Best Portable Fish Finders of 2022

Growing up in a bait store in northern Minnesota within the Nineteen Eighties, I used to be at all times up on the newest in baits, rods, reels, and electronics. So I witnessed and took part within the technological development of moveable fish finders over the previous 4 many years.

Today’s moveable all-in-one fish finders harken again to the primary flasher I ran in my 14-foot Lund as a child, the Lowrance “Little Green Box.” It opened from the highest to disclose the red-flashing, fish-finding strobe under, all with a deal with on the highest for straightforward transport with a bracket-mounting pole transducer.

Of course, all we had again then was 2D sonar in flasher mode, not water temperature read-out, and definitely no digital show of the underside, construction, and fish. Now items include quite a few options in addition to a flasher mode, like 2D sonar, down viewing, facet viewing, correct GPS lake mapping, and far, way more. Some moveable fish finder items are additionally appropriate with new side-scan and forward-facing sonar transducers.

For these not desirous to completely set up fishing electronics on their boat—or searching for a unit to make use of in a ship and on the ice—these new moveable fish finders simply can’t be overwhelmed for ease of use and flexibility. They’re additionally nice for anglers fishing from kayaks, canoes, and smaller boats. 

Here are my picks for one of the best moveable fish finders. 

Why It Made the Cut

Humminbird is famend for its clear 2D Sonar, ultra-precise Side Imaging, LakeMaster mapping, and extra. From coast-to-coast—and even alongside the coast—each freshwater and saltwater anglers have turned to Humminbird for his or her refined fish-finding capabilities.

Key Features

• 7-inch Display
• Two rod holders
• Dual Spectrum CHIRP Sonar
• Interference Rejection
• Adjustable Sonar Zoom
• GPS
• Humminbird Basemap with over 10,000 lakes
• Autochart LIVE user-mapping
• Includes Lithium battery

Pros

• Easy-to-use menu system
• Will learn fish and construction to 400 toes
• Long battery life 
• High-resolution 
• Versatile 

Cons

• Price
• Only 1-year restricted guarantee
• Does not include LakeMaster or Navionics card (have to be bought individually)

Product Overview

Built to be used all through the calendar 12 months, from open water by ice season, the Humminbird Ice Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G4 All Season pack presents anglers the whole lot however the kitchen sink. For starters, it options crystal-clear Dual Spectrum CHIRP Sonar with ¾-inch goal separation so you may clearly see fish and construction. The unit additionally options CHIRP Interference Rejection, which has six settings to maintain competing sonar indicators from cluttering the display if you’re in a fish home filled with anglers. The Adjustable Sonar Zoom hones in on fish, whether or not tight to the underside or suspended excessive within the water column. This characteristic gives 2x zoom on the flasher display and as much as 16x zoom on the 2D sonar view.

The unit encompasses a built-in GPS with Humminbird Basemap (greater than 10,000 water our bodies) and is appropriate with each LakeMaster and Navionics maps. Additional options designed particularly for the ice angler embrace AutoChart Live ICE whereas permitting anglers to create real-time 1-foot contour maps.

The Humminbird pack additionally consists of the whole lot you have to apply it to one of many greatest jon boats, canoe, kayak, or in different moveable functions throughout the open-water season, together with a transom mount CHIRP transducer, suction cup transducer mount, fish finder gimbal mount, and energy twine. All fish-finding data is featured on a full-color, 7-inch HD LCD show with tons of adjustable brightness for day and evening use.

Also, know that the Humminbird Ice Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G4 All Season pack is appropriate with MEGA Side Imaging and MEGA Live with the acquisition of separate transducer techniques.

Testing

My father-in-law and I examined the Humminbird Ice Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G4 All Season pack from a 14-foot aluminum boat powered by a Minn Kota Endura transom-mount trolling motor, precisely the sort of setup many purchasers of a transportable fish finder will probably be outfitting.

