Humminbird 325

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 325 model is one of the most basic fish finders. It focuses specially on the function of finding fish, without having to many other capabilities. And when it comes to that it really does its job, while the price is also reasonable.

The head unit of this Hummingbird fish finder is equipped with a 4-inch diagonal, monochrome screen, 16 level grayscale, 320 x 240 pixel resolution. Although it’s black and white, it still provides you with a great view of what’s under the boat, pointing out fish, structures, sunken trees, stumps, pits or rocks, measuring depth, your navigating speed and the water temperature.

The Hummingbird fish finder 325 does not have any navigational features, like GPS, chartplotting or trackplotting, and cannot be equipped with a Navionics or LakeMaster SD card. However, since it focuses on finding fish, for that reason it won’t let you down. It does have a DualBeam sonar which can operate on two frequencies:

- 83 kHz – emitting a 60° sonic beam cone under the boat, which needless to say, covers a wider volume of water, but in less detail.
- 200 kHz – emitting a 20° sonic beam cone, which will give you a better image but in a more concentrated are of water under the boat.

Since the Hummingbird Fish Finder 325 has a power output up to 2400 PTP, this makes it quite reliable in waters up to 1000 feet deep. However, don’t forget that a depth finder’s penetration is affected by watertemperature, salinity and frequency, along with the power output.

Like most of the Hummingbird Fish Finders, the 325 model comes with a one year warranty.

Most of the Hummingbird Fish Finders have the Fish ID option and Fish ID Alarm which are very useful options to use. A fish finder usually displays fish as arches or fish icons, depending on the view you have selected. That, of course, if your Hummingbird fish finder has both modes. Some of the fish finders in the 100 and 300 series only display fish as fish symbols on the screen.

The size of a symbol displayed on the screen indicates the intensity of the sonar return. Also, as the fish will be displayed as arches, the bait fish appear as clouds.

Fish Arches on the Humminbird 798ci SI Combo

In case you have a Hummingbird fish finder from the 500+ series, with a full color display, and a Dual BeaPlus sonar, there are a few things that you should understand about the Fish ID option.

Once you activate the Fish ID, the fish caught by the 200 kHz sonar beam will appear in orange, in three different sizes, representing the intensity of the sonar return. The returns categorized as fish which are caught by the 83 kHz sonar will appear in blue, also in three sizes, depending how big they are. Blue or orange, each fish symbol will have its depth displayed above it.

The Fish ID Alarm obviously sounds when the fish finders detects a fish, or when the sonar sends a return which is interpreted as a fish. You must understand that not exactly every arch or fish symbol on your screen is really a fish. Sometimes it can be just a sunken wooden log, or the branch of a sunken tree.

Fish ID+

On most Hummingbird fish finders you can set up the alarm to sound for different sizes of fish. For example, on a Hummingbird Fish Finder 798ci HD SI Combo, you can set up the alarm to warn you if you pass above large, medium and large, all fish and, of course, there’s the “OFF” mode.

Some anglers might find the Fish ID Alarm pretty annoying and rely only on the images on the screen.

Another aspect to mention here is that the more advanced fish finders from Humminbird also have a Fish ID Sensitivity option. So, you can adjust the sensitivity to allow the weaker returns of the sonar to be interpreted and displayed as fish.

This option may be useful to locate smaller species of fish, or bait fish.

Lastly, to adjust the sensitivity, to set the alarm for certain fish or to turn on or off the Fish ID option you will have to use the LEFT or Right cursor after you have selected the corresponding menu.

Fishin' Buddy 140c

The Hummingbird Fish Finder Fishin’ Buddy 140c is a color portable unit, designed for small boats. Does not have GPS or navigational features, but it makes quite a nice tool for tracking fish.

It has a 3.5-inch display 256 color TFT, 320 x 240 pixel resolution. Although it does not have Side Imaging and Down Imaging, the screen shows great detail and you will be able to determine correctly where the fish are. Plus, you’ll always know the depth and water temperature.

The transducer is mounted at the end of an extendable pole, from 24-inch to 40-inch long. Therefore, even if you’re in a bigger boat, you’ll be able to reach the water with this device and use the Fishin’ Buddy 140c with no problem.

The sonar of the Hummingbird Fish Finder Fishin’ Buddy 140c has two operating modes, releasing a down beam and a side beam. The down beam is 34° wide, and provides a focused view of the bottom, showing the fish that come directly under the transducer. The side beam is narrower —> 10°, but provides less condensed returns. However, the side scan feature is quite great because you’ll know about where to cast, and you will know for sure that the fish where the SideFinding beam has spotted them.

This fish finder has a power output of up to 1000 Watts PTP, which makes it quite reliable for scanning waters up to 240 feet deep.

The Hummingbird Fish Finder Fishin’ Buddy 140c really is a flexible unit, you don’t have to install any wiring. You just attach it to your boat with its ergonomic clamp mount.

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Fishin' Buddy 120

A bit more advanced and a few bucks more expensive than the Fishin’ Buddy 110, the Hummingbird Fish Finder Fishin’ Buddy 120 is also a low cost fish and depth finder, pretty useful to track fish.

The head unit of the Hummingbird Fish Finder Fishin’ Buddy 120 has a display a bit better than the 110 model, 8 level grayscale, which offer better clarity, with 240 x 160 pixel resolution. The dimension of the screen is the same though, 4-inch diagonal.

This fish finder has a Single Beam sonar, but it can be adjusted for a down scan or side scan. The side scan sonar has a beam of 10° and the down scan a beam of 34°, but pretty accurate. The side scan is pretty cool because it actually lets you know where to cast. Down scan is quite reliable up to 240 feet depths and side scan up to 120 feet.

The transducer is mounted at the end of a 24-inch pole, which comes with a clamp mount which can be used to fix the fish finder on basically any small boat, kayac or float tube. However, make sure you’re not sailing at a high speed, it might fall off. Plus, the returns of this Hummingbird fish finder are more accurate on lower speeds.

Although this fish finder doesn’t have GPS or any other navigational possibilities, offers great results in tracking fish. You will get an idea of their dimentions, the depth they’re swimming at, and of course, their location. Also, you will be able to make a good idea on how the bottom looks like, the water depth and temperature.

All in all, the Hummingbird Fish Finder Fishin’ Buddy 120 is a model designed for small boats, portable, focused on finding fish, and pretty much affordable.