Hummingbird Fish Finder Reviews

Hummingbird Fish Finder 586c HD Review

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:14:32 +0000

586c HD

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 586c HD is one of the best full color fish finder models that you can get, without any GPS, SI or DI features. This being said, obviously the price for it becomes quite acceptable. Even without these options, this fish finder is a very reliable device for tracking fish, observing the contour and structure of the bottom and underwater environment.

Needless to say, with the Humminbird 586c HD you will benefit from all the other fish finding basic options that an angler needs, like measuring depth, water temperature, boat speed, and obtain an estimate of the depth the fish are swimming at.

This fish finder has, as its name suggests it, a brilliant full color, high-definition display, with a 640V x 480H pixel resolution. The diagonal of the display is a bit smaller compared to most of the other fish finders in the 500 series. It’s only 4.5″ instead of 5″ but that is hardly an impediment for any angler to interpret what’s under the boat.

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 586c HD has Dual Beam Plus sonar, meaning that you can scan the volume of water under your boat in two major modes: at 200 kHz, for a more condensed view obtained by a sonic beam of 20°, and at 83 kHz, obtaining a wider view caught by a 60° sonar beam. Since it’s a Dual Beam Plus, you can have both views in split screen. It has a PTP Power Output of 2400 watts.

The Humminbird 586c HD offers great results in waters up to 1000 ft. deep. The sonar beam is sensitive enough to identify a jig down to 70 feet, and distinguish separate fish that are as close as 3 inches from one another. Even without any chartplotting or trackplotting features, this device does its fish tracking job excellently, allowing you to land as many big ones as possible.

Anyway, if you want to have a look at the best marine electronics from Humminbird, follow this link.

Hummingbird Fish Finder 570 Portable Review

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:00:18 +0000

570 Portable

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 570 Portable is quite a basic fish finder, but it’s very useful for anglers that can’t use their boat for any fishing trip.

This Humminbird fish finder doesn’t have any fancy GPS features, nor it has Down Imaging and Side Imaging. However, is quite a reliable tool for tracking fish, providing any angler with accurate returns about the bottom, fish, sunken trees, everything that passes under the boat, measuring depth and water temperature. All in all this tool will tell you about anything that you should know about the underwater environment, to improve your angling experience.

It’s equipped with a grayscale 12 level screen, 5-inch diagonal, 640V x 320H high pixel resolution. It has a Dual Beam sonar, which allows you to filter your view from a 20° more accurate beam, to a wider view, from a 60° sonar beam. Since it’s not a Dual Beam Plus sonar, unfortunately you won’t be able to observe both the 20° and 60° views in split screen. But anyway, you will be able to see where the fish are, especially if you use the fish ID option. Although this fish finder is designed to be functional for waters up to 800 ft. deep, I wouldn’t recommend it for deep water fishing. To be sure you will benefit from great results in deep waters, one of the superior Hummingbird Fish Finders is more indicated, like the 898c SI Combo, or the 998c SI Combo.

In general, you should know that the accuracy of your fish finder’s returns, depends on the water and weather conditions, boat speed and the bottom hardness.

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 570 Portable has a PTP power output of 2000 Watts. It comes along with an AGM battery that lasts for quite a few fishing trips, and its charger of course. However, even if the battery will last for quite a long while, it’s a good idea to recharge it before any fishing expedition. The price of this Humminbird fish finder also includes a portable case, a very useful accessory for a portable device like this model.

Hummingbird Fish Finder 570 DI Portable Review

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:15:44 +0000

570 DI Portable

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 570 DI Portable, is quite a flexible, proficient and afforadble unit for what it can do. Although it doesn’t feature any GPS or chartplotting options, it’s a great device for finding fish, measuring depth, speed and water temperature.

Equipped with a 12 level grayscale display, 5″ diagonal, 640V x 320H pixel resolution, this unit will provide you with an excellent view of what’s underneath the boat. Even if it’s black and white, the images in Down Imaging are pretty clear and accurate. You will understand immediately where the fish are in relation to the boat, and make a good idea where to throw your lines. Plus, you can observe the bottom and the underwater environment in split screen, observing both the Switchfire and Down Imaging returns on your screen.