We fished an deserted rock quarry in central Iowa that’s populated with largemouth bass, sunfish, crappies, and pike and the place we had by no means used electronics earlier than. Although each of us had intuited depths and buildings within the quarry over 20 years of fishing it—the Humminbird unit supplanted a lot of our guesses as to the place drop-offs, ledges, breaks, and flats had been positioned.

For instance, the Humminbird’s crisp CHIRP 2D Sonar revealed a break within the southwest finish of the quarry the place the depth plummeted from 12- to 30 toes a good way away from shore. We had by no means fished this space previous to what the Humminbird revealed. Did we catch fish? Yes, half-a-dozen good-sized largemouth bass, all on football-head jig and plastic combos labored down the break. Good discover.

Speaking to the unit itself, it’s comparatively fast to begin up, and its menu system is straightforward to know. While the quarry wasn’t featured within the built-in base maps, we had been capable of make the most of its 2D Sonar and Down Imaging to nice success to study extra concerning the quarry’s depths and fish-holding spots.

Why It Made The Cut

Garmin is making waves with its fish finders and up to date forward-facing sonar growth, first with Panoptix and now with LiveScope.

Key Features

• 7-inch show
• Weight: 1.5 kilos
• Garmin CHIRP 2D Sonar
• ClearVu Scanning Sonar
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• LakeVu g3 lake mapping and BlueChart maps with Navionics knowledge

Pros

• Intuitive menu system
• Built-in single-channel CHIRP Sonar—50/77/83/200 kHz; L, M, H CHIRP
• Built-in ClearVu Sonar—260/800/1000/1200 kHz
• Lightweight system
• Two-year guarantee

Cons

• Does not include LakeMaster or Navionics card (have to be bought individually)
• Must buy separate transducer for ClearVu side-viewing

Product Description

Garmin doesn’t promote a transportable fish finder package deal that meets my wants. They have the small Striker 4 and the Echomap Ice Fishing Bundle, however nothing that gave me the flexibility to make use of on a ship or the ice. So I put collectively my very own bundle combining the ECHOMAP UHD 73CV and Portable Fishing Kit, and I ended up with top-of-the-line moveable fish finders for the cash. It needs to be famous that you may additionally purchase the moveable ice fishing package individually.

Should you outfit your boat with a couple of ECHOMAP UHD2, each 5- and 7-inch fashions can wirelessly share data resembling sonar, waypoints and routes. Speaking of Wi-Fi, the ECHOMAP UHD2 additionally options built-in Wi-Fi connectivity to pair with the free all-in-one cell app for entry to the OneChart characteristic, software program updates, Garmin Quickdraw Community knowledge, and extra.

Testing

The very first thing I seen upon turning on the Garmin ECHOMAP UHD 73CV is simply how clear and crisp the ClearVu sonar show is, that includes high-contrast vivid scanning sonar palettes that make it simpler than ever to tell apart fish and construction. The unit additionally options pre-loaded LakeVu g3 inland maps, BlueChart g3 coastal charts, and a worldwide basemap that helps Garmin Navionics+ and Garmin Navionics Vision+ marine cartography. So the maps for the place I examined it—the Mississippi River—had been fairly good.

The different factor concerning the Garmin unit is its menu and display system may be very intuitive to make use of with well-defined menu and again buttons to maintain you from getting misplaced amidst its quite a few options. Of all of the items examined, it’s by far the best to make use of.

Did it assist me find fish throughout testing? Absolutely. And I caught a wide range of species with its assist.

Read Next: Best Ice Fishing Fish Finders

Why It Made The Cut

Over the previous 4 many years, Lowrance has made quite a few advances in fish-finding expertise and change into recognized for its top-notch, easy-to-read 2D Sonar.

