Fishfinders

[Safetyman]

I need some advice on buying a fishfinder and thought I would ask the boat owners about their preferences.

At present I have a b & w Garmin 120 along with a Raymarine C90 plotter.
I could buy a DSM30 module and transducer for the plotter and use it as a fishfinder but that would cost over £600 and I am not sure about investing that sort of money in older technology. Also this means all of the electronics are in one package and if something went wrong I would lose the lot.

The other option is to buy a stand alone fishfinder with modern technology and spend up to £600 (including the transducer). What sort of fishfinder would you recommend?

Does everybody just use transom mount transducers?

Thanks

 

[Kartonkel]

I have got a Raymarine Dragonfly. I bought and installed it fairly recently.

Its a combined fishfinder/GPS plotter and has this amazing "downvision" as a third oprion.

Early signs are very promising. Very sharp and detailed picture of the wrecks. I spend much more time on the wrecks instead of looking for them.

Have a look on the web.

I believe that Raymarine is now also launching some touchscreen versions of the Dragonfly which might be tempting.

 

[The Jester]

As above, i have had my eye on a Dragonfly for a while now, and Kartonkel seems really happy with his...The plus side is you get a backup plotter if you ever need it....
I use the transom mount method, just put plenty Sikaflex around the screws and behind the bracket to seal it from the water....

 

[Kartonkel]

As above, i have had my eye on a Dragonfly for a while now, and Kartonkel seems really happy with his...The plus side is you get a backup plotter if you ever need it....
I use the transom mount method, just put plenty Sikaflex around the screws and behind the bracket to seal it from the water....

The dragonfly is transom only and I found it very easy to install.

The fishfinder/sonar is very good for seeing the fish shadow and what is going on directly under the boat, whereas the downvison is fantastic for finding the wreck.

I believe the angle of the downvision is as wide as 30m.

If you have time, let me test the dragonfly a bit longer to identify some problems, weak points or concerns.

It also displays very nicely water temperature, speed, depth etc and produces a decent picture on all speeds.

So far very reccommendable for the price (under 500£) (at Storramarine Newcastle it is installed on demo -display)

 

[Kartonkel]

As above, i have had my eye on a Dragonfly for a while now, and Kartonkel seems really happy with his...The plus side is you get a backup plotter if you ever need it....
I use the transom mount method, just put plenty Sikaflex around the screws and behind the bracket to seal it from the water....

I installed the transponder onto an oak plank, which I have waterproofed and then screwed the oak plank to the transom. Advantage: the screws are much higher up and you can clean/adjust the transponder easily whilst the boat is in the water!

 

[Safetyman]

I hadn’t looked at the Raymarine Dragonfly but it does look good. Lowrance have a similar system called “downscan imaging” but you seem to get more for your money with the Dragonfly.

Kartonkel did you buy it with or without the maps? My reason for asking is I already have Navionics Gold for the C90 and wondered if it is an easy task to change the maps from a CF card to a microSD.

Also you can get the Dragonfly for just under £490 without maps.
I would be interested in hearing your in depth review of the Dragonfly once you have had a chance to “play with it properly”.