The sonar capability is 800/455 kHz for the Down Imaging option, and 455/200 kHz for the normal down beam sonar. In other words you can operate your Humminbird 570 DI Portable at two frequencies for Down Imaging: at 455 kHz to cover a wider area, with a 75° beam, or at 800 kHz, for a more accurate return caught by a 45° beam. The transducer of the 570 DI portable also uses two conical beams for 2D traditional imaging. With the 200 kHz you will obtain a view in a 25° beam and with the 455 kHz, a more focused image in a 16° beam.

This Humminbird unit has a 4000 Watts power PTP power output. It’s designed to be reliable for depths up to 500 feet in normal imaging. As when it comes to Down Imaging, you will benefit from reliable returns in waters up to 250 ft. deep.

The package contains a portable case and an AGM battery with its charger.

All in all, this is one of the best portable fish finders from Humminbird. It’s great to have especially if you’re not using your own boat on every fishing trip. You can take it along and install it quickly on your friend’s boat or on a rental boat, without drilling holes in it. The only downside about it is that sometimes the screen might be difficult to read in direct sunlight. In a case like this you should use something to create a bit of shade for the screen.

Hummingbird Fish Finder 561 Review

Sat, 05 May 2012 17:18:38 +0000

561

Also an affordable unit, the Hummingbird Fish Finder 561 will provide you with the necessary package of oprions for tracking fish. Somewhat similar to the Hummingbird Fish Finder 718 unit, this unit also has a 5-inch diagonal display, with a 320V x 320H pixel resolution, in 12 level grayscale. Even if it’s black and white, you will get pretty accurate returns and make a clear idea of the underwater environment. You will be able to pinpoint the fish correctly and know exactly where to place the bait and throw your lines.

Although it’s a pretty much basic fish finder, the Humminbird 561 does have a DualBeam Plus sonar. This provides you with extra view adjustment options. You can obtain a much accurate but narrower view with the 20° sonar beam, or a wider view with the 60° sonar beam. Or, observe what’s under your boat in both views simultaneously, in split screen. It’s designed to offer accurate results for waters up to 800 ft. deep. However, I would recommend this unit only for fishing in shallow waters, up to 200 ft.

The Hummingbird Fish Finder 561 does not have any GPS options, nor does it have trackplotting or chartplotting. However, it’s a great unit for the recreational fisherman, a great and cheap accessory for tracking fish.

Like most Hummingbird Fish Finders, the Humminbird 561 comes with a one year warranty.

Hummingbird Fish Finder 718 Review

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:07:45 +0000

718

For those that want an affordable fish finder, the Hummingbird Fish Finder 718 can be a great choice. Although it doesn’t have a full color screen, it has quite a few options that will fulfill its role of the instrument for finding fish on your boat.

The Humminbird 718 head unit features a 16 grayscale, high resolution screen, 320V x 320H. The display is 5 inches in diagonal, like most of the fish finders in the 700 series.

It’s equipped with a DualBeam Plus sonar, meaning that you can adjust the view, and observe in split-screen, both the 20° and the 60° returns. Although it is said that this unit will provide accurate returns even if used for fishing in waters up to 1000 ft. deep, I wouldn’t recommend this unit for fishing in deep waters. A few users have complained online about it’s accuracy for deep water fishing. They reported on having accurate results just for waters up to 200 ft. deep.

This unit has a 2400 Watts PTP output.

The Hummingbird fish finder 718 is also GPS and trackplotting compatible. Keep in mind that you’ll have to purchase an additional antenna, to activate the GPS functions. Anyway, don’t expect this grayscale unit to display charts and to become a super marine GPS device. It is not compatible with the Navionics or Lakemaster charts, nor it has any Humminbird mapping package. Your route will be shown on your screen as a black line on a grid, without pointing out the shoreline. However, it’s useful to save waypoints, routes, speed and exact location of your boat. You can store up to 750 waypoints and 10 tracks up to 2,000 points each.

Although this unit doesn’t excel with the GPS features, it’s a great unit for finding fish. It’s really easy to use and affordable, and for a recreational angler or boater it would make a good choice.

Sturgeon Fishing Tips

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:20:34 +0000

If you’re an angler and you haven’t tried sturgeon fishing by now, you should know that fishing for sturgeon is quite an experience. Bringing one of these giant, prehistoric-looking creatures into your boat is an adventure that any angler will not forget.

However, if you’re going sturgeon fishing for the first time, you should know a couple of aspects about sturgeon fishing. In this post, I’m going to put into view a few tips about fishing for sturgeon.