Key Features

• 7-inch show
• Genesis Live Real-Time Mapping
• Double the sonar protection of different fish finders
• SplitShot transducer with High CHIRP and DownScan Imaging
• Contour+ US/Canada mapping card included
• Optimized keypad with one-touch entry to key options
• Mapping choices embrace C-MAP, C-MAP Genesis, Navionics

Pros

• Autotuning sonar
• Bright show
• Weighs below one pound

Cons

• Not appropriate with LakeMaster mapping
• Not appropriate with Lowrance ActiveTarget forward-facing sonar expertise

Product Description

The recently-introduced Hook Reveal 7 Splitshot delivers nice efficiency with fish-finding instruments, together with Autotuning Sonar, DownScan Imaging, and FishReveal, which makes fish simpler to see by combining the advantages of Lowrance CHIRP sonar and DownScan Imaging on one display. Whether you’re fishing a neighborhood spot or unfamiliar water, the Hook Reveal 7 Splitshot helps anglers discover one of the best fishing areas with preloaded US inland mapping—and in addition offers the angler the choice of mapping uncharted water—in real-time—with Genesis Live.

Testing

The Lowrance Hook Reveal 7 Splitshot moveable pack took a couple of half hour to place collectively, however when it got here time to mount the graph bracket the 4 black screws offered had been too quick and I needed to make a visit to the ironmongery store. Other than that, the whole lot went easily. I additionally saved wanting by the directions for a carry deal with part to put in as I put the bottom collectively. Apparently there isn’t one. The solely carry deal with is on the blue material case that comes with the unit. Both the Humminbird and Garmin moveable items characteristic a deal with constructed into the bottom that holds the graph in place, one thing Lowrance may use one in future generations of moveable sonar merchandise.

The Hook Reveal7 boots up in a short time after you press “on”. I selected my language as English and you then’re in a position to select from a wide range of screens. I selected the chart display to begin my testing. I used to be impressed with CMAP+ Genesis for its protection of the Mississippi River I used to be set to fish. It’s fairly near LakeMaster. When I attempted to change to Sonar mode the display learn “Sonar Locked” and I needed to open up YouTube on my telephone to discover a video instructing me out of the error. Then it was simple to determine. The buttons and cursors are a bit tough to determine, so far as getting again to the primary menu, so it’s not fairly as intuitive because the Garmin or Humminbird items. The 2D Sonar is what you’d anticipate from Lowrance—wonderful. And it has a characteristic the place you may DownScan with 2D Sonar which reveals much more sub-surface element.

How to Choose a Portable Fish Finder

When it involves computer systems, it’s at all times been a PC versus Mac world. In fish finders, some anglers gravitate to Lowrance, whereas others desire Humminbird. Now, with Garmin on the scene, there’s a 3rd possibility, and with the introduction of forward-looking Panoptix sonar a number of years in the past—and the improved LiveScope—Garmin is taking some market share from each Lowrance and Humminbird. But every excels in its personal house. It’s merely a matter of matching the unit to the way you fish and what you’re searching for in a transportable fish finder.

Why You Need Electronics

No matter what sort of fishing you do—and from what sort of watercraft—understanding the water depth, exact GPS positioning to point out the place you’re on a map, in addition to obstacles and prompt journey routes (in addition to buoys and wing dams on river techniques and shallow reefs and bars in lakes and reservoirs), boat velocity, and many others., are all vital to secure journey and profitable angling. Today’s GPS mapping additionally means that you can spotlight depths—for instance, marking any waters below 3 toes in pink for “danger” areas the place the props and skegs may be broken, in addition to depth contours which might be high-probability fish-holding areas. Water temperature read-out additionally offers anglers extra data to find out fish location according to modifications in climate and seasonality.

Standard 2D Sonar offers anglers a take a look at what’s straight below and across the moveable transducer at a wide range of totally different user-chosen angles—usually slim (nice for watching your jig in vertical fishing functions), medium, and extensive cone protection.

Down-viewing is very like 2D Sonar however can present extra element in each backside composition and the presence of fish.

