but the hummingbird ones are a bit pricey, has anybody got any experience with the cheaper ones such as these that are on ebay at the moment:

Viper SC1
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SC1-Viper-Wireless-Fish-Finder-Sonar-Sea-Lake-Carp_W0QQitemZ300420550092QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item45f275cdcc

or FC60X

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FC60X-Wireless-Fish-Finder-Supplied-with-2-Sensors_W0QQitemZ300368812920QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item45ef605b78#ht_3008wt_937

Or
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ultra-Wireless-Fishfinder-Vs-Smartcast-RF15-RF25-RF35_W0QQitemZ160406733648QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item2558fc8350#ht_2779wt_937

Or
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WIRELESS-PORTABLE-DOT-MATRIX-FISH-FINDER-SONAR-RADIO_W0QQitemZ230462824088QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes?hash=item35a8a79e98#ht_9974wt_937
 
i bought an fc60 2 seasons ago to use on my local river, great value for money, good for finding fish and learning the contours of the river bed and finding deeper holes, unfortunately you have no idea what the fish are you find, there,s a small fish symbol which indicates any smaller fish and a bigger symbol which seems to be a fish of 3lb and above, i never did locate any barbel that i,m aware of, but did find some cracking shoals of chub. they dont work in weirs but are great in any other peg as long as they are gently flicked out, i ended up losing mine on the derbyshire derwent and i blanked :mad:
get one there well worth the money, even if you dont find any big fish they will tell you a whole lot about depth and the bottom of the river
cheers
jerry
 
Otters tend to be quite good at finding fish, closely followed by cormorants:D

I was looking at one similar to the humminbird but with twice the range (300ft). How far can the transponders be cast without causing damage? I would like to explore a few places on the far bank of the Trent which would be in the region of 60 yards wide.
 
Thanks for the info.

Do you find you can use them solo or does it need a second pair of hands?

Thanks again

Ian
 
Fish finder

Hi Ian,

I have a little experience with these devices. Scuba Steve kindly gave me an old one destined for the rubbish bin some years ago. One of the sensors seemed to work after a fashion, but the range was very poor and there were some inconsistencies in the information.

I recently bought a new one, the one with the greater range (I failed doing the DIY conversion with the old one) and easy replace battery. It seems to work much better, but again there are inconsistencies.

On more than one occasion it showed more depth (ie 6 feet in what was no more than 3 via a plumet) than I felt was right, especially as it was within 6 feet of the bank, it also indicated fish, and I couldn't see any in an area where I could see the bottom, although I am the first to admit it could be an error with my eyesight. You also get fluctuating depth readings for the same (ish) areas ie one cast it reads this depth, next time it tells you something else (and it is not just the odd foot or so), so take it with a pinch of salt.

The bottom contours seemed more accurate, as depth changes interest me most of all, but again it seems going out in a boat and comparing would be the best thing to do to set a benchmark. So I hope to do this sometime this summer.

BTW no running water, this was at Farlows lake, Slough.

What ever you see and believe, I did enjoy using it and I left it out for a while as it was mildy exciting hearing fish indicators going off, particularly as I didn't even have a touch, so it gave me hope there were fish in there!:D

Chris
 
One thing that these cheap jobs are not is 'fish finders'.

However, if you use one as a feature finder and learn to interpret the readings they will put you onto some great swims.

The maximum range advertised is always on a dead flat water. Given a chop of any sort and some of the signal will be lost.
 
Ian Turnbull said:
Otters tend to be quite good at finding fish, closely followed by cormorants:D

I was looking at one similar to the humminbird but with twice the range (300ft). How far can the transponders be cast without causing damage? I would like to explore a few places on the far bank of the Trent which would be in the region of 60 yards wide.
Click to expand...
Hi Jim, i have been quite lucky as i have used one recently. Overall range wise you can throw them a max of 60m IMO. as for finding fish, which when using one of these, i really am not interested. I am only looking at the bottom profile, which is far more interesting. ie when using one on the Trent, i look for any quick depth variations. I ran one over a swim i had two 11's from last season, depth wise in 16 feet, it came up from 12 foot to 7. I used it on another area i had, had some very good sessions, again i found a gully about 5 yards long that proved the point to me. Find the feature - fish the feature - catch the fish.
 
Really getting Drawn into a Hummingbird RF35E are they any good?, and do they have good durability?

Its not for finding fish just a bottom profile and depth.

Jon
 
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I have the rod mounted hummingbird.

Durability? Not great IMO.
If you leave the orange sensor wet/damp the battery runs out.
If you cast it into a tree trunk, or drop it on a the hard ground it stops working.
And the rod/base unit...well if you can switch it off, or trust the info it gives you, or read the small display, you are in luck.


Of course, it could be because I'm a technophobe and a miserable old git to boot.

Anyone want to buy a hummingbird? :D
 
Almost posted about these myself recently. Due to a lack of fishing time I wanted a quick way of getting to know the river bed contours on a couple of stretches without getting wet.
 
I bought a rod mounted hummingbird and it's a total waste of money. Used it on a lake and on the river Loddon and the readings were absolute nonsense. So much so I even read the destructions but no joy.

So another hummingbird for sale.
 
Simon, on the first couple of outings I couldn't work out how everything was the same each time I used it, until I realised it was on demo mode. :(

That's how thick I am. :eek:


Like you, mine is gathering dust in the shed. I guess I should really give it another go because they definitely have their uses.
 
I've had a few now.

A USA one when they first came out, and more recently a Humminbird Priahna Max 30, which comes as both a portable 'smartcast' and also a transducer that converts it to a 'proper' fish finder for my boat.

Have to say they have been great.

The biggest problem with the Smartcasts is that they wont work under 3ft, which can cause problems when using them on rivers, if your not sure of the depth your casting into.

Steve
 
Been using the hummingbird on the Thames takes a bit of getting used to but def finds the features you cannot see and wouldn't know without lots of fishing on the stretch.
Doesn't see fish too well especially if they are on the bottom.
The little sonar device is a pain, treat it with kid gloves, breaks far too easily if dropped
 
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