Fish finders NZ: what to buy for a kayak, tinny or trailer boat

For most NZ boats, a CHIRP fish finder with down imaging, GPS and a built-in NZ chart covers what you need. Expect about $300 to $600 for a kayak or small dinghy unit, $900 to $2,000 for a trailer boat with a 7 or 9 inch screen, and more for side imaging, live sonar or a launch setup. Fit the transducer carefully: it causes more poor readings than the screen does.

A fish finder and chartplotter screen showing depth marks over a reef — Image: Peter Southwood, Wikimedia Commons · CC0

Our shortlist

01
Best for kayaks and small dinghies
Garmin STRIKER Vivid 4cv
Small, light on power and shows bottom and fish clearly to about 100 m in salt water. A small lithium battery runs it all day. There's no chart, but you can save marks and draw your own depth map.
- 4.3 in screen
- CHIRP and ClearVü down imaging
- GPS marks, no chart
- About 0.4 A draw
$439Check price
02
Best for tinnies and first boats
Garmin ECHOMAP UHD2 55cv
The cheapest way to get a proper NZ chart and a fish finder in one screen. The transom transducer suits aluminium tinnies, where an in-hull mount won't work.
- 5 in screen
- CHIRP and ClearVü
- Navionics+ AU/NZ chart included
- Transom transducer
$879.99Check price
03
Best for trailer boats
Lowrance Elite FS 9 with Active Imaging 3-in-1
A 9 inch screen with side imaging and an NZ chart for about $2,000. Lowrance is the brand NZ boaties mention most.
- 9 in touchscreen
- CHIRP, DownScan and SideScan
- C-MAP AUS/NZ chart included
$1,999 (was $2,701.35)Check price
04
Best for fishing from the shore or rocks
Deeper PRO+ 2
Clip it on and cast it out to see depth, weed and fish in front of you, and map a beach gutter or reef edge as you wind it in.
- Castable, uses your phone
- 3 beams and GPS
- Maps depth as you retrieve
- Up to 9 hours battery
$529Check price

How we chose these

We read 35 fishing.net.nz threads where NZ boaties compare fish finders and ask for buying advice (2017 to 2026), and checked each model’s specifications on the maker’s site. We then checked price and stock on the live product pages at Burnsco, Marine Deals, Smart Marine and Garmin NZ on 24 October 2026, and only list models in stock that day. We haven’t tested these units ourselves. None of the links earns us money (how fishspecies.nz is funded).

What you need for your boat

Boat	Screen	Must have	Example in stock (24 Oct 2026)
Kayak	4 to 5 in	CHIRP, GPS for marks, low power draw, kayak transducer mount, small battery	Lowrance Eagle 4x $299, Garmin STRIKER Plus 4 $299, STRIKER Vivid 4cv $439
Shore, wharf or rocks	Your phone	Castable sonar	Deeper START $299, Deeper PRO+ 2 $529
Tinny or dinghy, 3 to 4.5 m	5 to 7 in	CHIRP, transom transducer, GPS	STRIKER Vivid 5cv $599.99, ECHOMAP UHD2 55cv $879.99 (NZ chart included)
Trailer boat, 4.5 to 7 m	7 to 9 in	NZ chart, CHIRP, down imaging; side imaging if you fish shallow reef	Lowrance Elite FS 7 or 9 $1,799 or $1,999, ECHOMAP UHD2 75sv or 95sv $2,199.99 or $2,499.99, Lowrance HDS-9 PRO $3,499
Launch, 7 m and over	9 in and up, networked	Through-hull or in-hull transducer, 1 kW sonar for deep water, full NZ chart, radar	Garmin GPSMAP 953xsv $2,999.99 plus transducer, Simrad NSS4 12 $6,999 plus transducer

Prices are the shelf price at one retailer and vary between shops. The Lowrance Elite FS 9 was $1,999 at Marine Deals and $2,349 at Burnsco and Smart Marine on the same day. Burnsco and Smart Marine also show lower member prices.

