# Downscan or regular Sonar fish finder?



## Bow-man (Apr 18, 2013)

Looking for a new fish finder and am looking at Lowrance or Humminbird. What are the opinions on either? What is better for central Ohio; the downscan imaging or traditional sonar?


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## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

I'm in the same situation as you.My only hang up is the cone angle.I personally don't see the need if you're primarily fishing under 15-20 ft. of water as you'll be seeing VERY little bottom.Hopefully others will chime in and help us decide!

Sent from my VS870 4G using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

I have both... My personal view is Lowrance downscan is well worth money and better on downscan!!!! After you go downscan on either there is no turning back to traditional. I love the Side Scan on each of the two also... Good Luck on which brand u choose...


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## Bimmer (Aug 12, 2011)

If you really want to find stumps, rockpiles, etc. look at the downscan. If you don't spend a lot of time looking for these I would just go with the sonar. I have a humminbird and for me I spend more time on the sonar, but that is due to lack of time and knowledge.


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

Looking for fish, or simply depth; conventional. Looking for structure, downscan or sidescan


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## fished-out (Dec 20, 2005)

At lakes like Buckeye, St Mary's, Indian, Loramie, downscan is a waste of money--period. At Alum, Delaware and similar lakes, it'll matter more, but not much unless you have sidescan as well. Without sidescan, it's just a fancier interpretation of what regulare sonar already tells you--there's something down there that's different and should be fished. Also, at high speeds, sometimes bottom lock on down and side scan units can be a problem--think 45 MPH and higher. 

As to L vs H, L has better defined downscan images with dedicated crystals in most units, but God help you if have a problem as their customer service sucks and has for quite awhile. H has great customer service and is more leading edge, but has issues with their slow speed GPS directional positioning (i.e., it won't tell you what direction you're going at speeds less than about .5 MPH, a problem for slow trollers).


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

At indian my bird has taken great down imaging pics! Take a look at i think it was the last indian lake thread, i put a few pics on there.


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