# Color Fishfinder Screens?



## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

I'm looking into putting a fishfinder on my kayak. A portable and/or small unit would be nice, because I would also like to use it for ice fishing.

I understand that color screens are nearly impossible to find for under $150 and if color is that big of a difference, that's what I may have to look into purchasing. However, I've found a couple b&w screens that may do the trick:
* Hummingbird Piranha MAX 150 - $79
* Lowrance X-4 Pro - $99

* How important or how big of a difference is there between color and b&w screens on a fishfinder?k

* Brands that I've considered are: Hummingbird, Lowrance and Eagle.

Your opinions and experiences are appreciated.
Thank you, Bowhunter57


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

I did not believe a color screen was needed, until I got one and seen what I had been missing. If you can afford one, get it. If not be happy with the best B&W you can afford.


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## KeithOH (Mar 26, 2010)

I have an B/W Eagle Cuda 350 with GPS and have been very happy with it for the price. It has GPS that is very useful if you like to mark where you are catching your fishing while trolling. They are on sale right now for $170. I have never used color so I have no idea what I am missing out on.


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

with the color one i have now ,perch on the bottom show up as red bumps. w/ the B&W one i could not see them ,only if they were up off the bottom a foot or more.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

Buy color, they are hands down better, if you can't afford one now save your money and wait then buy one. 
Here is a decent lowrance on sale BTW http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...001_10200082?hvarTarget=search&cmCat=10016661


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

freyedknot said:


> with the color one i have now ,perch on the bottom show up as red bumps. w/ the B&W one i could not see them ,only if they were up off the bottom a foot or more.


freyknot,
I thought that there might be a problem of this kind and a color screen would "cure" this issue. Thanks!




K gonefishin said:


> Buy color, they are hands down better, if you can't afford one now save your money and wait then buy one.


K gonefishin,
Again, thank you and it looks like I'm gonna have to spend a little more to get something better in the long run.

Actually, I was thinking about the Lowrance x67c, since it's portable, would fit in my kayak and I could use it for ice fishing too. 

Good hunting, Bowhunter57


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

freyedknot said:


> with the color one i have now ,perch on the bottom show up as red bumps. w/ the B&W one i could not see them ,only if they were up off the bottom a foot or more.


freyedknot,
Another thought... I suppose it depends on what a person is trying to catch and where they're fishing, as to how important it may be for a fishfinder to show that there's a fish or a piece of structure.

What I mean is, that I'm fishing for bass, crappie and maybe some walleye that are in a large reservoir or small lake. I have to ask myself, is it worth $225 for a color screen, vs. $100 for a b/w screen to see these fish. I don't know, because I've never used a fishfinder, but I would think that a b/w screen would be able to pick up the type of fish that I'm after, under these conditions.

An example of this would be... If I see what I think's a fish and I wait a minute or two to see if it swims off or just sits there, I'd know if it was a fish or not. Am I wrong?

Are there other situations that a color screen would far out weigh a b/w screen, for this type of fishing?

Thank you, Bowhunter57


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Good thread, I'm in the market for a yak fishfinder too.


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## mdisalvo85 (Jul 15, 2008)

Also in the market for a yak fish finder. Bowhunter-I'm leaning towards the piranhamax portable 160, I debated the color or B/W screen and have pretty much decided on this one. I mainly fish the scioto, hoover and alum so I think the 160 should do the trick. If I were buying one for an actual fishing boat however, I would probably go for something a little nicer with a color screen. I don't see myself needing to identify different species, I could be wrong but I'm thinking I'll mainly use it for depth and structure.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

I have the x67 for ice fishing, it's the bomb I love it. I just got it this past ice season. I was dead sticking a small buckshot with a half minnow on Erie in 32 ft of water, with the screen on 4x zoom with my upper and lower limits set right I could see if my bait got stolen, damn impressive. I was getting robbed while working walleye in my other hole, they where coming in suspended, I was using split screen, unit defintely helped me catch belly down in the mud perch nobody was catching fish like I was that day...at least the perch. walleye are easy to spot due to size but small perch in 30+ft of water big difference.


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## ajarvi (Jul 22, 2007)

I'm looking at the Piranhamax 160 as well, seems to be a pretty good unit for kayak fishing. Personally I would rather save my money and get one of the new WS Ride 115's once they come out.


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

K gonefishin,
I've read so many reviews of so many different fishfinders and amazingly enough nearly all of the lower end b/w models have positive comments. The lower end color models seem to have a lot of "bitching" about transducers not working (Hummingbird), the units shutting off for no apparent reason or showing depth, but not any fish (Hummingbird) and the units not showing depth while at speeds of over 30 m.p.h. (all brands)

The tracking at high speeds means nothing to me, in a kayak. 

However, I've read nothing but good things about the Lowrance x67c. 

