Catatude

I am replacing a Garmin 4212 with a Simrad NSS 12 EVO 3.

My typical fishing is Gulf of Mexico for Grouper less than 150' in my 07 World Cat 270 SD

Currently I have a 50/200 through hull transducer. The problem I am having is when I get over 90' or so it becomes very challenging to discern the swiss cheese bottom from bottom with no structure. 75-80' or shallower it works great. I can drift on and off a spot in 130' and repeatedly catch fish in one area but not 250' "over". Bottom looks identical where fish are and are not........frustrating - and hard to know where to try fishing to add to ones book of "spots".

So big thing I am looking for with the new system is the better bottom discrimination of CHIRP.

Talked to 2 installers - one says use a medium CHIRP transducer.

Installer number 2 says "Big Job" to replace current transducer with a new one- if I use my current 50/200 transducer with the simrad I will still see 70-80% of the performance improvement vs same system with a new CHIRP transducer. I have no one to ask if this is legit.

My question is it worth installing a new transducer? Boat will need to be hauled and probably cost an extra $1000.

Thanks for your input!

Edstillfishing

The transducer is the lense thru which the mfd see’s. For better discrimination you need better lenses. Better frames don’t make you see any better.
Ed

semperfifishing

For your depth you might be able to use a in hull transducer..(Shoot thru)
Only requires 6.75" of flat space on the hull.
No haul out required.

For example an Airmar M422C-LH-9N...18 and 5 degree beam width.


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fishinmaniac

The main thing with transducers for bottom fishing is to ensure that you have the right beam width for the application. You want a narrow beam width at 200khz for what you are trying to accomplish. If you are unhappy with your machines performance now, you will be unhappy with a different display running the same transducer at the same power.

Catatude

My second installer that wanted to replace the transducer recommended:

XSONIC AIRMAR B150M 0 DEG

What do you think of this suggestion? Thanks for the previous comments!

semperfifishing

If you are going thru the trouble of installing a thru hull for the evo3..get a good one.

If you want good bottom detail look at the B75H.


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Catatude

Thank you for the feedback semper - I appreciate it. Your recommendation makes sense.

fishinmaniac

Do you have a budget in mind and what transducer do you currently have?

Catatude

I am not at the boats location as we speak but I believe the current transducer is a 50/200 Airmar that is about 10 years old.

Looking at about 12K budget for the complete refit including radar and updating the autopilot control head. Have no problem spending a little extra for "the best" transducer.

Castrohasanafro

R599