Fish Finder Buying Guide

Fishing is not so much of a hunch any more. It is more catching thank you to the new hi-tech fish finders. If it is a conventional fish finder or one with side imaging, the principles of using a fish finder are the same. Thunderbolt Electronics would like to break down how to use a fish finder, the specific types and some of the more common features found throughout the different brands in our fish finder buying guide.

How to Use A Fish Finder?

How can you use a fish finder more effectively? How to Get the most out of a fish finder hinges on the brand and character: conventional (down imaging) or side imaging. New to fishing can find success sticking with the basics, normally you will appreciate a conventional, transducer-based fish finder. Fish finders run using sonar, and conventional fish finders operate at a low frequency and display a brief picture of the marine world.

Fish finders do this by sending out a burst of sonar at changing intervals (depending on the fish finder and settings), these bounce back off the sea/lakebed and anything in between. The screen generates from right to left, giving a “picture” of the bottom of the water. Anything that shows on your screen from the bottom of the water and the boat is, hopefully, a fish!

The difficulty of conventional fish finders is that they can be tough to use while moving slowly or not at all. They are great for moving at a steady pace to chart water depth, features and type of waterbed. The thicker a bottom line appears on the fish finder, the softer the bottom. A thin, bright line means there is a hard, sharp surface at the bottom—more likely a rock.

Remember, the chart on a fish finder moves from right to left. This is not based on movement, but the bursts of sonar the fish finder is sending out. It is constantly scanning, so the screen will continue to move even if a boat is in one place. This can confuse those of you not used to fish finders, leading you to believe your fish finder is broken or defective when that is not the case. It is constantly sweeping the nautical landscape whether moving or not!

Please check out our website for the available fish finders we have in stock, click on this link: https://thunderboltelectronics.com/marine-supplies/marine-navigation-equipment/fishfinder-sounder-color