Depth Finders?

Are depth finders useful? I can see them being useful for inboard boats, but for I/Os and outboards (who can always trim out when in doubt)?

As I understand it, the transducer has to be aimed directly down to get an accurate reading. If that's correct, they wouldn't help much in alerting you before running aground.

-- John

Its usefull for showing trends. You can watch the depth climb up from 20' to 3'. If you get caught by a ledge it doesnt help much. But mostly what it does is it gives you a sense of confidence that your in deep enough water for your boat.

I agree with Chris.....Most of the time You can see the water getting shallower (trends) or deeper.

we use ours alot of time, when we go to don pedro, since we dont go very often, we go to our lil spot and drive around, see where the low spots are, see how low they have gotten, so we can figure out our course.

Mine does a great job of plugging a hole in the dash. Boated for 25 years without one and now 5 years with one. Sometimes I forget that I have it. It came with my boat but I wouldn't pay a penny for one. I trust my eyes and the water color much more.

I have been out in my buddies I/O with a fish finder that shows the profile of the bottom. It is much more useful but I still would not trust it to keep me from hitting anything.

I use mine all the time. I go to the same lake all the time also, but when water levels vary it can really come in hand. I gurantee its saved me at least a couple of times.

curios question for you guys. I have and noticed it jumps around when at sac river or lake melones, do you have to set it or anyhing when launching or is it automatic?

if you stay on one lake and either 1) know the lake completely, or 2) it is well marked for hazards or shallows, i wouldn't say it was entirely necessary

i put one of the cheapo uniden ones in my boat before my trip up to vermont a month ago, it worked great, as was said before, we didn't use it to really see "where we could go" but you could tell you were in an ok side creek or area of the main lake if it was 50-100 feet deep, if it went below 15 anywhere we'd slow down and check it out for any rocks or obstructions before riding there. you can see about 25 feet down in those lakes (cleanest in the world) so its pretty easy not to screw up if you are careful

kenny, i know on my uniden, there is a sensitivity dial on the back, it is a pain to get to, as it involves pulling the dash up, but it needs to be adjusted to get the depthfinder reading correctly, it should not jump around wildly, unless it is set for low sensitivy (shallow water use) and you take it in very deep water.

It's also possible to get a double echo from having the sensitivity set to high.

I use mine near constantly. Other than the fact it's just "cool" knowing how deep the water is, and the safety factor, I use it to determine a good place to anchor. I'd way rather anchor in 15-feet of water, than 45. Much less rope to pull in!

Can't imagine not having a depth gauge, I'd feel like I was boating naked.

one word...silicone