Fishfinders are a fishermans best friend, allowing you to find fish as well as the location they hide all on an easy to read screen. Whether you’re fishing in freshwater or saltwater, fishfinders are an essential tool to seeing what is happening below the water.
In 1948 (the same year Smye-Rumsby started!), a device for detecting fish underwater was developed in Nagasaki, Japan. Kiyotaka and Kiyokata, the Furuno brothers, owned a small marine electrical company in a small port in Japan.
It was a well-known fact that a sound wave reflects when it hits against a bubble, what Kiyotaka instantly thought was that it can be used for detecting bubbles in order to find fish. A conversation with experienced fishermen had become an important trigger for developing fish finders.
A fish finder provides underwater information by transmitting ultrasonic waves into the sea and receiving its reflection. Part of sonic or ultrasonic waves reflects back to the source when they hit an object – fish schools, seabeds etc. A fish finder uses this ultrasonic reflection characteristic and displays the readings on a screen.
Fishfinders are a fishermans best friend, allowing you to find fish as well as the location they hide all on an easy to read screen. Whether you’re fishing in freshwater or saltwater, fishfinders are an essential tool to seeing what is happening below the water.
A fish finder consists of two parts: the main unit (with a screen) and the transducer. The main unit should be located where it can be easily accessed and viewed, ideally where you’ll be fishing. The transducer should be mounted on the boat’s bottom either through-hull or in-hull installation – this will depend on the type of transducer that comes with the fishfinder.
A poorly mounted transducer may result in failure in capturing reflected waves or other serious defects, giving you inaccurate readings. If you’re not sure on how to mount your transducer, feel free to email us marine@smye-rumsby.co.uk and our engineers can advise on the best course of action.
Now, let’s get onto the top fishfinders you can get for under £400!
Best Overall Fishfinder – Lowrance Hook Reveal 5 – from £299.99
The most popular overall fishfinder in our range is the HOOK Reveal 5. Making fishing easier by delivering powerful performance with proven fish-finding tools, the Hook Reveal features Autotuning Sonar, DownScan Imaging™, improved deep water performance and now FishReveal™. All of this helps to make fish easier to see by combining the benefits of Lowrance CHIRP sonar and DownScan Imaging™ on one screen.
You also have the option of using this as a chartplotter too with a microSD card slot. Whether you’re fishing a local spot or unfamiliar water, find the best fishing areas with detailed C-Map charts or map uncharted water – in real-time – with Genesis Live. Finally, you can customise your display for your preferred views, including mapping, CHIRP sonar SideScan and DownScan Imaging.
This is also available in 7″ and 9″ versions.
Lowest Cost – Lowrance Hook2 Fishfinder 4X With GPS – £124.99
One of the most popular low budget fishfinders is the Hook2 4x, offering simple menus, easy access to key functions and Autotuning sonar.
Powered by proven Lowrance® performance, HOOK2 4x features wide-angle, Broadband sonar coverage, plus a simple and accurate GPS Plotter. You will be free to focus on fishing with Autotuning sonar, a new feature that actively adjusts sonar settings as fishing conditions change.
Just plug it in and fish, it’s that easy.
Perfect for kayaks and boats with limited console space, the compact HOOK² 4x Bullet features proven Broadband Sounder™ and is available with a basic GPS plotter or as a sonar-only model.
Best Mid-Range – Garmin Striker Vivid 5cv Fishfinder & GT20-TM Transducer – £289.95
See fish and structure in maximum detail when you pick your display colour, your location and your sonar for your day on the water with the STRIKER Vivid 5cv fishfinder with GT20-TM transducer. As a mid-range fishfinder, this packs a lot of punch for a pretty low cost.
Now, there are 7 new vivid colour options to see fish and structure in maximum contrast and clarity on this 5″ fishfinder allowing you to personalise your display to suit your taste. You also get Garmin CHIRP traditional sonar and CHIRP ClearVü scanning sonar, CHIRP sonar sweeps a continuous range of frequencies in a single transmission. A continuous sweep of frequencies provides you with a much wider range of information to create a clearer high-resolution image.
This is now available as a bundle (pictured) with a rechargeable battery, smart charger, a rugged bag and Railblaza Kayak / Dinghy Transducer Arm for an additional cost.
Best Chartplotter Fishfinder – Simrad Cruise 5 – from £359.99
A chartplotter first, and fishfinder second, the Cruise 5 is a great contender if you’re only casually fishing. Free from complicated fishing-specific sonar and networking features, with Simrad Cruise you won’t need to master complex electronics – simply turn on your display and go.
Pre-loaded with a worldwide base map, the display is bright and viewable in sunlight and comes with a mounting bracket and transducer. The included CHIRP Sonar transducer provides excellent automatic depth tracking for worry-free operation without the need for fine tuning or pre-programming.
Installation is easy, requiring only a power and sonar cable – eliminating the hassles of networking multiple modules and pulling miles of cable.
Also in 7″ and 9″ versions, Simrad Cruise can be dash-mounted or bracket-mounted to fit any boat’s helm station.
So there we have it, the best fishfinders available under £400. Before purchasing, we recommend having a look through all options available and finding one most suitable to your needs.