Flasher mode is the unique format for viewing your bait, backside, and fish in ice fishing functions, though most of those items additionally characteristic 2D Sonar with zoom for higher element than flasher mode permits. Numerous ice anglers prefer to run each flasher and 2D Sonar in split-screen view for watching their bait—and fish response—in real-time.

Features to Look For in a Fish Finder

When purchasing for a transportable fish finder, you need to take quite a few options into consideration. First, ensure that the unit has GPS mapping and comes preset with lake/river/reservoir maps on your area. Many items settle for detailed map “chips” that comprise backside contours in 1-foot increments, like LakeMaster and a few of the newer Navionics and C-MAP merchandise. You additionally need the power to map when you’re boating and fishing; this characteristic takes fixed sonar readings and re-adjusts for water degree and any errors there may need been within the mapping preset in your moveable fish finder unit.

Next, you need to ensure that your unit has superior 2D Sonar, with variable frequencies to regulate the cone angle to point out narrower or wider backside and fish protection.

The unit must also possess some kind of Down-Viewing expertise which can be utilized with 2D Sonar or with out to offer an much more detailed image of what’s happening under the boat.

Also, be sure that your unit has Side-Viewing capabilities with using a separately-purchased transducer in case you need to develop your fishing protection to look as much as 100 toes or extra on both sides of the boat. This expertise reveals backside construction and fish, permitting the angler to make waypoints for transferring the boat and fishing nearer or distancing the boat to make exact casts.

Likewise, verify to see if the unit is appropriate with Front-Facing Sonar expertise, which additionally requires the acquisition of a separate transducer, and sometimes, a “black box”. This leap in fish finder expertise permits anglers to comply with their bait and fish in real-time over 100 toes from the boat—and is particularly useful in selecting the best presentation, adapting retrieve/cadence, and watching fish response.

Lastly, in case you plan to make use of the moveable unit on the ice, ensure that it comes with an ice transducer and has each 2D graph and “flasher” modes—in addition to GPS mapping.

Testing the Best Portable Fish Finders

The Lowrance Hook Reveal 7 Splitshot moveable pack took a couple of half hour to place collectively, however when it got here time to mount the graph bracket the 4 black screws offered had been too quick and I needed to make a visit to the ironmongery store. Other than that, the whole lot went easily. I additionally saved wanting by the directions for a carry deal with part to put in as I put the bottom collectively. Apparently, there isn’t one. The solely carry deal with is on the blue material case that comes with the unit. Both the Humminbird and Garmin moveable items characteristic a deal with constructed into the bottom that holds the graph in place, one thing Lowrance may use one in future generations of moveable sonar merchandise.

The Hook Reveal7 boots up in a short time after you press “on”. I selected my language as English and you then’re in a position to select from a wide range of screens. I selected the chart display to begin my testing. I used to be impressed with CMAP+ Genesis for its protection of the Mississippi River I used to be set to fish. It’s fairly near LakeMaster. When I attempted to change to Sonar mode the display learn “Sonar Locked” and I needed to open up YouTube on my telephone to discover a video instructing me out of the error. Then it was simple to determine. The buttons and cursors are a bit tough to determine, so far as getting again to the primary menu, so it’s not fairly as intuitive because the Garmin or Humminbird items. The 2D Sonar is what you’d anticipate from Lowrance—wonderful. And it has a characteristic the place you may DownScan with 2D Sonar, which reveals much more sub-surface element.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re outfitting a small boat, kayak, canoe—or searching for a unit to hold on fishing journeys using a rental boat—and in addition need use on the ice throughout the winter, my greatest moveable fish finders picks all provide nice characteristic units. Each has its deserves, whether or not its sonar, mapping, or down- and side-viewing capabilities.

And the entire fish-finding paradigm is shortly altering to supply anglers data forward of the boat (ala front-facing sonar), so that you’ll need to ensure that your chosen unit is appropriate with extra front-facing sonar transducer techniques, do you have to need to make the technological leap.