We might earn income from the merchandise out there on this web page and take part in affiliate applications. Be taught extra ›
For over 60 years, Lowrance fish finders have led the best way in fishing electronics. From the primary transistor sonar able to displaying particular person fish to the primary DownScan sonar to supply high-resolution pictures, the fishing model has grown into the biggest producer of marine electronics. As we speak, Lowrance affords fish finders at each degree for each kind of fishing and each price range. We’ve rounded up among the finest Lowrance fish finders for offshore, inshore, freshwater, and kayak fishing.
The Finest Lowrance Fish Finders
Specs
- Display Dimension: 7 inches
- Sidescan Appropriate: Sure
- DownScan Appropriate: Sure
Professionals
- Chirp sonar
- Sidescan imaging
- Downscan imaging
Cons
The Lowrance HDS 12 dwell lively goal affords conventional, Chirp, DownScan, SideScan, and ActiveTarget dwell sonar in a single package deal. It additionally consists of detailed charts with one-foot contours. It’s powered by a Quad-Core processor for seamless transitions between options or operating a number of features on one display screen. The HDS 12 is housed in an easy-to-view, flush mount contact display screen with high-definition coloration combos. It comes with all of the options devoted anglers want and wish to have profitable days on the water.
Specs
- Display Dimension: 7 or 9 inches
- Sidescan Appropriate: Sure
- DownScan Appropriate: Sure
Professionals
- Chirp sonar
- Sidescan imaging
- Downscan imaging
Cons
Lowrance took the features and capabilities of its finest fish finder and GPS and put them in a inexpensive housing to create the very best cut price fish finder. Beginning with their sonar and navigation, the Lowrance Elite 9 FS can do something that the costlier fashions can do. The show will be networked to different electronics and managed with a smartphone for final accessibility. It has Energetic Imaging and ActivetTarget, so you’ll be able to see high-res pictures of fish, construction, and the contour of the underside. It is available in two display screen sizes—9-inch and 7-inch—that each embrace touchscreen capabilities.
Specs
- Display Dimension: 9 inches
- Sidescan Appropriate: No
- DownScan Appropriate: No
Professionals
- FishReveal Expertise
- Chirp sonar
- Inland maps
Cons
The Hook Reveal 9 homes Lowrance’s finest fish finder and GPS know-how in a inexpensive mannequin that’s nonetheless simple to make use of. It features a brilliant show with superior goal separation, and the unbelievable element qualifies the Hook Reveal 9 to be used on open boats like kayaks. The 9-inch display screen helps kayak anglers have good visibility, even in daylight, of what’s going on beneath the boat. The buttons and touchscreen functionality make it simple to navigate and management the interface. With restricted mobility on a kayak, anglers need their fish finder to be seen irrespective of the situations and easy to make use of. The Hook Reveal 9 is each of these issues, making it certainly one of our favourite fish finders for kayaks.
Specs
- Display Dimension: 4.3 inches
- Sidescan Appropriate: No
- DownScan Appropriate: No
Professionals
- Price range pleasant
- Supplied in a wide range of fashions
- Vast sonar
Cons
- Doesn’t have high-end options
The Lowrance Hook2 4X is sufficiently small to slot in a kayak, canoe, or skiff with large options for a sub $100 fish finder. A high-powered transducer produces a wider cone for extra protection and better element. The colour display screen makes it simpler to see fish and construction from a distance in direct daylight. It’s simple to mount on any boat and the right possibility for somebody seeking to for his or her first fish finder.
How We Examined Lowrance Fish Finders
My first fish finder was a Lowrance Fish-Lo-Okay-Tor, often called the little inexperienced field. The small steel field was superb. Open the fish finder case, and arrange the show. Stick the transducer to the transom of my little skiff, and like magic, the flasher would mild up, displaying the underside and fish swimming beneath the boat.
As we speak, Lowrance fish finders use high-powered sonar and GPS with common networking to regulate a whole digital system. To remain forward of the sport, Lowrance has added top-of-the-line options to extra fashions at a lower cost. Whether or not you select the top-of-the-line Lowrance fish finder or go along with the budget-conscious fashions, you get the innovation and know-how of one of many greatest marine electronics firms.
When figuring out our picks for the very best Lowrance fish finders, we thought-about elements like vessel kind, type of fishing, options, price range, and extra. Every choice was based mostly on hands-on testing, analysis, and suggestions from us and fellow {industry} professionals who use and belief Lowrance fishing electronics. Every choice was made to excel in a selected class, whether or not for fishing kayaks or for superior navigation.
Find out how to Select a Fish Finder
Options and Controls
What do you completely must have your model of success on the water? Event anglers may go for fashions with extra capabilities and options than somebody simply fishing for enjoyable who needs easy navigation and contour show on their unit.
