Fish Finder Sonar
- Thread starter StingRob
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Hi
One of the better less expensive sonars/fishfinders to purchase is the wreckfinder by Echo pilot with a 150m range ahead 75m range down and 150 3D sidescan display with GPS. this unit sells for around $1500 Canadian. If you have the cash you can pick up several midrange Canadian/US made tow behind sonars for around $6000 to $9000, from Shark Marine, I beleave Tom at NT uses one and he would be the better person to ask. I currently use the Fishers SSS-100K/600K dual frequency side scan sonar for work.
http://www.sharkmarine.com/
Good Luck
One of the better less expensive sonars/fishfinders to purchase is the wreckfinder by Echo pilot with a 150m range ahead 75m range down and 150 3D sidescan display with GPS. this unit sells for around $1500 Canadian. If you have the cash you can pick up several midrange Canadian/US made tow behind sonars for around $6000 to $9000, from Shark Marine, I beleave Tom at NT uses one and he would be the better person to ask. I currently use the Fishers SSS-100K/600K dual frequency side scan sonar for work.
http://www.sharkmarine.com/
Good Luck
The one you mentioned is one of the more expensive units, I was checking the Matrix 37 made by http://www.humminbird.com/products.asp?ID=379.
A friend of mine has one and he is using it for the purpose it was built... fishing but... the results I've seen are pretty good for detecting a shallow water structure.
Advantage... price is about $700 CDN and this will include GPS unit and the QuadraBeam transducer which is not bad. It also can be used without having a large boat and no tow cable is required, maybe an inflatable will do the job??
Disadvantage big difference in price, depth, and range...
StingRob
A friend of mine has one and he is using it for the purpose it was built... fishing but... the results I've seen are pretty good for detecting a shallow water structure.
Advantage... price is about $700 CDN and this will include GPS unit and the QuadraBeam transducer which is not bad. It also can be used without having a large boat and no tow cable is required, maybe an inflatable will do the job??
Disadvantage big difference in price, depth, and range...
StingRob
Mr Adams:
Groundhog246
Contributor
You can certainly see them on a fishfinder when you pass over them. Looking at the Hummingbird specs, 90 degree beam, in 100 feet of water, you'd be seeing about 150 feet of bottom (75 each side of the boat), so it's take a lot of passes to cover much ground. The shallower the water, the narrower the section viewed. At 50 feet, about a 75 foot wide path.
Don't forget the "legalities" of wreck hunting. You need a permit to actively seek wrecks.
Don't forget the "legalities" of wreck hunting. You need a permit to actively seek wrecks.
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You only need a permit to actively seek a wreck, ie "Rainbow Warrior" but if you just looking to see what is on the bottom it's concidered OK.
Sidescan gives you about 400feet a side on some models, Magnitometers give you 800 feet a side and a good old fish finder gives you the width of your boat.
Sidescan gives you about 400feet a side on some models, Magnitometers give you 800 feet a side and a good old fish finder gives you the width of your boat.
Unless you know the wreck is there it will be difficult to actually find one just using a good quality regular fishfinder, as you pass over a known wreck it will show up on the fishfinder but so will every pile of rocks and every clump of seaweed.It can be hard to distinguish between a wreck and other stuff on the bottom. Like Tom says you need to have top of the line sidescan sonar to actually find a new wreck.
divedude
Guest
Almost all the wrecks in Kingston were found long before fancya$$ special side scan came into vogue.simcoediver:
I have found them with a $149 fish finder
I use a eagle sonar with GPS now and I bet I know more wrecks than TomR.......................
Of course I've been at it a lot longer...........
PS. Tom next time you stop at the boat remember to ask and I'll get you the numbers on that wreck we talked about. I keep forgetting to write them down.
Not that I have a boat or a sonar 
) but just in case I win 6/49 I thought is good to know what to look for. I'm sure you guys raked the bottom for most lakes
some used old equipment and some new. I'm sure a fancy side-sonar will be top notch in a wreck search
well, thank you all for the info.
StingRob
) but just in case I win 6/49 I thought is good to know what to look for. I'm sure you guys raked the bottom for most lakes
some used old equipment and some new. I'm sure a fancy side-sonar will be top notch in a wreck search
well, thank you all for the info.StingRob
Limestone Diver
Guest
While I am no expert on finding new shipwrecks-- I have assisted in puting up the Kingston moorings for 10 years. To relocate these wrecks we have traditionally used a GPS/ Loran- sightings and fishfinders.
Our charter boat is equipped with a lowrance graph/ paper plotter using a wide and narrow beam tranducer mounted at the stern. We also have a Interphase fwd looking sonar mounted center line on the bow.(phased array - seascout)- it works like an underwater radar. As long as the lake is calm it does a marvelous job at scanning the lake bed infront of the boat. Using it in tandem with the chart plotter we can "run over" the hits and record them. If your looking to add toys to the 6-49 boat I would put on a "Interphase" unit as it is a cool toy and you don't have deploy it to use it.
Cliff
Our charter boat is equipped with a lowrance graph/ paper plotter using a wide and narrow beam tranducer mounted at the stern. We also have a Interphase fwd looking sonar mounted center line on the bow.(phased array - seascout)- it works like an underwater radar. As long as the lake is calm it does a marvelous job at scanning the lake bed infront of the boat. Using it in tandem with the chart plotter we can "run over" the hits and record them. If your looking to add toys to the 6-49 boat I would put on a "Interphase" unit as it is a cool toy and you don't have deploy it to use it.
Cliff
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