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Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | I'm in the market for a new depth/fish finder.
I've been eyeballing the Lowrance Mark 5X Pro. It's listed on Amazon for l about $150, and I have Amazon gift cards to spend. So, I can pick it up cheap.
I find mixed reviews online. Anyone here have this unit? What do you think? |
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Posts: 538
Location: northern indiana | Personally I'd look for a low end unit with color GPS and chart plotting. You can find good deals in the $350-500 range. |
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Posts: 315
| Gander Mtn has elite 5 on clearance for 479 with a lowrance rebate for $100...just sayin |
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Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | I'm not looking to spend that much money. I don't need color. I just need to find bait fish.
I don't need a GPS, already have one. I don't need redundant systems on my boat. I'm sure I could buy a sweet depth finder for $300-500 bucks, but I could have this Mark 5X Pro for next to nothing when I spend my Amazon points and use an Amazon gift card.
I just see a lot of mixed reviews about this unit online from places like BassPro and Amazon. It's hard to weed through if the negative reviews are from inexperienced people who don't know how to run a depthfinder or are there real flaws in this unit. So, I was looking for any personal experience with this particular unit from somebody I hopefully trust. |
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Posts: 1660
Location: central Wisconsin | I've got one on the front of my boat for two years now. No problems at all, doesn't lose bottom, I like it especially for the money. |
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Posts: 383
| I have one in my dash next to my GPS. It works great. No issues and does what it should. Great unit for the $. |
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Posts: 69
Location: Pittsburgh | Steve this is a very good unit. It is easily readable has adjustable grey line and a bottom line for bottom separation, bottom hardness ,20 degree cone ,with it you will definitely see baitfish.Reasonably be able to tell the size of any gamefish marked. In all fairness I have never used it in waters deeper than 35' the cone ratio is 1in7 so you can drop markers within a foot of even subtle breaks. That being said I don't think it would be bad advice to buy a color gps if you fish large waters or waters with many hazards I hope this helps. Set up instructions could be better but if you spend some time with simple controls you will be alright.
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Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | Simple fisherman - 2/20/2013 5:08 PM
That being said I don't think it would be bad advice to buy a color gps if you fish large waters or waters with many hazards
I guess I'm pretty ignorant about depth finders. What would a color unit gain me? I only fish for muskies. This is going on a dedicated trolling boat on LSC. The water depth is usually 5-18' deep.
I have GPS/chart plotter....so I know how to stay out of trouble. |
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Posts: 81
Location: Van Buren, Indiana | I put 2 of these on the boat I'm fishing out of right now. When I sold my "04 Lowe 180 Stinger in 2011, I had just put 2-x98's on it in 2010. These mark 5's are identical except with greater resolution. I run 1 on the bow and 1at the helm. They show bait balls great and you can definitely pick out a muskie below, big arcs. and the bottom detail is great. I mostly fish muskies also and just can't justify the extra cost right now.
I have them mounted on ram micro mounts, real sweet! 
Edited by Ifishtolive 2/21/2013 1:09 PM
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Posts: 69
Location: Pittsburgh | I just see a lot of mixed reviews about this unit online from places like BassPro and Amazon. It's hard to weed through if the negative reviews are from inexperienced people who don't know how to run a depthfinder or are there real flaws in this unit. So, I was looking for any personal experience with this particular unit from somebody I hopefully trust.
h
Hi Steve; As I said great unit not sure if I insulted you if I did I apologize. To answer your question I was unaware of where you are fishing. Sometimes on unfamiliar waters on a bright day it is easier to see that bright yellow line rising to the top of the screen that's all I use the Mark 5 100 plus days a year I know it will more than suit your needs in passing long arches do not indicate big fish |
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Posts: 117
| I have a regular mark5x. It's my first sonar, but I spent a lot of time learning to use it and use it effectively, and it actually does a really good job. The ONLY difference between mine and that one is that the mark5xpro has a dual-frequency transducer--if you fish shallow water (5-18') as you said you definitely want that, becasue the single frequency mine works on has a narrower beam...in shallow water you want the widest beam becasue the sonar cone is very narrow so close to the boat, so your field of view is significantly wider. I think the narrow cone is about 1/3 the depth, while the wider cone is = the depth...that means my sonar has a 6' field of view at 18' of water, while yours would have an 18' field of view in 18' of water...means you are 3x more likely to mark a bait ball as you pass (almost) right over it. Once you get down 20. 30 or 50 feet it makes less of a difference to me. Mine works plenty deep...although if you use the manual settings to get the most out of the unit, fast transitions between very deep water and very shallow water usually require some changes to the settings with regard to surface clutter, sensitivity, etc--but I believe that's the case with almost any sonar and is really only an issue on some of the drops where I fish for smallmouths that go from 12 to 200+ ft in a couple boat lengths. Color allows you to tell the difference between bottom and a fish or to pick feeding fish out of a bait ball better, but high resolution does the same thing...obviouly high resolution AND color is best, but pretty sure if I had to choose I'd take a higher-resolution greyscale unit over a lower-resolution color unit. Mine is sensitive enough that if you set the sensitivity right you can EASILY see a 1/8oz jighead bouncing up and down 30 feet deep, you can see a thermocline, you can see phytoplankton rising off the bottom in the evening, etc, so actual baitfish and real fish are a piece of cake.
