Top 5 Editorial Picks
Five current fishfinders chosen for distinct buyer needs—from compact value to a premium expandable system. These are editorial selections, not Amazon or reader ratings.
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Best Compact Value
A straightforward sonar and GPS unit for kayaks, jon boats, and small boats.
Best All-Around 7-Inch Fishfinder
A capable sonar-first choice for anglers who want a useful 7-inch display without moving into a full chartplotter system.
Best GPS & Chartplotter Upgrade
The mapping step-up for buyers who need confident navigation as well as high-quality scanning sonar.
Best Side-Imaging Upgrade
A current 9-inch imaging platform for anglers ready to build around serious side imaging and boat integration.
Best Premium Expandable System
A larger-boat platform for buyers who want premium sonar, mapping, networking, and a serious expansion path.
| Rating | 3.4/5 |
Raymarine recently introduced the Dragonfly 7, the big brother of the Dragonfly 5. The difference between the two being a larger, 7-inch screen that provides an 800 x 640 resolution. Otherwise, the newest version offers the same great features of its predecessor. The Dragonfly was designed as an easy to use combination fish-finding/GPS device
| Rating | 2.2/5 |
The fully waterproof Humminbird 999ci HD SI Combo sonar fish finder has a wide variety of features for finding fish in multiple locations. The screen is eight inches wide, and consists of a 480V x 800H pixel high definition full-color LED display that is in a 16:9 ratio. Side Imaging Sonar and Down Imaging Sonar allow for clear images of structure and fish
Technology is giving anglers everywhere a great advantage when it comes to dominating the outdoors. Honing in your skills can now come with knowledge of water depth, temperatures, current, and advanced underwater imaging. Any fisherman looking to put these abilities on their side should work with the best equipment available at the most competitive prices.
It has become increasingly difficult since the advent of the modern wireless-equipped fishfinder for manufacturers to strike a balance between largely unnecessary features and vital, meat and potatoes fishing tools. The most important single asset for a finder is easily visible and accurate imaging, which is sometimes lost in favor of bells and whistles.
Fishing from a kayak brings many advantages over traditional boats. Kayaks are small, highly maneuverable, and can float in even the shallowest waters. Additionally, folding kayaks can be broken down and carried by hand or even in a backpack, enabling fishermen to easily travel overland in pursuit of the best
A fishfinder is an essential piece of kit for any dedicated fisherman. Not only does it save time by enabling fishermen to avoid casting a line where there’s nothing to catch, but it also helps fishermen find new, better places to fish, as well as avoid underwater hazards. However, they
For millennia, fishermen have relied on a combination of instinct and local knowledge in order to catch fish. Fish are, after all, simple creatures which tend to obey certain rules. Most fish like to live in places where they have cover from predators yet are still able to seek out
A fishfinder that’s both powerful and very easy to use, the Garmin echo 151dv offers a four-inch display with an eight-level grayscale display and 160 x 256 resolution. Echo 151dv provides similar features and specs as its predecessor – echo 150 – but it has two notable upgrades
The new 600 series from Humminbird was conceived to meet the requirements of anglers who want a sleek but unobtrusive medium sized, easy to read screen and all of the features of larger, more expensive fishfinders. The 600 series offers anglers world-class fish finding without the need to compromise space for other instrumentation
The Garmin echo 201dv is a powerful unit with advanced sonar features that until now could only be found on much more expensive fishfinders. 201dv provides traditional sonar as well as Garmin’s version of down imaging called DownVü.
| Rating | 4/5 |
When the goal is to catch as many fish as possible, the right equipment is crucial. Rods, reels, bait and boat can take a fisherman far, but to truly catapult to the next level it’s important to know where the fish are in relation to one’s location. To make sure they know where the fish are biting, more anglers are turning to the Humminbird 859ci HD DI.
GPSMAP 840xs is a part of the new series of fishfinders from Garmin that support down imaging as well as side imaging (Garmin branded those technologies as DownVü and SideVü). Down imaging is built-in while side imaging requires a GCV 10 module that is sold separately.
| Rating | 3.3/5 |
The Lowrance Mark 4 HDI comes with a 4.3 inch greyscale screen. HDI stands for Hybrid Dual Imaging and provides both the Broadband Sounder and DownScan. HDI was first introduced by the Elite7 model and it provides extremely accurate fish markings and is capable of tracking bait movement.
| Rating | 4.1/5 |
The echo 551dv is a new fishfinder from Garmin that offers both traditional broadband sonar and down imaging. It produces probably the clearest image among fish finders in its price range. Garmin echo 551dv also stands out from the crowd by giving the user the ability to view the output horizontally or vertically.
| Rating | 2.9/5 |
The Humminbird 688 ci HD DI offers anglers a combination of down imaging and GPS. The 688 has a 640 x 480, five inch display with 256 colors and a backlight. Note that this display has lower resolution than the one found in the older 5 inch models that had 640 x 640 resolution. As the result the output is not as crisp and clear.
| Rating | 4/5 |
Lowrance Elite-4 HDI is a new generation of compact fishfinders ideal for kayaks and small boat where room for mounting electronics is at premium. Despite of its small footprint Elite 4 HDI has almost all the features found in the larger Elite HDI models, yet it’s moderately priced. It will be a very popular model among those looking for smaller, budget priced units.
| Rating | 4.3/5 |
The Garmin echo 301dv is a small but powerful fishfinder that offers down imaging (called DownVü by Garmin) as well as traditional 200/77 kHz dual beam sonar. The Garmin DownVü offers an almost photographic view of the structure underneath the boat. The new echo 301 is an evolution of the echo 300 platform.
| Rating | 3.6/5 |
Humminbird 899ci HD SI features the 480′ Side-Imaging technology, which Humminbird began and has mastered. It uses the XHS-9-HDSI-180-T transducer, the same one that was used by the older side-imaging models. The 1000W transducer supports 800/455/200/83 kHz frequencies, and it reaches the depth of 150’ in side imaging mode and 1500’ in broadband mode.
| Rating | 4.7/5 |
The Garmin GPSMAP 527xs combined sounder and chart plotter permits clear and easy visibility during both the nighttime and the daytime. This will be the main attraction of the angler’s helm, regardless if it is swivel, flush, or flat mounted. The unit includes a worldwide base map as well as a user-friendly interface.
The a68 fishfinder by Raymarine features CHIRP DownVision built right in with a full featured multifunction display. The CHIRP DownVision channel on the a68 model fishfinder delivers some amazing images of wrecks, fish, and underwater structure with photographic quality. There is also a CHIRP fish targeting channel on the a68 model fishfinder for easy identification of predators and baitfish.