Customer Reviews

Humminbird PiranhaMax 230 PT Portable 4-Inch Waterproof Fishfinder

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Bought this from amazon about a month ago and it works awesome. I use mine on a kayak so I need to use a portable model. The suction cup is awesome, don't worry about it falling off. I have to slide a knife under it to un-stick it from my boat.

The battery it comes with is like a small car battery, and initially turned me off to the product, this being the days of lithium-ion technology and all. I quickly warmed to it, however, as it recharges well and lasts forever. I went on a four hour fishing trip, left it uncharged, then took it out again for another four hours without coming close to losing power.

The dual beam was a big selling point for me when I bought it, but honestly it seldom spots any more fish (fish picked up by the second beam are displayed as white rather than black). I wouldn't let this feature keep you from buying a single beam product.

When I bought it, it sold for 111.00 from a company called Ritz Interactive, which no longer seems to be listed as a merchant. Take $30.00 off for applying for the amazon credit card, and I got it for 91.00. Plus got free shipping.

I don't really have any experience using other fish finders, but this product works great for me. If you're looking for a fishfinder with long battery life and accurate readouts for a low price, this is a great deal.

I've had the opportunity to use both the wired transducer attached via suction cup and the wireless remote sonar sensor. First I'd like to make it clear that the RF45 RSS is included. Some of the product information I read seemed to indicate that it was not included, but that was wrong.

I bought this because several times a year I go to a local lake and rent a boat to fish for trout and Kokanee salmon, the rest of the time I spend fishing I fish from the shore. During a recent trip when I rented a boat I used the wired transducer. The boat I was on was a large pontoon boat and the only place to attach the transducer was to the back of one of the pontoons. The surface was rounded and had algae all over it. I got the transducer on but after a short time with the 50hp motor at full power the transducer fell off. That was okay, I wasn't expecting it to hold on at higher speeds, especially with the poor surface it was attached to. Once we got in the area where we wanted to fish and started going trolling speeds the transducer held on very well, it might have fallen off once every few hours. I do expect that if the surface had been flat and not covered in algae it would have held on even better. We trolled in water from about 30' deep to 110' deep and in every case the fish finder did well, even auto adjusting the focus on the display as we went from 30'->60'->90'. I learned a lot about this lake using the finder that I would have never known no matter how many times I've fished it without one.

The wireless sonar sensor was a little tricky for me because it seemed that it was not being detected and the display would go to a simulation without displaying that fact on the screen, making me think the simulation was what I was seeing in the water I was on. After I figured out how to keep the unit from going to simulation mode it worked well. I haven't marked a fish with it yet, but I do now know the depth and what the lake bed looks like in my favorite shore fishing locations.

After several uses including an all day boat outing I'm still on the first set of batteries.

I like this unit and would recommend it to other fisherman like myself who fish from shore and sometimes a rented boat.

The Humminbird PiranhaMax 230 Portable Fish Finder works and operates perfectly. The state I fish in gets very cold and snows most of the time. The Humminbird PiranhaMax worked thru it all. The alarm is loud enough for my bad hearing. It is very compact so that helps with taking everything a person needs for fishing, I would advise anyone ice fishing to buy this product as I have used it in adverse conditions and it never failed me.

The PiranhaMax 150 was just what i needed. Set up was a breeze, and learning to operate it took about 5 mins. It works great and does eveything that i needed it to do.Installation was easy,the directions are clear and walk you right through it.Within 10 mins. I was using the PiranhaMax 150 . The screen is large and viewable with no trouble,and the 1 button menue makes setting up to your specs. could'nt go any smoother

This product works excellent. It is very easy to operate and very portable. I can't think of anything I would change about this fishfinder.

It worked fine here in Florida during the winter months when the temperature was below 90, but when the temperature went above 90 the screen was no longer visable until temperatures went back down (even at the highest contrast setting). The unit also doesn't seem to be water resistant... for sure it's not waterproof. After getting caught in the rain, the unit would from that point on have HEAVY water condensation on the inside of the screen. So much so that the screen was unreadable at the edges. If you live in a moderate temperature zone, this will probably work fine for you (just don't let it get wet). If you live where the temperatures get above 90 frequently (like Florida) this is a waste of $$$.

My third Humminbird fishfinder. I am hard on them. Leave them out in the weather. They do not like getting wet as in soaking wet. Saltwater kills them in a short time. Easy to install, use and cheap. Operative features are second nature. My kids figured it out by playing with the buttons. Just keep it dry and it will last forever.

After receiving the product, which was packaged very nicely, I quickly purchased 8 AA batteries, and installed it.
A brief read of the instructions and I was ready to try out the Smartcast sonar. The unit also comes with a transducer to install on a boat, I have not tried this yet, as I don't have a boat..yet.
Going down to the local wharf, I attached it to my line using a swivel and a thick grade line, I also attached a lighter grade line for some hooks, and then cast it out.

When the unit first start up, you will most likely be in simulation mode, change this to the smartcast sensor and you will see an actual view of whats in the water ! I did change the settings to Celsius and meters with ease.
Upon entering the water unit picked the RF signal and I got an instant readout of depth and temperature and what the ground looked like. I could not see any fish, I also set the fish alarm to any size of fish.

Moving to another spot, and using a slow retrieve I quickly found some fish, and the unit also showed the depth of the fish, which was very useful in my choice of fishing rig. The screen was clearly visible in bright sunlight.

I was initially considering the wristwatch version, and chose this one, as I want to buy a little boat soon, the unit works very well. However I think for fishing of a jetty or wharf, the rod mount or wrist watch might be easier to handle, as it is less of a worry about falling into the water. So I will now look a good deal on the wrist watch version, purely for peace of mind. I also think it will be easier to cast out, and look at your watch, rather than place a unit like this safely on a jetty or wharf.

I fish year round, rain or shine. this unit has helped me locate fish when I wasn't familiar with a location. I even use this unit ice fishing regularly and it performs almost as well. Sometimes if it is really cold, below 20 degrees, the unit won't function correctly after being on the ice for 3 to 4 hours. However, as soon as you heat it up it does just fine.

I am very thankful for this unit because it gets the job done at a fair price.

Thanks Hummingbird.

I own a number of boats and each boat has its own fish finder. I now possess two portable fish finders and by far I think this the best of the two. I have had the unit on now for 125 hours on display with display lights on high so as to test the battery. Still going on strong so when you go out fishing at night or on a multiple day fishing trip, you don't have to worry about how long the battery might last. Replacement Batteries are about $35.00 and the size of Back up emergency lights type batteries you see in any commercial building. The unit did not tell me the speed of the boat but no matter how fast, it would maintain bottom contact and readout.The suction cup worked really well, although it did detach once on a 6 hour trip. It is not a big deal when it does detach but plan for it as you would not want the transducer wire to wrap around your prop and I keep the transducer wire short out of the boat for that reason. The unit has a wide base and small D rings to strap it down if need be. The unit in the bag has weight to it, because the battery is located inside the bag. I might have liked heavier zippers on the bag since they seem somewhat flimsy though so far the zippers are opening and closing as expected. All around a good fish-finder especially with the dual-beam which gives it that extra range.