After learning about my sonar and what is was good at and not so good at, I ponied up and bought a color sonar/gps with side imaging...specifically for the shallow water, in order to have the widest possible "field of view", to be able to differenctiate between different objects int he screen, to be able to mark waypoints in order to stay on them when fishing where I cant see bottom, etc. I'm still using my mark5x on the bow...but only until I can afford another SI unit.
The image below is off my Mark5x--Im not sure it's a "hall of fame" image, but I think it's typical of the performace you can expect. I see the drop off the side of the island I was fishing with a hard bottom return, and several fish suspended just above a thermocline about 10 feet above the bottom. For $150 I'll take it.
Edited by Macintosh 2/22/2013 11:20 AM
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Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | Simple fisherman - 2/21/2013 2:33 PM
Hi Steve; As I said great unit not sure if I insulted you if I did I apologize. To answer your question I was unaware of where you are fishing. Sometimes on unfamiliar waters on a bright day it is easier to see that bright yellow line rising to the top of the screen that's all I use the Mark 5 100 plus days a year I know it will more than suit your needs in passing long arches do not indicate big fish
No man, you're absolutely cool. I appreciate your replies. Honestly. You were the 3rd person (two other ones were made over the phone) who told me to buy a color unit. I am just reluctant to spend the money, but would if I had to, I would. But I really don't want to.
Having a chart plotter and knowing where I am at on LSC is plenty good to keep me out of trouble. But thanks for being concerned. Seriously.
Okay, I'm gonna pull the trigger on this unit. It seems like a no-brainer. But wanted to hear some real fisherman's advice first....so everyone, thank you.
BTW, what did you mean at the end of your post: "long arches do not indicate big fish."?
Peace.
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Posts: 69
Location: Pittsburgh | Long arches only indicate time spent in cone |
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Posts: 1760
Location: new richmond, wi. & isle, mn | I bought one in an emergency before a tournament a couple of years ago. I still have the unit on my bow. The only problem I have with it is it will occasionally lock up on me. Shut it off turn it on It's ok. Gonna upgrade this year but I will keep it as a spare. I've learned it's nice to have spare equipment along for when you least expect it. Definitely worth the money. |
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Posts: 81
Location: Van Buren, Indiana | Simple fish let me, break it down for ya. What I was trying to convey to Steve was that this unit for the price has awsome detail. I mostly fish open water and some weed lines, weed edges, etc. When passing over weedlines you can pick up some of the weed leaf outlines and detail. Then out in 30-35 or 40 ft you can see the outline of a musky, even some of the fins. not great detail but the general shape can bee seen. How do you know this? Well, their is not much timber in Tippy, and there sure ain' t much timber floating a foot or two off the bottom in 35'. I'm not sure if the above picture has the proper settings, I never have that much clutter on the bottom over open water.
Edited by Ifishtolive 2/23/2013 3:17 PM
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Posts: 117
| Ifishtolive - 2/23/2013 4:14 PM
... I'm not sure if the above picture has the proper settings, I never have that much clutter on the bottom over open water.
Re: the pic-- it's possible you're right, I'd thought that was a thermocline based on the horizontally localized nature of the clutter and fish sitting above it, but it's possible it was some sort of stuff in the water or a setting. I actually took the pic to try and get feedback on what that stuff was, and the unanimous decision on another forum was a thermocline, but we all know the internet isn't gospel....I've seen that type of clutter appear out of nowhere on a clear screen lifting off the bottom--I've been told that's phytoplankton. Ive also seen a "column" of clutter like that in one very small area, and a number of times its been in shallow water where I was able to look and see what it was....nothing I could see--i believe these were colder water springs and the sonar picked up the plume of cold water in a similar fashion to the bottom layer in the picture. If it was a setting wouldn't it indicate something different about the water at that depth, as its certainly not running put of power at 35'?? Either way, it's a bit irrelevant, the point being that if we're wondering whether we're looking at a thermocline, phytoplankton, or some setting is picking up stratified water...its plenty sensitive for me! Learning how to interpret what I'm seeing is half of learning how to read these things, so if anyone has a different read on it by all means let me know! Hope this doesn't take things off-topic.
Edited by Macintosh 2/24/2013 8:11 PM
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