Recommendation for a new fishfinder

[Bandit]

I am in the market for a new fish finder for my 20' Crestliner.  I just got my boat back from my brother in law, so I have not been on the water in a couple years.  I plan on mainly fishing the Columbia.  Any recommendations.  My limit is $1,000.00.  Thanks

[Huntbear]

I could not recommend a certain model.  However, I can tell you this. 

The only difference between Eagle and Lowrance is about 20.00 a letter.  They both come from the same factory.

[PolarBear]

It depends on what you want it to do.  Do you want a built in GPS, side viewing, deep water capability, color graphics...?  With a grand as your budget you have a ton of great options.  I currently have Lowrance, Garmin and Furunos for different applications.  Eagle is almost the same as Lowrance (same factory) but usually a little more stripped down or not quite as powerful.  My favorite as far as ease of us and dependability is Lowrance hands down.  Go to the manufacturers web sites and find one  that has what you are looking for and in the price range and then shop around.  I bought a Lowrance X-125 a couple of years ago online and saved $90 over Cabela's.  If you are fishing mainly under 100 fathoms you really don't need an expensive unit, it would be overkill.  The X-135 is a great "shallow water" unit with speed and temp for only a few hundred bucks.

[Bandit]

I am wanting to get into walleye fishing, so something that will display structures.  Not to familiar with side views, I'll have to research that option.

[PolarBear]

Lowrance HDS Structure Scan LSS-1 will give you side scanning and a ton of options for around $600 or so.

[alanger]

Lowrance HDS Structure Scan LSS-1 will give you side scanning and a ton of options for around $600 or so.

+1 on that, those are great!

[highclimber]

Lowrance HDS

[blacktailhunter]

I just recently bought the Lowrance HDS-7 unit and have been very happy with it so far.  I got the basemap unit and then bought the navionics platinum + card for the Columbia river.  Do lots of research before making the purchase.  There are pros and cons to every unit/company out there.  I would suggest going to a store and checking out as many units as possible.

I don't have the structure scan currently but will probably add it in the future.

Check out The Hull Truth website, will find lots of information there on the different units in your budget.

[lokidog]

I have a Lowrance gps and an Eagle depth finder.  The Lowrance takes up to 8 minutes to lock on sometimes, even with a tall antenna and in the middle of the sound.  The Eagle won't stay locked on the bottom, the digital readout is erratic and often not accurate.

Go with a Humminbird or Garmin.  I've been looking at the Humminbird 788c which has depth and gps and can be found for less than $700 (of course I just had to replace my well pump and 250' of wire so that will go on the back burner for a bit).  If just a depthfinder, they have some really cool stuff under $1000.