Lowrance Hook 7 ? any good.

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Will be looking a new unit for a catfish boat.and want something in the 500 to 600 range and about 7" screen size.

Lot has changed in the units over the last 5 years or so.
Used Lowrance on my saltwater boat several years back and it was great but more of the normal old school X type unit.

I see this unit is on sale 300$ at some places about 200 off.

Thoughts?
 

SUDDEN IMPACT

Eight Pointer
If your not in a mad rush, and willing to travel to Greenville SC in March when the bass masters classic comes. The expo they will have some unbelievable deals.
I far as the hook, I'm not familiar with those units. I run the HDS 8's and 9's. I'm very pleased with them.
 

mbh78

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I have heard good and bad, but have never personally used any of the Hook units. Like Sudden Impact, I run HDS's on my boat. I have had several HDS units over the last few years (different boats, upgrades,etc.) and have never had any issues and have become very familiar with them. It really depends on what you are wanting to get out of them. If you are mainly using them for depth and temp, I would try to get out as cheap as possible. If you are using them to locate bait, structure, and fish, save your money and by the best unit you can afford. It will make a difference.
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
Wait for the Hook2 series to hit selves if they haven’t already, if you don’t need touch screen, 3D structurescan or networked units then that’s the way to go in the Lowrance realm.
 
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Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
What is the difference in a hook 2 7x splitshot and the 7x tripleshot?

Worth the 70$ difference?

And is it worth 150ish more for the US inland map?
Will it have all the ones around here NC and VA?
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Is the larger sender unit a problem on the back of an aluminum boat with pods?

98" beam and 72" floor

Also the x in the hook 2 7x vs hook 2 7? What does that stand for?
 
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mbh78

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Larger transducer will be fine. I put an hds structure scan transducer on the back of my dad's tracker with no issues.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I had been running Humminbirds lately. I bought a Garmin on my last boat solely because of price and the definition resolution is great. It is the best for picking up at high speed. Lowrance or Humminbird both were always a PITA getting the transducer positioned correctly for best signal that if you were going over 20 MPH usually you would intermittently loose signal. Not so with this Garmin. But I will admit I am not exactly an electronics wizard nor am I completely lost when it comes to them, this Garmin is about the hardest learning curve as far as user friendly to get used to all the functions I have ever dealt with.
 
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GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I had been running Humminbirds lately. I bought a Garmin on my last boat solely because of price and the definition resolution is great. It is the best for picking up at high speed. Lowrance or Humminbird both were always a PITA getting the transducer positioned correctly for best signal that if you were going over 20 MPH usually you would intermittently loose signal. Not so with this Garmin. But I will admit I am not exactly an electronics wizard nor am I completely lost when it comes to them, this Garmin is about the hardest learning curve as far as user friendly to get used to all the functions I have ever dealt with.

Completely agree. Garmin rocks except for ease of use. My Raymarine Dragonfly is probably the easiest GPS/Fish Finder I have ever used. I've got a Lowrance on one of my kayaks and it is a great unit too.
 

gobbler

Eight Pointer
first off i ran lowrance up till about 2013, i switched yo the birds and havent looked back,

i have a friend that put a hook 7 on his boat about 2 years ago, he kept talking about how sliw his gps updated and i never understood till i fished with him, while fishing it was ok, but ehile running and mind u we never went over 40mph, the screen updated so slow on the gps, that the screen could not keep up with our true location, which may seem trivial to some but there are times and places where that gps is very very valuable, he recently sold it and got a bird and seems to be very pleased, never messed with a garmin, never had the need, those gen2 mega birds are the bees knees
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Man trying to read all the info on them and take it all in is enough to blow your mind.
There is way too much going on in the fishfinded field and fast changing.

I may just pick the best base unit in the 400 range that gives the most with a 7" screen and play for a year of two then upgrade if needed.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
first off i ran lowrance up till about 2013, i switched yo the birds and havent looked back,

i have a friend that put a hook 7 on his boat about 2 years ago, he kept talking about how sliw his gps updated and i never understood till i fished with him, while fishing it was ok, but ehile running and mind u we never went over 40mph, the screen updated so slow on the gps, that the screen could not keep up with our true location, which may seem trivial to some but there are times and places where that gps is very very valuable, he recently sold it and got a bird and seems to be very pleased, never messed with a garmin, never had the need, those gen2 mega birds are the bees knees
I was in that same boat, you couldn't have thrown a Humminbird in my boat. I was out of fishing a few years and all the guys I trust had told me Lowrance's CS had gone absolutely to crap. I went to Humminbird when I started back up and had absolutely no complaints. Other than this Garmin I am running now which I do like I had 'birds.
 