Display Dimension and Setup
How large of a show do you want? There’s no motive to get an even bigger display screen dimension if it received’t present helpful options to your fishing type. Make sure to select a unit that matches your boat and that’s simple to put in or arrange.
Worth
The beauty of the very best fish finder and GPS is that essentially the most superior know-how is now out there at a lower cost. In lots of instances, the options and features of a higher-price fish finder are current in a inexpensive mannequin that’s solely lacking a number of bells and whistles. When on the lookout for the very best fish finder and GPS, contemplate a mannequin with options you’ll use typically. In lots of instances, superior instruments and controls will be sacrificed for an important fish finder that may do all the things you want and extra.
Some producers create a lower-price mannequin with superior options in inexpensive housing. As a substitute of a flush-mount and touchscreen show, a inexpensive mannequin might have a bigger housing with fewer colours or controls. For the typical angler, these options is not going to be missed. Contemplate the next earlier than shopping for your subsequent fish finder.
Kayak Fish Finders
Trendy fishing kayaks are designed to accommodate bigger transducers used with side-view and down-view sonar. So, paddle anglers can select a fish finder with essentially the most superior options that may match seamlessly into their small boat. To make use of dwell view sonar on a kayak, anglers mount the transducer on a pole to show the sonar sign 360 levels.
Most necessary is a tricky show with glorious imagery. A fish finder takes loads of abuse in a kayak. The show is consistently uncovered to direct daylight and lined in salt and slime, so it have to be simple to learn within the worst situations. Simply because a kayak is small and sluggish doesn’t imply the angler has to surrender essentially the most superior fish finder and navigation instruments. On the subject of electronics, kayak anglers can have their cake and eat it too.
FAQs
Q: Which Lowrance fish finder is finest?
With so many nice choices, selecting what Lowrance fish finder is finest isn’t simple. Lowrance household is available in 4 strains: HDS Dwell, Elite FS, Hook Reveal, and Hook2. HDS Dwell is a top-of-the-line mannequin with each characteristic and performance out there. The Elite FS is inexpensive, however hardly a step down with many of the options out there within the HDS with out a flat display screen. The Hook Reveal and Hook2 are nice selections for small boats and kayaks. The Hook Reveal is among the highest-resolution fish finders with detailed navigation charts. Lastly, the Hook2 homes a coloration fish finder out there with a GPS plotter. Lowrance affords industry-leading options to suit any angler’s wants, from the costliest mannequin to the least costly.
Q: What ought to I search for when shopping for a fish finder?
When shopping for a fishing finder, search for the options you want for the fishing you do. Event anglers and guides search for each bell and whistle to offer them an edge on the fish. If you happen to plan on together with radar and communications within the electronics package deal, select a fish finder that enables networking. Most fish finders include a GPS.
For superior navigation and fish searching, select a navigation system with detailed charts, present, and tide data. For inshore and small-boat anglers, an important fish finder and highly effective GPS with out the superior management options will save a couple of bucks with out sacrificing necessary capabilities. One in every of our favourite fish finders makes use of a smartphone app and moveable transducer to offer shore anglers and small boaters the facility of coloration show and primary GPS with prompt entry to a neighborhood of different anglers.
Q: How do you employ Lowrance fish finders?
Lowrance fish finders are simple to make use of. From essentially the most superior mannequin to the only, the controls are intuitive and make sense. The perfect Lowrance fish finders use a contact display screen and buttons to regulate options. For small boaters and kayakers, a contact display screen shouldn’t be as robust and costlier. Whereas the fish finder and GPS settings are infinitely adjustable, auto-tuning sonar finds the best settings with out the angler touching a button.
For the reason that first fish finders hit the water, Lowrance has been main the best way in serving to anglers discover extra fish. As we speak, Lowrance fish finders use essentially the most superior know-how within the hardest, easiest-to-use package deal. Lowrance affords the newest fish finder know-how at any value, from down-view to side-view and even live-view sonar. Their fish finders have grow to be a precious device for any kind of fishing with a strong and correct GPS with detailed navigation charts. Even the least costly and easiest Lowrance fashions are dependable and highly effective sufficient to offer nice sonar and GPS. No matter your fish finder and navigation wants are, Lowrance has you lined at any value.
Why Belief Us
For greater than 125 years, Discipline & Stream has been offering readers with sincere and genuine protection of outside gear. Our writers and editors eat, sleep, and breathe the outside, and that keenness comes via in our product evaluations. You may depend on F&S to maintain you updated on the very best new gear. And once we write a couple of product—whether or not it’s a bass lure or a backpack—we cowl the great and the dangerous, so you realize precisely what to anticipate earlier than you resolve to make a purchase order.
