[milan72]

Hi all,

The viking predator wasn't available for a test paddle this weekend but I think that I will take a leap of faith and order one anyway as it is the best fitting yak for my height and put some trust in the reviews of our esteemed members that have experience with this yak.

Anyway, onto business. I am looking at a fishfinder for my new yak to come. From my research I have located what I believe to be the best value for money. The Eagle (apparently same as or similar to Lowrance) Fishmark 320. For specs see

http://www.eaglegps.com/Products/Sonar/fishmark320.htm

I am able to get this from the US for 260 Australian Dollars delivered. What are your thoughts on this?

Good sounder? Good Value? Is there any better suggestions?

Cheers,

Milan.

 

[andybear]

That looks really good.... but my opinion is unqualified :!:

I have seen Eagles in the BCF store, I don't know if there would be any advantage in buying from U.S. I'm sure Johny H will have his GST and more besides, whatever you do

Good luck.... and congrats on your new yak :lol:

Cheers Andybear :lol:

 

[Peril]

Good luck with the predator Milan. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I too have ordered an Eagle FF from the US. Major price difference. What you lose is warranty, so you just have to pray that it lasts the distance. Treat the transducer cable well to prevent corrosion and you should be right. I ordered the 250S/Map FF/GPS

 

[hoit]

I'm also keen on the CUDA 250 S/Map. What US sites did you guys buy yours from.

Regards
Grant

 

[Peril]

Grant, I got mine from Cabelas $199 + 20% surface mail or 40% air mail. Trouble with Cabelas is they have so many other things and I always end up buying a few extra

 

[kayak_fish]

Milan,
Mate I was looking at the same unit. It seems quite big though. I am tossing up between that and the colour unit. Im not sure if the power of the 320 is needed for shallow water kayak fishing. And those colour screens are meant to be tops...

 

[PeterJ]

Peril , How much did you save buy bringing it in that way :?:

 

[Peril]

Peter, I chose surface mail (this can be quite slow - already been a few weeks) so it is about $320 aussie all up, including transaction fees. Bias sell it for $489. Trade-off is the warranty. You have to ask, given that I'm paying retail for the shipping, why the difference between the US warranty and the Australian warranty is $170. Even if you take out GST, the difference is more than $120

 

[milan72]

I love the idea of the cuda GPS/FF combo and would have gone for it myself but i understand that the screen resolution is one of the important factors in having an easy to read and use effectively. This is the reason I went for the fishmark 320. The same reason applies to not chosing a colour screen model. I decided that high res grey scale was the way to go and I will get a hand held GPS later.

I bought my fishmark 320 from

https://klcsuppliers.com

for 162.50 USD + 25 USD for shipping. The best price I could find in Aus for was 395.00 AUD but granted I did not look very hard. So i guess I saved around 100 - 150. Peril is right about the warranty, and that is something definately to consider before buying.

It must be coming airmail as I was quoted 6-8 working days for delivery.

They also sell the Eagle Cuda 250 for 199.00 USD. I would imagine that the same shipping charge and delivery time is applicable. Check them out.

Cheers,

Milan.

 

[JB]

Yeap Eagle is a nice brand, which is effectively Lowrance make and technology. If you compare them side by side, apart from a few minor spec's and the fact one's grey and one's black nothing is different. The transducer is the exact same one I think. Its a typical marketing plan, main brand being lowrance however need to have a "pricefighter" brand but its too costly to develop a separate line /technology -so they came up with a new brand and lets differentiate it more by making it grey. I don't know may folk who fully use all the extra functions on more expensive sounders so there you go easy decision - eagle it is.

It terms of size - for the yak position between the knees/feet the smaller units with higher pixels are the business. Larger ones sometimes get a kick and have more exposure to a wave coming over. In terms of sounders, once you have the number of pixels, colour actually does make a reasonable difference, especially on sea fishing. The size of a fishes swim bladder comes up as a different colour and so does different forms of structure. Provided your not in more than 50metres of water most colour sounders (provided you can read them right) can tell you whats a school of bait fish on the bottom vs a school of 50cm snappers . deaper water is where the higher quality (and price) sounders are at there best.

