This article aims to provide a comprehensive buyer’s guide to finding the best offshore fish finder on the market. We have compiled a thorough list of top quality products that really are the best of the best. Please take your time to read the individual reviews and make sure you check out the buying guide with the things to consider before purchasing.
In a hurry? Then check out the best offshore fish finder here: Humminbird Solix 12 CHIRP Mega SI+ GPS G2
Our huge ocean is home to a vast array of legendary fish that are out there just waiting to be caught. The biggest and best fish can all be found out there with species like Tuna, Marlin, Dorado, Sailfish, Barracuda and many many more, what’s not to love!? With such wonderful species of fish spread out all over the oceans, there is nothing quite like offshore fishing.
Although, whilst sea fishing can be a lot of fun, it is far from the easiest hobby in the world. The sheer vastness of the oceans can leave even the best fishermen scratching their heads in bewilderment.
There are countless factors at play that must be carefully considered if you want to be successful on the seas, but one of the most important of all is the simple question…’” Where are the fish?’.
This is where the fish finder comes in! We know exactly just how important having the right fish finder is to your sea fishing ventures, so we have gone ahead and compiled a list of the very best ones out there.
A lot of the fish finders out there focus on shore fishing for lakes and rivers. However, we have specifically focused on the best offshore fish finder to help you when you’re out in deeper waters. Luckily, most of these will easily do both with no problems.
Best Offshore Fish Finder – Reviews
1: Lowrance HDS-12 Live with Active Imaging 3-in-1 Transom Mount Transducer & C-MAP Pro Chart
What We Like:
- Best view of fish and structures in the water
- Simultaneous views of sonar and structure scans
- High-resolution screen
- 3in1 Transducer
- Has everything you need in a fish finder
To put it simply, this fish finder has it all. If you can afford to splash the cash for this, then you will certainly not be disappointed.
The Lowrance HDS-12 has everything that you could want from a top of the range fish finder. This beautiful piece of kit will give you all the tools you need to find your fish, all you have to do is go and catch them!
It is no wonder that this is the most popular fish finder out there on the professional circuit; its reliability, durability and craftsmanship are second to none. One feature that we love is the LiveSight™ sonar, which gives you the ability to watch your bait and fish movements live.
The screen can be set up to display to view multiple screens at once, this way you can watch how fish react to your bait movement and you can even watch the glorious moment when your fish takes the bait.
The sonar produces crisp and sharp images that will allow you to see the contours and features in the water at much longer distances and at a higher resolution than any other fish finders on the market.
The list of features goes on and on with this top of the range piece of kit, from smartphone integration, powerful quad core processors and even preloaded worldwide basemaps, this is the true benchmark for the best offshore fish finder.
2: Simrad Go9 XSE
What We Like:
- Excellent value for money
- Specifically built for offshore purposes
- Great looking unit in the boat
- Awesome touch screen, fully customizable and intuitive
- Can view the display on any compatible smartphone or tablet
This is a fantastic choice for the price; it just screams value for money. There are many units on the market at a higher price that don’t do half the job this ones does.
One thing we have to point out is that this one does not come with the transducer included (xdr). You can add this to your order directly from Amazon.
Aside from that, this piece of kit has all the bells and whistles you would want from your fish finder. You can add on Broadband 3G or 4G to give you that extra peace of mind while out at sea, giving you the confidence to hit the seas in rough weather and the ability to navigate busier harbors.
This addon will even update you when there are flocks of feeding birds within the vicinity that could indicate some of the best fishing spots in the sea.
As soon as you add a compatible transducer, you can have access to all the great scanning and sonar features, including CHIRP scanning, structure scanning and their fish reveal technology which will give you a dynamic view to both sides of your boat and beneath it.
The 3in1 sonar with downscan and sidescan and the NMEA 2000 compatibility all come as standard as you would expect, making this one a super choice for the mid range budget.
3: Raymarine Axiom 7 Fish Finder
What We Like:
- Very modest price for what you get
- Comes with transducer
- Very stable
- Super fast processor
- High quality 3D view of the bottom and structural surroundings
- NMEA 2000 ports and wifi connectivity
We really like this piece of kit from Raymarine. With an addon or two, this once can be a real top of the range fish finder. You can upgrade to include a sonar that will enable you to have CHIRP, side imaging and down imaging via sonar. Which we certainly do recommend.