23mako

Ten Pointer
Gadget,

Go with Garmin. RayMarine Dragonly isnt a bad unit either just wish they made it with a 10 inch screen. The dragonfly is about the easiest unit I have worked with.

Had humminbird and it sucks.
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Man trying to read all the info on them and take it all in is enough to blow your mind.
There is way too much going on in the fishfinded field and fast changing.

I may just pick the best base unit in the 400 range that gives the most with a 7" screen and play for a year of two then upgrade if needed.

I felt the same way. Overwhelmed. I ended up going with Garmin since I'm familiar with the software as it is similar to the hand held units I've run hunting.
 

gobbler

Eight Pointer
Gadget,

Go with Garmin. RayMarine Dragonly isnt a bad unit either just wish they made it with a 10 inch screen. The dragonfly is about the easiest unit I have worked with.

Had humminbird and it sucks.

im not looking for an argument, just curious, but what about humminbird sucked in your opinion?
 

mbh78

Ten Pointer
Contributor
If you ask 10 people, you are going to get 10 different opinions. All of the main 4 brands (HB, Lowrance, Raymarine, and Garmin) make good quality units. Some give a little better image and some are easier to use, but they are all good. Best thing to do is research them all, decide what exactly you are wanting to accomplish with it, and pick the one that best suits your needs.
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
All I know is that 20 to 40 years back we could catch bait and fish with flashers .
about 20 years back we used old tech designs with. 2d and could see what we needed.

was looking a reading a bunch also reviews on everything.
Some will known people say look at...
Size first. In the money range get the largest size you can. Lets say 7" 500$
next look for a unit in that size with the most stuff you can have. 2d, side, 360

say you find a unit that fits that, then drop one or two items and see if you can spring for the next size unit. So maybe a 9" that has 2d and side only.

There thoughts are that you will still catch fish. You will be able to use the 1, 2, or 3 screen and see it better.

Most stated that sometimes people try to get the most out of a unit and go with a 4" or 5" just to have all the options but can never really use it as you will not see what you need to with 3 or 4 screens in one. So for that they say step up.

so that line of thinking if I understood and I think I do......

5" with everything
7" with 3 items
9 with say 2d nav and maybe side
All with the same range price go for the 9" even if you only get 2d and nav.

Your thoughts.

Would you go for a larger screen vs what it has or can do?

Say you have a loaded unit now, what you feel like you could ditch if you had to?
As for brands so many things changing fast.. people have had a bird, last gen may never try the newer one and move to different brand because of x and never look back.
Same for all units.
I said bird because as someone said here they try new things and there is a lot of unhappy people with the last gen or one back because it had problems.

Like the ford chevy ram......
Current have ford and don't like it or had problems, will you really look at ford or just move on.
Lowrance I read was a pita to set up and run. Hard to pick up on. Now the new ones they say are so much easier. ..
Thats the thing about changing times and tech that updates sometimes every day. ....
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It was much easier 15 years ago, you just wanted to pull up on a place and find this. But now it is complicated. LOL IMG_0383.JPG
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
It was much easier 15 years ago, you just wanted to pull up on a place and find this. But now it is complicated. LOL View attachment 58805

You have been in the catfish field a good bit.

What would.you do? If I handed you 400 to 600$ what unit would you return with?
I plan to run it a few years then if still hooked in the cat stuff and get time to fish some tournaments upgrade to a big unit.
Lot of the tournaments offer deals, discounts and the likes to makd a big unit cost less.....
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You have been in the catfish field a good bit.

What would.you do? If I handed you 400 to 600$ what unit would you return with?
I plan to run it a few years then if still hooked in the cat stuff and get time to fish some tournaments upgrade to a big unit.
Lot of the tournaments offer deals, discounts and the likes to makd a big unit cost less.....
Well I haven't looked in over a year and I am sure they have changed. They are constantly doing so. As I said I am completely happy with my Garmin. I would probably look at something like a 73 or 74SV depending on your needs going off the screen size you originally said you were looking for. This is if I could catch the 74 on sale or it have rebates attached.

I usually stick to what I buy to it dies, or have in the past, but that is just me. I am just running the 53 on mine now as I originally bought it primarily as a depth finder to use on my shallow water hunting boat. Turns out I sold my big boat and I use this boat for everything but the definition is good enough it really does all I need. I would like to have a bigger screen but in this smaller boat and the way I beat and bang around in the smaller boat it probably is better I don't have one. I don't really have room.
 
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