GARMIN Portable Fishfinder 90 Review by Tony, May 2, 2009

• Overall Rating

What can I say? I didn’t know the first thing about fishfinders when I bought this unit to install in my Hobie Kayak. Didn’t even know how it worked, but I wanted to know where the fish were.

Installation in the kayak was pretty much a breeze although I was scared stiff to drill a hole for the wiring that plugs into the display. But it turned out better than I thought. (Gives himself a pat on the back!)

As far as the transducer was concerned, I found out that you can install it inside the hull and it still works pretty well … although you don’t get a good reading on the temperature. Duh! cause it can get warm inside the hull so you get the temperature reading inside the hull instead of the water! LOL!

But as far as giving depth ranges and fish location, it does a good/great? job. I think!

But I can’t truly admit that I used it to catch fish because that’s debatable.

Let’s just say that I certainly saw fish going by (according to the indicator/display), and it gave the depth ranges of all the fish swimming by, but catching them is another matter.

… and OH yes,it gives good audible signals as in when you’re in shallow water and about to trash your rudder! Don’t know what happens when you suddenly come across a sandbar … probably comes to a sudden stop and your kayak flips over on it’s side. While the sunbathers all laugh at you as you flop around on the sand like a fish out of water! Not a KODAK moment!

Keep in mind that this review is on the unit and NOT on the user’s fishing prowess… OK?

GARMIN Portable Fishfinder 90 Review by Bill B, July 15, 2009

• Overall Rating

Had to replace a Garmin Fishfinder 85 that failed after one year and only 3 months of service on the water. The Garmin 90 plugged into the boat’s existing Fishfinder 85 sensors and worked immediately. Does an adequate job. I don’t see a lot of differences from the Garmin 85.

GARMIN Portable Fishfinder 90 Review by Z. Simkins, August 28, 2009

• Overall Rating

Purchased this fishfinder on Amazon with $30 off when opened Amazon credit card. Installation was pretty easy, everything I needed was in a box. Took the boat out the next day on Wye River in MD, worked pretty well for me: showed water temperature at 80 degrees, finally warm! the depth gauge was pretty accurate too. I measured the depth with a pole and compared with Garmin and the accuracy was within 0.5 inches! I bought this unit because I had a budget under $100, but was looking for one that warns when the water is shallow and it also has a dual beam (you can set a narrow beam for more depth and accuracy or wider beam for greater coverage). The screen is big and clear, even in the sun thanks to a special anti-reflective coating, pretty easy to navigate through the menu, no need to load anything as this is NOT a marine GPS unit. Fish finding feature was neat (was assuring to see big and little fish on the screen). I think the manual stated the images on the screen had up to 5 seconds delay. Still not bad if you do not go too fast. I was crabbing that day, so cannot really tell if it helps you catch fish, but the images were definately clear on the screen. I did not get a portable hardware, but unless you switch between boats you do not really need it. I simply take the unit off the holder when park the boat, so it does not get wet/hot/stollen. The holder has a swiwel feature, so you can adjust it to whatever angle you like and then secure in that position. It also beeps when there is a school of fish nearby. I saw circles in the water and fish jumping, then Garmin started beeping, so it definately knows where the fish is. In overall, I think if you need a basic unit that warns you of water depth (you can set it to beep when it is less than X feet), shows where the fish is (including the depth where the fish is), and water temperature you will be happy with Garmin 90. It might not have a touch screen or complex menu options, but it definately does the trick for a lot less $. But if you also need a GPS feature, look into more expensive ones.