The all glass touch screen looks absolutely fantastic and is very easy to use, you won’t have a hard time getting the hang of this one. The Lighthouse 3 operating system is renowned for its super friendly and easy-to-use software; it’s also highly customizable.
The super fast quad core processor is one of the best on the market so you can be sure it won’t let you down when you get out there.
Even though it doesn’t come with the CHIRP imaging as standard, it still does a fantastic job with the RealVision 3D™ sonar. This sonar will display the structures of the bottom and nearby fish with a super resolution, which is more than enough for the majority of anglers.
For even more ease of use, you can connect the Raymarine Axiom 7 to your smartphone or tablet and sit back and watch the screen from your devices.
The one we have included in our list here is the 7 inch screen. In our opinion, this is more than enough screen and you will be able to make out all the information on screen with no trouble.
If you feel like upgrading, then there is also a 12 inch option at a considerably higher price point, but I will leave that one up to you!
Check the upgraded one here on Amazon for the latest prices. (Raymarine Axiom 12)
4: Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv with GT54UHD-TM Transducer
What We Like:
- Awesome 12” display with a high resolution
- Excellent CHIRP sensors with great side and down imaging
- GT54UHD-TM transducer comes as standard
- Exclusive coastal charts with integrated Navionics data
- Wide range of networking capabilities
The Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv is another top of the range fish finder. We have used this one on our own fishing expeditions for a while now and we absolutely love it.
We find it to be one of the more versatile units out there and can easily be used a chart plotter as well as a top-notch fish finder.
You will surely fall in love with the dazzling 12” multi touch screen that displays the crispest scans of the water that you could hope to find. The all in one transducer will allow you to view traditional CHIRP scanning as well as Garmin’s ultra high definition ClearVü and SideVü imaging.
The side and down imaging produced by this is some of the highest quality out there; it really is excellent. The only drawback is that the depth range is much shallower with UHD. The UHD SideVü only has a range of 30ft although the ClearVü has a more modest 200ft. Don’t worry, if you want to go deeper the 2D CHIRP will do just the job as this sonar has capability right down to 800ft.
The Garmin coastal charts can be a great help with navigation, as they are integration with Navionics data. This device will also sync up with other ECHOMAP devices so you can share way points, sonar, and routes with them.
5: Humminbird Solix 12 CHIRP Mega SI+ GPS G2
What We Like:
- New model with a wide range of features
- Beautiful 12” display
- Max depth of 1,200ft with CHIRP sonar
- New MSI+ Transducer
- Super high quality side and down imaging
- Extensive navigation features
This 2019 edition from Humminbird has all the bases covered. The previous model was one of the most popular fish finder/chart plotter combos out there. This time, they have gone one step further with the 2019 version.
The 12 inch display is as fantastic as you would expect from this price range. The 1280×800 resolution can display the images on screen in super high quality. This is going to help you spot those structures and fish even easier.
It boasts some serious sonar and transducer specs, such as the super high quality down and side imaging. Humminbird have stepped their game up with the new transducer too. It now features their MEGA Imaging+ that gives you extreme clarity under the water. This is unrivalled in the fish finder market.
With the customizable display, you can chop and change which features you want to display on the screen. You can alter display information such as water temperature, turbulence, and more.
This has all the things any professional angler would need when they get out hit the waters. With the MEGA side and down imaging, this fish finder can produce much better quality images at almost 3 times higher frequency than others on the market.
This coupled with the amazing functionality, sleek design, and a vast variety of networking options make this one an absolute no brainer. You cannot go wrong with this one.
In our opinion, this is the best offshore fish finder you can use.
Things to Consider When Choosing the Best Offshore Fish Finder
If this is your first time buying a fish finder, then the chances are that you are feeling slightly overwhelmed, and that’s okay. It seems like there are tonnes of different options out there and endless variations of the same product that just straight up confuse people.
