Our Favorite Shallow Water Fish Finders: 2017

If you’re fishing in shallow water under 100 feet, you need to use a fishfinder they can work under those conditions. Whether you’re fishing for bass or other fish, your fish finder’s sonar capabilities will need to cast a wide net and run at high speeds.

There are plenty of shallow water fishfinders on the market today. They can be used for kayaking or other angler activities.

When looking for the best fish finder for your needs specifically for shallow water, make sure it won’t be too powerful, especially if it uses downscan technology instead of sidescan. An overly powerful fish finder in shallow waters can cause a reflection and blurriness, so you’d need to adjust the strength of the signal. You need to use higher sonar frequencies (200kHz to 800kHz) and wider beams in shallower waters.

Without further delay, are some of the best shallow water fish finders.

HawkEye FT1PXC Fishtrax Fish Finder with HD Color Virtuview Display 

Great for kayaking or other shallow water fishing, this fish finder by HawkEye is very portable and easy to use. You can use it on a kayak or on a family boat. It has a color display, fish depth identifier, and ice mode. There are even to operating frequencies, one at 200 kHz and 83 kHz, you get the best sonar readings whether you’re in shallow or deep water.

At under $200, this issue great portable fish finder for shallow waters.

Lucky FFW-718 Wireless Portable Sonar Fish Finder

The Lucky FFW-718 Portable Fish Finder is a fantastic small option for shallow waters, especially useful for boating in lakes and rivers. It won’t set you back much at less than $100, and has the right ranges and frequencies for shallow water fishing. It’s sonar frequency is 125kHz, and its recommended use is from 2 feet to 131 feet (40 meters.) This fish finder has a range of 90 degrees. This is the portable, shallow water fish finder you need if you’re fishing from a small boat in shallow waters, don’t need anything too serious, and you’re on a budget.

Lowrance X4 Pro Fishfinder

Another great portable fish finder, this X4 model by Lowrance works in both shallow and deeper waters with a sonar transducer range of 200-83 kHz. It touts an LCD screen with high visibility even in direct sunlight. The screen is 4” diagonally, and provides fish alarms and is totally waterproof. It’s effective up to speeds of 61 knots and can detect fish in a 120 degree area. At less than $175, this is another affordable choice.

Whether “shallow waters” to you means fishing in a 20’ lake or 200’ coast, the shallow water fish finders in this list will help you catch more fish, on a budget. This list covers the best affordable fish finders specifically for use in shallow water angling. If you’ve used a fish finder in shallow water that’s even better than these, let us know so we can update our list. You should be able to use these in any kind of smaller boat, whether it’s a kayak or a trolling boat.