Both beginners and avid fishermen have already heard more than once about a wonderful technique that can help find large fish in any reservoir. Here are just a few of outdoor enthusiasts who believe in modern technology, preferring to catch the old method, focusing only on luck.
The focus of this article is a unique device that can really help fishermen, his name is an echo sounder. This device is guaranteed to help fishermen make their pastime in any body of water productive. The reader is given the opportunity to learn detailed information about this device: the principle of operation, the scope, as well as get acquainted with interesting models presented on the domestic market.
A miracle device in the service of fishermen
Better to start with the tactical and technical properties of the device itself. An echo sounder is a device for measuring. What? In this case, we are talking about the distance from the surface of the reservoir to its bottom. This is a common sonar that can “see” under water and show the user the result.
What will this give the fisherman? First of all, the user receives the relief of the bottom of the reservoir. Moreover, the echo sounder is able not only to clearly show all the hollows and irregularities, but also to specify the type of soil (stone, sand, silt, clay). Secondly, the device is able to detect objects directly in the water. It doesn't matter if they move or not. It is this property of the device that allows the fisherman to determine whether there is a fish nearby and what are its approximate sizes.
Types of echo sounders
It is logical to assume that such an interesting device can be used only when located directly on the surface of the water body. However, this is an erroneous opinion, and it all depends on what modification the user has a fish finder. What kind of device is this, we figured it out, it's time to find out more interesting details.
The most popular in the world are stationary echo sounders. They are installed on the dashboards of boats, fishing schooners, and are also used on other water transport that is not related to fishing. A special sensor (transducer) from the device is displayed on the bottom of the boat, it is his task to scan the bottom.
Portable wired fishfinders are a smaller version of stationary instruments and are widely used by ordinary fishermen from boats and boats. In such devices there are fewer sensors, and the mechanism itself is a bit simpler.
Also on the market, the buyer can meet portable wireless fish finders. With such devices, the bottom can be scanned from the shore, throwing the transducer at a distance of 50-100 meters with a usual spinning rod.
Where does quality begin?
Since the echo sounder is a device for measuring, and not for demonstrating an image, first of all, all potential buyers need to know that they are acquiring a scanner, and not an LCD TV. Accordingly, the quality requirements must be appropriate.
The most important criteria in the device are the number of rays and their scanning angle. The higher this indicator, the more efficient and faster the information is received by the device. For example, 6-beam echo sounders allow you to scan the bottom by passing a boat along the surface of the water on a glider (60 km or more). Single and double beam devices are popular.
The second criterion is security. The echo sounder will be used close to the water and at different times of the year, so its performance directly depends on the protection of the hull (water, shock, cold, heat). Naturally, this parameter also affects the cost of the device and in no case should it be neglected.
When it comes to convenience
But the size of the screen and its type can be paid attention only after the buyer has decided on the basic characteristics. As practice shows, users prefer the size of the display than its color. Indeed, in fact, the beauty of the fish or the bottom of the reservoir does not require a fisherman - he needs a relief and the presence of living creatures. In addition, a device with a color display consumes more electricity.
True, many potential buyers argue this way, until fate presents them with a Lowrance Elite-3x echo sounder. A device costing 10,000 rubles in the domestic market quickly makes many fishermen make a purchase decision for themselves. The fact is that this budget representative is not only equipped with a color liquid crystal display and has excellent protection against shock and splashes, but is also able to quickly scan the bottom of a pond. After all, its transducer has two sensors that operate in different frequency ranges (83 and 200 kHz).
Higher, faster, stronger
Yes, any owner wants his sonar to work in addition to navigation maps and have a GPS system. All this is quite real, only the cost of such devices will be appropriate (prices start at 30 thousand rubles). Choosing your first echo sounder, the main thing is to stop in time and decide for yourself what is really a priority.
Often, many avid fishermen agree that any equipment is directly proportional to the application. For example, the Lowrance Elite-3x sounder (83-200 2 beams) has positive reviews only from owners of motor boats and boats with electronic ignition. Yes, although the device is portable, it has problems with power supply (on a single charge, the device will work for no more than 24 hours). But what about the rest - to carry a bag of batteries with a reserve for a week?
Simple and practical solution
Since an echo sounder is a device for scanning the bottom, it is better for a potential buyer to begin acquaintance with simple models that are oriented to this task. Domestic device "Practitioner ER-6 Pro" is the golden mean in this segment. After all, he is able to satisfy the buyer with an affordable price (5000 rubles) and excellent functionality.
