Sounder advice for deep dropping.

 Hi guys. Currently my boat is fitted with a Lowrance HDS7 Gen1. I was thinking about getting something similar to plug in and use the two as stand alone GPS and sounder units rather than running split screen. However living in the Pilbara I fish Exmouth a couple of times a year and would like to start fishing in deep water chasing Goldband and Rubys. Any advice on what to run that would be suitable up to 300m. Would I still be able to use the HDS7 together to run maps?


Bucko's picture

Posts: 138

Date Joined: 08/05/10

You know everyone is gunna

Fri, 2018-09-28 10:36

You know everyone is gunna tell you to get a furuno.

I had a 587 and a TM260 and it was a great sounder. I also had a HDS 7 gen 3 as a plotter, which it is great for.

Can't link them (without MarkFish), but that's no great loss.

As a deep water sounder, the 587 was OK, still have to go slow to find ground. No prob's seeing fish at 300m though.

Now I have a 295 and pair of 2kw's which does make life easier.

paul d's picture

Posts: 252

Date Joined: 16/03/13

  Hey Werzal , I'm looking at

Fri, 2018-09-28 10:52

 

 Hey Werzal , I'm looking at a simrad s2009 which can share info with my hds 10. S2009 is a 1kw output which if you eventually upgraded your transducer you would read 300m no worries. The price is pretty reasonable too at around $1200

Cheers Paul

 

Jackalchub's picture

Posts: 593

Date Joined: 10/03/12

 You’ll only get 600W output

Sun, 2018-09-30 10:22

 You’ll only get 600W output from a s2009 unless you add the S5100 module.. in saying that I could still read 420m @  10-12 knots with a B175m and S2009. Furuno if you’ve got the money.. Simrad with chirp transducer if  you don’t.. by that i mean if you can’t afford a 295 you may aswell get a simrad unit.. 1kw furuno is the bare minimum for deep dropping.. in the cheaper models I believe simrad wins 

Posts: 6

Date Joined: 10/01/16

 Thanks for your comments

Fri, 2018-09-28 20:26

 Thanks for your comments guys. My search is pointing all things towards Furuno. Its a bit funny. The 18ft Pacemaker that I picked up for 9K is about to get a brand new four stroke. So all things considered I'm about to blow the budget anyway. My last boat was a 4.25M tinny that I've had for 15 yaers. I dropped $1500 on a 5inch Lowrance colour combo unit back then that has proven itself for what I needed from it. Time to embrace the future me thinks.

 

gruntre69's picture

Posts: 533

Date Joined: 15/10/16

 One thing I've learnt after

Mon, 2018-10-01 10:28

 One thing I've learnt after spending lots of cash is that on small boats say below 6.5 meters, No matter how much you spend on sounders and transducers, the performance will be compromised because the boat is not stable enough in most common WA conditions. These hulls find it difficult because they are not heavy enough to keep the transuder deep enough in the water and not rocking around. Especially when on the plane.

Think about how often the water will be good enough to get an 18 ft boat out to deep drop areas and actually get the sounder to perform. And when those days occur you life commitments allow you to get out... Is it really worth the coin (especially the furuno 295) for these very few ocassions...

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Bucko's picture

Posts: 138

Date Joined: 08/05/10

You'd be surprised how often

Mon, 2018-10-01 11:06

You'd be surprised how often you can get out wide in small boats.

But it is a rich mans game, and you better check your safety gear cos its a long f**king way.

A boat you paid $9K for would make me nervous at the shelf....

I broke down 20 mile out once, was glad my radio worked. Its a scary feeling out there with no motor, I can only imagine how much worse that would be if the boat was sinking....