Still shopping, Bowhunter57


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## mdisalvo85 (Jul 15, 2008)

The one thing that swayed me towards humminbird was the reputation for solid customer service, whereas I heard the opposite for lowrance. The x67c looks really sweet, but its a tad too rich for my blood. I'll be getting the 160 soon and I'll post up my review of it after. Bowhunter-keep us posted on which unit you go with and what your thoughts are once you use it. I'm sure that color screen will be nice!


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## Ry440 (May 11, 2011)

can one of you guys PLEASE post pictures of how you set up your fish finders in your yak. I wanna get one but i have no idea where to start.


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## KeithOH (Mar 26, 2010)

It depends on what kind of kayak you have for what kind of install you can do. Mine has factory rails on the side so my fish finder can easily be removed.


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## ski (May 13, 2004)

Look up "kayak fishfinder tranducer installation" on youtube. there are about a million ways to install on a kayak.
ski


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## ski (May 13, 2004)

Keith,
Sweet kayak. I like how you set up your transducer. Does it get in the way when you paddle? Where do you keep the battery? I have watched a ton of installs on youtube, there are a lot of great ideas.
Are those scotty rod holders? Do you use those to troll? Drift? Just as rod holders?
Thanks,
ski


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## KeithOH (Mar 26, 2010)

ski said:


> Keith,
> Sweet kayak. I like how you set up your transducer. Does it get in the way when you paddle? Where do you keep the battery? I have watched a ton of installs on youtube, there are a lot of great ideas.
> Are those scotty rod holders? Do you use those to troll? Drift? Just as rod holders?
> Thanks,
> ski


The transducer does not get in the way when I paddle. If it did I could slide it up more on the side trax. I use 8-AA batteries that are in the little camera bag on the backside of the fish finder. Those are scotty rod holders and I use them for trolling.


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## ajarvi (Jul 22, 2007)

I like the scupper hole transducer mount Lowrance has come out with but am confident I could rig up something similar.


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

Looks like I'm making a trip to Gander Mountain, to purchase an Eagle 350c. I broke down and decided to get a color screen.  I don't think I can go wrong for $169.

The only other decision that I have to make is whether to use AA batteries or get a rechargable 12v. 

Good hunting, Bowhunter57


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

Bowhunter57 said:


> Looks like I'm making a trip to Gander Mountain, to purchase an Eagle 350c. I broke down and decided to get a color screen.  I don't think I can go wrong for $169.


Gander Mtn. didn't have what I was looking for, so I stopped over at Bass Pro and purchased the Eagle FishEasy 350c, for the same price.

I'm going out in the morning to TSC and/or Lowes to find a 12v lawnmower battery for my FF and maybe a soft-sided lunch pail to carry it all.  Can't wait to get this rig up and running on the water.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57


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## ajarvi (Jul 22, 2007)

I just got the Humminbird 160 Portable and will be trying it out tomorrow. Gonna rig up a surface to set it on and try it out tomorrow somewhere. Larry, you have the 150 or 160?


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## mdisalvo85 (Jul 15, 2008)

I just got the 160 portable too, I tried it out today at Hoover in my kayak with good results. It works pretty well, just don't turn the sensitivity too high or it picks up all sorts of stuff that I'm assuming is just murky water. It seems like the best use is for finding the drop off points, as most of the time I found them it showed a couple fish closer to the bottom in the 20-30 foot range (saugeye?). I can see how the color units must be really nice, but for my uses in a kayak this does the job well. The only flaw seemed that when you go too fast it doesn't read very well, although that might be the case with most finders, or maybe I didn't have the transducer deep enough? Either way I'm happy with my purchase, can't wait to use it in the fall when the bite picks back up.


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## flyphisherman (Jul 7, 2009)

that unit will work well for you. You just need to watch depth for the most part. notice quick drop offs, humps, boulders and rock piles. Most of the time I'm just watching my finder to see if I'm gonna snag my lures in a given area. we've caught a lot of fish when it's shown few and we've caught few fish when it's shown many. It's a great tool just to know how deep the area is and if there's any structure present. Have fun with it


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## USMC_Galloway (May 13, 2011)

@ mdisalvo85, if you have your transducer just below the surface, and back behind you " like I did" I found the back wash from your paddle strokes can really mess up the readings. I kept getting a weird blip every 3-4 seconds and it took me a while to put it all together lol . 

Putting it deeper in the water fixed the problem. I found that velcow worked better for me then the sucker cup provided in the kit.

@ andy, the 160.


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## mdisalvo85 (Jul 15, 2008)

USMC I went out yesterday and put it as deep as I could, seemed to help out quite a bit. I like your setup on that kayak, I'll probably steal your idea and get one of those scotty rod holders on the front for trolling soon.


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