Inexpensive sonar can scan the bottom and provide the user with detailed information on the screen. Also, the device is able to find fish in water and notify the user about it. As for the protection of the case, here, judging by the reviews of the owners, there cannot be a single question at all. The fish finder works great in all weather conditions (from 50 degrees heat to 20 degrees below zero).
Shore fishing
Wireless fishfinders are quite popular among fishermen who do not have surface transport and prefer to cast rods from the shore. In truth, this category of people tries not to trust electronic devices and relies on their own experience or the recommendations of other fishermen. As practice shows, a cliff of gear and bad fishing without an electronic device are assessed as a normal failure. But everything can be very different.
Unlike a wired device, in wireless echo sounders, the transducer communicates with the head unit via a radio channel remotely resembling a Wi-Fi signal. Therefore, the main criterion for choosing a worthy device on the market here is the power of the wireless transmitter and receiver, which are equipped with an echo sounder. This is not the only important criterion. As in other devices, the device requires a high-quality scanner that can work at a large angle.
Interesting offers for real fishermen
A wireless echo sounder is pretty easy to spot on a storefront. You can distinguish it from analogues by the configuration. Next to the measuring device, the buyer can see a simple plastic toy, vaguely reminiscent of a duck. This is a wireless scanner, which must be cast over a long distance. As for the head unit, there is nothing to surprise the buyer with - an ordinary echo sounder. This (photo can be seen below) suggests that the scanning technology itself does not change, the only difference is in the method of data transfer.
Lucky products have proven themselves well in the market. These devices are simple in everyday life and have an affordable cost (up to 10,000 rubles). True, their transmitter is weak - the signal is stable only at a distance of 50-60 meters. But products under the Fishhunter brand are sold without a head unit, offering all the functionality to implement to the user on smartphones running the Android system.
Chartplotter with echo sounder
The attention of potential buyers has always been attracted by expensive appliances that are present on the windows of any specialized store. True, not everyone understands the price (50-100 thousand rubles). In this price range, you can only find a chartplotter-echo sounder. What it is? Speaking in an accessible language, this is a navigator with a built-in sonar. Yes, this is an echo sounder with GPS and cards recorded in the device’s memory. Moreover, these are not ordinary maps, but pilot ones. Their advantage is that they allow you to fix the topography of the bottom and record depths.
The areas of application of such a device are quite obvious. The device is convenient only if a potential buyer catches fish only from a boat and often moves through various reservoirs. Only with such a device can you probably know all the fishing places, and not hope for good luck.
What to choose in an expensive segment?
The huge functionality of the device will certainly please the future owner with high-quality GPS or colorful maps of all existing reservoirs in the territory of the post-Soviet countries, but first of all, it is worth paying attention to the scanning element. We must not forget that the scanner remains the basic characteristic for all echo sounders. Or rather, the number of scanning elements and their scattering angle of the signal.
Well-established in the market are only three brands that have been specializing in the production of such devices for more than a decade: Garmin, Lowrance and Humminbird. Each manufacturer, trying to remove a competitor from the market, tries to please a potential buyer and offers a huge range of functions. By the way, the Lowrance Elite 3x echo sounder , presented in a budget class, is also positioned as a chartplotter. The fact is that the device is equipped with a built-in non-volatile memory that allows the user to load special pilot maps. True, the owner will have to become a navigator himself, since there is no GPS in the device.
Expert advice and feedback
Having understood what an echo sounder is, what it measures and what its basic purpose is, it remains only to find out the advantages and disadvantages of this device. Here you can not do without real reviews of the owners, which can be found in the media.
Oddly enough, all users recommend that beginners, when choosing a decent device, pay attention to the protection of the echo sounder from moisture. Moreover, the protection should not be from splashes, but full - from water ingress, into the case. The fact is that almost all owners had the imprudence to drown the device while fishing, dropping it inadvertently into the water.
The second criterion that customers pay attention to is energy consumption. For some reason, many sellers are silent that the echo sounder is a powerful energy consumer that quickly discharges both the battery and batteries (the problem is relevant only for a device with a color display). There is only one conclusion - to buy an external portable battery and always carry it with you on a multi-day fishing trip.
Finally
As it turned out, effective fishing from a boat is simply impossible, no matter what the avid fishermen and lovers of extreme fishing say. An echo sounder is a tool that should be present with any amateur and professional. True, this same tool, in comparison with other accessories of the fisherman, is the most expensive. But, as practice shows, without a measuring device, fishing has long become uninteresting. Indeed, from year to year fish are becoming smaller, and you have to spend too much precious time searching for living creatures, which can be saved by just one device. Its name is an echo sounder.