1. The first tip that I’m going to put into view here, although a bit obvious, it’s really necessary. You must fish where the sturgeon are. I’m saying this because countless times I saw anglers looking for sturgeon where they thought they were supposed to be, yet, those waters were really sturgeon free. Sturgeon move a lot, and where you caught a few last month, there might be none at the moment you’re going to wet your lines next.

Best way to make sure there really are a few big ones in the waters you’re fishing in, is to use a fish finder. There are many brands out there, but I’m going to recommend you a Hummingbird fish finder. The 998c SI Combo model that I’ve been using has never let me down.

2. Needless to say, bait is another very important factor for catching sturgeon. For this matter, you should keep in mind that your bait must be fresh. And when I say “fresh”, this includes quite a few things.

First of all, the bait that has brought me great results for sturgeon fishing is anchovies and smelt. Now, to be considered “fresh” this bait must have its slime, its guts and quite an amount of blood, to attract sturgeon. Also, I’ve gotten great results using cow liver. However, in this case, you must change is pretty often, because as it’s losing its blood, the liver piece on your hook will become pretty much useless. In fact, to keep your bait fresh and attractive for sturgeon, you should change it really often, no matter what bait you’re using.

3. Regarding the hooks and lines, I must add here that, especially if you’re going to fish for sturgeon in salt water, it’s best to use anodized hooks. Anodized hooks remain sharp for a longer time, due to the extra protective layers, plus they are much more resistant to salt water. Also, don’t use extra large hooks, even if you’re going for big game sturgeon. They have a rather small mouth.

As for the lines, I usually use a 30 – 35 lb line, but make sure you have somewhat 200m of line on your reel. You might find it handy at some point.

An important aspect regarding your line is that sturgeons have the tendency of rolling in it. Since they’re covered with all those bony plates, they will wear out your line quickly. So, after every catch, check the last few feet of your line. If there are any abrasions on it, cut it off and retie.

I hope these tips help. Hook’em up!

Hummingbird 360 Imaging Technology – About

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:36:53 +0000

Humminbird 360 Imaging

Have you heard about the Hummingbird 360 Imaging? This has to be one of the greatest innovations brought to the Hummingbird Fish Finders so far.

This new type of sonar technology works similar to the Side Imaging, but instead of offering images only to the right and to the left of the boat, it provides the angler with a 360 degree image of what’s under the boat. The circular view that you benefit from with the Hummingbird 360 Imaging has a diameter of 300 feet. This means you will have a clear view of the underwater environment on a 150 feet radius, at any time.

Needless to say, you will have a much better overview of what’s underneath you than with any other Side Imaging Hummingbird fish finder. You will be able to see clearly, and with a much better accuracy, where the fish and balls of bait are, where to place your bait, or where to throw your lures, where are the sunken trees and bushes, humps or holes etc.

The Transducer Deployment System of the Hummingbird 360 Imaging Sonar is somewhat similar to the one used by the Hummingbird Fishin’ Buddy fish finders, however it’s much more advanced. It’s designed to be attached to the transom, the transducer is lowered into the water, below the outboard and bottom of the boat. This way, you will benefit from an unobstructed view.

To benefit from accurate returns, Hummingbird 360 Imaging is best used while stationary or for trolling speeds up to 7 mph.

The Hummingbird 360 Imaging technology is compatible with all the Side Imaging Hummingbird Fish Finders that have the Ethernet option. To be more specific these are: 1198c SI Combo, 998c SI Combo, 898c SI Combo. So, if you have one of these models, the 360 Imaging would be an awesome upgrade.

Anyway, this product hasn’t reached the market yet. The release is expected for the summer of 2012. The price will be a bit spicy though. The estimation for the price of this technology hover around $2000.

Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 180 Review

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 09:15:43 +0000

PiranhaMax 180

The Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 180 is also on the list of cheap Hummingbird Fish Finders. However, if it’s a low cost fish finder that doesn’t mean is less performant. Although it cannot be compared with the Hummingbird fish finders in the 800, 900 and 1100 series, as it doesn’t have an explosion of features, it still is an effective device for finding fish.

The Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 180 is equipped with a monochrome display, similar to the PiranhaMax 170, with 240 x 160 pixel resolution and a 4 inches diagonal.

