Well while we were out getting skunked today on Benbrook, one of the stumpies snapped my transducer on the Lowrance X37TX that came with my boat. Its a 2005 Tracker and has been in a garage for several years, guess the bolt was tight. Gives me an excuse to start eyeballing new fish liar, i mean fish finder.... Suggestions welcomed and appreciated....

Hummingbird? Lowrance? Garmin? Side Scan ? Down Scan? Easy to install? Trying to stay under the 1K mark.

Humminbird or lowrance both make a great product. My advice is to buy the best graph you can afford to buy and then put some time in to learn how all the features work.

Lowrance elite 7 for under 1k isn't bad. You can get done smaller screen birds with SI, DI dor under 1k

Wondering how much sidescan matters when trying to locate brushpiles. Seems the DI has more detail in the pics i've seen. Could just be my lack of experience with the more advanced electronics.

Matters a lot, side scan is very useful. It's tough to find piles with just DI unless you drive/troll/drift right over them.

Does Garmin have side scan? Their down imaging looks good. If I were spending 1k on a fish liar it would probably be one of these two.
Lowrance HDS7 Gen 2 w/structure scan - about $1400 on sale, has two transducers to install

HB 998c HD SI - about $1200 on sale, single transducer

I agree with your comment "fish liar". Side scan helps you find the brush more easily/faster. But there's lots of boats out there with $2k+ fish liars not catching fish right now. Good luck!

What about the Hummingbird with the 360 option looks interesting on paper..Anyone have first hand info??

Side scan is what FINDS the structure.
Down scan confirms whether its holding FISH.
BOTH make you an instant expert!
I have the Lowrance HDS 8. You give me a morning on a "new-to-me" lake to side scan a finger of it, and I'll find 2-3 productive piles holding fish by afternoon. The full SI/DI combo is THAT good!
Save up and invest in the best you can afford.
My 2 cents...

I've found several really good deals (sub $600) for the Hummingbird 598 CI which is DI/SI and appearantly a discontinued model. Explains the price. I know its only a 5 inch screen but it is bigger than the grayscale screen on the X37 that i had and would give me a first look at both SI and DI in a single unit. If i really learn to be productive with it, maybe a more expensive unit will go on the trolling motor by next season. Anyone see any reason to just avoid the 598? Sure would make the wife happy not to go over $1k since we spent quite a bit already getting this boat water ready over the winter.

Good info, Thanks!

The predominate thinking is "Get the biggest screen you can afford"! If you settle on the 5" now, keep it in the back of your mind to upgrade to an 8" or even 10" one day, putting the bigger unit on yout console & moving the 5" to the TM. You'd be set then! Of course if your budget is 1K then Shutup & Fish can fix you up with this...

http://www.shut-up-and-fish.com/humminbird-899ci-combo-side-imaging-transducer-p-19217.html

Check your local academy. The one nearest me has the humminbird 998 marked down to $999. If you have the budget to buy a bigger screen, do so. When shopping for a finder I opted out for a cheaper smaller humminbird and wish I wouldnt have. When looking at dots on a screen.... you want those dots to look as big as possible.

Thanks Ken. Went to Academy in Crowley close to me and their selection was pitiful. Checked online and found the 998 to be 1299 down from 1999. Went to Academy in Ft worth and their selection was much better. They also had the 598ci SI in stock to my suprise. The 16:9 on the 998 likely would be to wide for the console on my PT 175 without some major work, where the 598 uses a mount similar to the factory equipped lowrance. I was ablt to compare the 598 to the current Low X-4 which basically has the same screen as my old x37 did. I think there is a big enough difference in screen size that the 598 is definitely an upgrade.

Now its time to get this thing installed and out for some test runs. Hopefully be up and running again in a week or so. We'll see if the SI images help me find some Crappie on the brook, or at least some sand bass.

The screens on both units of my boat seem to be getting smaller, and I have Lowrance 10"ers on both ends . Of course, I guess it could be that my 70 yo eyes are getting worse. All kidding aside...if your pocketbook can stand the action, buy the biggest screens available. Investing in smaller screens to 'save' money just means that you're going to spend more money in the longrun. And yes, side/down scan really does make a difference. Call Davis at Shut Up and Fish at 972-822-9285. If he don't have it...you don't need it.

+1 899 ci