Our Fish Finder Review Page

A fish finder is a marine electronics device that looks into the water with sound waves and converts the returning signals into a picture you can see and interpret on a display screen.

Referred to by a myriad of other names including depth finder, sounder, sonar, or bottom machine, they all use a transducer to send pulses of sound into the water and listen for their return.

It is important when selecting a fish finder that you choose the right screen size, power output, and features to suit your needs and budget.

The classic Sitex CVS-106L fish finder remains
on the market today in the updated MKII version.

The electronics inside the sounder monitors those signals for changes caused by sound bouncing off objects in the water, i.e. bottom, fish, etc.

It also measures the amount of time those pulses take to return and converts that information into distance.

All this data is then converted by the electronics package into pixels on a display screen to be read and interpreted by you.

Fishermen, power boaters, sailors, and cruisers, can all benefit from the information provided by a good quality sounder. These devices are not solely for locating fish.

Obviously, a sounder will tell you the water depth. In the right hands one of these units can reveal much about the bottom composition. This can be valuable information for anyone getting ready to drop the anchor and spend the night.

Fisherman looking for species that prefer hard bottom can use a quality sounder to help determine whether the bottom is muddy or rocky and to locate likely fish-holding structure.

Generally a bottom machince looks down into the water column and tells you what is below, however today a number of units can also scan forward or out to the side.

A small standalone fish finder with a screen measuring near 4-inches on the diagonal might start as low as $100. Prices go up from there. As you increase display screen size and get more sophisticated electronics coupled to a larger more capable transducer expect to spend more dollars.

Here at Marine Electronics Reviews we’ll be sticking to reporting on depth finders designed for recreational boaters and fishermen.