However, it has a much better coverage of the underwater environment due to the TriBeam sonar. This sonar emits 3 sonic beams into the water, a precision 20° beam, directly under the transducer and two other 35° beams laterally, assuring a 90° coverage. Each one of the lateral beams is placed so the shallow edge of the beam starts at 45° down from the surface and extends to underneath the boat. Due to this sonar, the head unit of your PiranhaMax is able to distinguish if the fish below are on the left or right of your boat.

As I said, the PiranhaMax 180 is not one of the Hummingbird Fish Finders built for navigational purpose, but the fish finding capability is quite OK. The Fish ID feature will enable you to make an accurate idea of where the fish are, how big and what’s their depth, or how the bottom looks like. Also, it measures depth and temperature, crucial information for every fisherman.

This Hummingbird fish finder has a power output of 1600 Watts (peak-to-peak), which enables it to provide excellent and readable returns for depths up to 800 feet.

Lastly, like all the other Hummingbird fish finders, the PiranhaMax 180 comes with a one year warranty.

Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 170 Review

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:54 +0000

PiranhaMax 170

Similar to its other PiranhaMax monochrome brothers, the Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 170 is also a fishfinding oriented device, really cheap unit, with a price under $100.

The unit’s electronic head device, is similar to the PiranahMax 150 and 160, but this one has better wattage. It goes up to 1600 Watts (PTP) which gives it a better depth penetration. This unit is quite reliable for fishing in waters up 800 feet deep.

Also, this unit has a better screen resolution, 240 x 160 pixels, 8 level grayscale, which will offer a better image of the underwater environment and fish. Apart from this, the screen has the same 4-inch diagonal.

The Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 170 has Dual Beam sonar technology, allowing you to scan the water under your boat in two modes, with a sonic beam of 20° with concentrated but better results, and one of 60°, covering a wider area, but with less detail.

This unit does not have GPS, any mapping package, nor is compatible with any SD maps card. It’s strictly designed to find fish, measure depth and temperature. However, an experienced angler should be able to use the data provided by this fish finder with a lot of success, considerably increasing their chances to score a few big catches on each and every fishing trip.

In conclusion, the Hummingbird Fish Finder PiranhaMax 170 is a small but reliable fish finder when it comes to locate fish and provide you with quite important data about the environment you’re fishing in. It’s also a cheap model, so it won’t burn a hole into your bank account.

Hummingbird Fish Finders – TriBeam and QuadraBeam Sonars

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:35:21 +0000

Most Hummingbird Fish Finders have DualBeam Plus or DualBeam sonar technology, but there are models equipped with QuadraBeam and TriBeam sonars, there are fish finder models that can be equipped with these types of sonars.

In this post I’m going to explain how a QuadraBeam and TriBeam sonar works and what are the advantages of these types of sonar.

QuadraBeam Sonar

QuadraBeam Sonar

As its name suggests it, a QuadraBeam sonar uses four sonar beams working together to provide the angler with a better underwater scan.

The two main sonar beams at center are the ones that DualBeam sonar has. The 200 kHz / 20° focused on the bottom, which provides a narrower but better detail, and the 83 kHz / 60° sonar beam with a wider coverage, focused on locating fish that pass under the boat.

The other two sonar beams, 455 kHz / 35° are emitted on both sides of the boat, respectively on both sides of the 20° beam, so in total, you will benefit from a 90° coverage. Therefore, a QuadraBeam sonar allows you to scan for structures and fish, an area of water equal to twice your depth.

Your Hummingbird fish finder head unit should display in split-screen, the 20° or 60° beam returns in the upper part of the screen, and both 35° sonar returns on the lower part of your screen.

Havind a better coverage from side-to-side, you will understand better where the fish are in relation to your boat. Therefore, you will know better where to place your bait and where to throw your lines.

TriBeam Sonar

TriBeam Sonar

The TriBeam sonar technology is similar to the QuadraBeam, but in this case, as the terminology suggests it, there are only three sonar beams: the 20° one, focused on the bottom and the 35° ones on the sides. You will still benefit from a 90° coverage, but without the 60° sonar beam, which may be useful in certain circumstances.

Side Finding Sonar

The Hummingbird Fish Finders in the Fishin’ Buddy series, although do not feature QuadBeam, TriBeam or DualBeam sonar, they come with SideFinding sonar technology, along with the down beam.

These fish finders have a Downlooking beam of 34° (200 kHz) and a SideFinding Beam of 10° (455 kHz). Since the Fishin’ Buddy fish finders are built specifically, you can direct the side scan beam turning the fish finder’s pole in the direction you please.