Don’t worry, we have all been there; us included. For this reason we have listed a few things that you should keep an eye out for. Make sure you take a few extra moments to ensure that you have the right fit for your needs.
Most of these fish finders high range so they will tick all the boxes for most anglers. That is not always the case though, so please do your due diligence.
Read the content below to give yourself a checklist of what to consider before purchasing your offshore fish finder.
Max Depth
One of the more important things to consider for an offshore fisherman is the maximum depth capabilities of the sonar. A lot of fish finders out there will be specialized for lakes and shallower bodies of water.
This is all well and good until you are out in the middle of the ocean and need to fish at 100ft or deeper. Take a moment to think about where you will be fishing and at what depths you will need your sonar to reach.
Please note that a lot of the fish finders in this list have varying max depths for their different types of imaging. For example, side imaging, down imaging and 2D CHIRP SONAR. Be sure to select the right one for you.
Sonar and Imaging
The sonar and the imaging that you receive should be a big factor in which fish finder you end up choosing. The image is produced by an electric current being passed through the transducer from the unit and then out into the water beneath.
The sound waves generated will travel to the bottom of and will also travel through any structures, vegetation, and fish. These sound waves then bounce back up where they are received by the transducer. They are then converted into an on-screen image on your display. Amazing stuff right!?
Be sure to check out the cone angle and what types of imaging each has unit has. For the price point, side and down imaging should come as standard. The ones in this list have at least both options and more.
It is important to consider the cone angle depending upon what type of water you will be fishing in. The wider the cone, the larger area will be scanned with your unit and transducer.
The number of beams generally scales with the price point of the unit too. The more beams, the more area you will cover with your fish finder, and that’s a good thing!
Transducer
We have mentioned this word a lot in this article, and for a good reason. They are important. As mentioned earlier, this sends out the sonar wave to the bottom of the ocean and it is also what receives it back to paint the image on your display.
Make sure you have a compatible transducer for your unit and that it will have a suitable frequency for your fishing needs. As a rule of thumb, higher frequencies work a lot better in shallower waters and the higher frequencies work better in deeper waters.
So make sure you are looking out for units that can get those lower frequencies.
Display
The display is particularly important because this is the place where you are going to be viewing all of your information. It’s no use having all the fancy features if you cannot read them or use them correctly on the screen.
All of our options here have fantastic displays due to their price points, whilst some in the list here are top of the range.
In our opinion it’s vital to have a color screen so that we can see the structures and fish more clearly. We used a black-and-white screen a while back and it hasn’t got a patch on these new color screens.
Things to look out for are mainly the resolution and screen size. The higher the resolution, the better, as you will be able to make out all the data and visuals far easier.
The same can be said for the screen. The bigger the better. Some units in our list have 12.1” screens, which is more than enough.
Compatibility
Is it compatible with your boat? Does the transducer mount fit correctly?
Take your time to ensure that everything fits and will work with your current set up or else there won’t be much use to a fish finder that’s left in the box!
Most boats will be fine with the standard transom mount, but if your boat is bigger or slightly unique in one way or another then make sure you double check.
The installation book/guidelines is a good place to start and these are usually available online.
Power (Wattage):
The higher the wattage, the better for sea fishing. We will be fishing in deeper waters than most, so we need our sonar waves to be bouncing back to our transducer at a faster rate. The way to get this is with a higher power output from your unit.
The fish finders we have listed have at least dual frequency, and they are high enough to accommodate offshore fishing. Consider how deep you will fish and base your decisions off of that.
Wrap Up
Seriously, these fish finders are so good that it seems unfair. Using these on your next trip will for sure give you the upper hand over our fishy friends and hopefully help you land your next big catch.
We know that it can seem daunting when researching and looking for the best offshore fish finder but rest assured that the units in this list are as good as they get.
Taking one of these out on your next fishing trip will completely transform your adventure and take your offshore fishing game to the next level.
As we mentioned at the start, our favorite is the Humminbird Solix 12 CHIRP Mega SI+ GPS G2. Check out the latest price on Amazon here.
The Humminbird Solix 12 tick all the boxes and has everything you would need from an offshore fish finder, even if you are a professional angler.
Thanks for reading and happy fishing!