Check whether the sounder is waterproof, generally they leak around where the plug for the power or transducer attached - or the screen face. Like a dophines bum nice and tight connect is the way to go an loose connection is a no no.

If limited to price I would get a unit
- with smaller head
- but better pixel numbers
- grey scale (or equal)

If I had enough coin but not overly rich I would get
- a small head unit
- superior pixel numbers
- colour
- gps

If I had more money than I should have at I would get
- a lowrance combo unit, gps / ff
- more pixels than you could poke a stick at
- gps, colour = probably no more than 5" screen

Good luck - a sounder will improve your success a heap.

 

[milansek]

HI MILAN
I WENT FOR THE 320C THIS TIME . THE COLOUR MAKES IT SO MUCH BETTER FOR READING THE BOTTOM. ONECE YOU USED COLOUR YOU WILL ALLWAYS USE IT .
SEE YA MILAN S

 

[kayak_fish]

Milan,
Is the 320 a big unit? I am thinking it might be too big to mount on my swing. Any I am not sure which one to choose b/w that and the smaller colour unit (although the colour does have less pixels!?!?). Very difficult decision!!!

 

[milan72]

Hi Guys,

kayak_fish: the head unit size is 5.4" H x 6.9" W x 3.4" D (13.8 x 17.6 x 8.6 cm). I suppose it is a little larger than many other units like the garmin 120 etc, however as the unit will be mounted near the ankles I think the 5 inch screen will be handy. With the 320 * 320 px resolution I think it will make the unit much easier and enjoyable to use.

The choice of colour or grey screen.... hmmmn... that is a tough one. As you can see from the posts in this thread there are a couple of advocates of coulour screens. JB, I think made some great points as to why a lower res colout could be favourable to a high res grey. I almost had to play rock, paper, siccsors with my right and left hands to decide :lol: . As this is my first yak I went with the 'cheaper' and higer res grey screen FF.

You are right about the power maybe being a bit of over kill but it doesn't hurt to have more rather than less. Maybe I will find myself fishing in deeper waters (and hopefully not deep in a brown viscous substance ) in the future, so then it will be useful to have tha bit of extra power. BTW it also has 60 degree cone which is good for shallower waters.

Thanks for all your responses and keep them coming .

Cheers,

Milan.

 

[kayak_fish]

Yeah the 320c sounds good. I am thinking that the colour will make up for its lack of pixels compared to the 380 Fishmark. It is a hard choice. Im not sure if I have room on the Swing for the wider base of the fishmark either. The more I think about this the harder this decision becomes!!! :shock:

 

[dooyor]

hi guys i have a cuda and as long as you dont get one off them you should be ok. shows fish when there is none. its only good for a sinker :x will be geting a new sounder soon. milan were are you geting your yak from.
seeya tommy

 

[Dodge]

shows fish when there is none. its only good for a sinker :x will be geting a new sounder soon.

Cuda showing fish where there are none sounds like your Fish ID may be on in the menu list Tommy.
Have you tried turning that off and just using the arches as described in the manual, that elimininates the false fish.
That may not be your solution, but many are using the Cuda [Eagle] with success and no problems in operation

 

[simond11]

Hi MIlan72
Have you looked at this one?

http://www.eaglegps.com/Products/Sonar/ ... y245DS.htm

It has dual frequency, and from my limited understanding, this is a good feature if you want to fish both freshwater and saltwater. The more powerful frequency allows it to get better readings through the increased salinity in the water. That's what I read, anyhow.
Also its size might be better for the kayak, as it's narrower.
Just a thought

Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15

 

[dooyor]

hi dodge
i think i just got a bad one . i use archers but still no good . it was given to me .
tommy