The features explained

CHIRP sonar

Older fish finders send each sonar pulse at one frequency. CHIRP sweeps each pulse across a range of frequencies, which separates fish sitting close together or close to the bottom into separate marks. Almost every unit on sale now uses CHIRP; the Lowrance Eagle 4x is an exception.

Down imaging and side imaging

Both use thin, high-frequency beams to draw a near-photographic picture of the bottom.

Down imaging looks straight down. Garmin calls it ClearVü, Lowrance DownScan and Humminbird Down Imaging. It shows reef, wrecks and bait under the boat in detail.
Side imaging looks out to both sides (Garmin SideVü, Lowrance SideScan). It covers far more ground in one pass, so you can find foul or a reef edge and go back to fish it. It needs a transducer with side elements: look for “sv”, “TripleShot”, “3-in-1” or “SI” in the name.

The higher the frequency, the sharper the picture and the shorter its range. Garmin’s guide puts its UHD ClearVü at about 60 m at the sharpest setting.

Frequency and depth

Low frequencies (such as 50 kHz) reach deeper with a wide beam. High frequencies (200 kHz and up) show more detail in shallower water. Airmar rates one transducer to about 735 m at 50 kHz and about 294 m at 200 kHz. If you fish for hāpuku or bluenose in 150 m or more, plan on a 1 kW transducer, which most small units can’t run.

Makers’ depth figures are best cases. Burnsco publishes its own “realistic in salt water” depths: about 60 m for fish on the smallest units, about 100 m on a STRIKER Vivid or ECHOMAP UHD2 7 inch, and 150 m on an Elite FS with Active Imaging.

Live sonar

Live sonar shows a moving, real-time picture of fish and your lure in front of or below the boat, rather than a scrolling history. Garmin LiveScope and Lowrance ActiveTarget are the main systems. It’s an add-on: the transducer alone costs about $3,300 to $3,900, and you need a compatible display, ideally 9 inches or more. Garmin quotes LiveScope 2 to about 76 m. It’s usually mounted on a bow electric motor or a pole.

Transducers and mounting

Mount	Suits	Watch out for
Transom	Trailer boats and tinnies, any hull material	Needs clean water flow; not for inboards or stepped hulls
Through-hull	Launches and bigger boats	Needs a hole in the hull; usually a professional fit
In-hull (shoots through the hull)	Solid fibreglass hulls	Doesn’t work through aluminium, wood or cored hulls
Kayak in-hull or scupper arm	Sit-on-top kayaks	Needs a flat section of hull
Trolling motor	Bow-mount electric motors	Points wherever the motor points

Aluminium boats need a transom mount. Fit it where water flows smoothly off the hull, clear of strakes, rivets and the propeller.

NZ charts

Unit	NZ chart included?
Garmin STRIKER range, Lowrance Eagle 4x	No chart. You can save marks, and Garmin’s Quickdraw draws your own depth map
Garmin ECHOMAP UHD2 and GPSMAP	Yes: Navionics+ AU/NZ, activated in the ActiveCaptain app, with a year of updates
Lowrance Eagle 5, 7, 9 and Elite FS	Yes: a C-MAP AUS/NZ chart
Simrad NSS4, Humminbird HELIX	No. A chart card costs about $180 to $400

Power

Boat units run off the 12 V battery and draw little, about 0.4 A for a STRIKER Vivid 4cv and 1.5 to 1.7 A for an ECHOMAP UHD2 7 or 9 inch. On a kayak, a 7 Ah lithium battery (about $100) runs a small unit all day.

From the boat ramp

We gathered fish finder advice from Kiwi boaties on the forums.

Get the transducer right first. When readings drop out at speed or show nothing, the transducer position is the usual cause. Owners move it until it sits in clean water, not behind a strake or rivet line.
Start with the basics. Several owners with side imaging say they rarely use it. CHIRP and down imaging find bottom and fish in the 10 to 40 m most of us fish.
Down imaging beats old-style arches. Owners who’ve upgraded say the picture of reef and bait is the biggest step up.
Your phone can be the chartplotter. On a small boat, the Navionics app on a phone or cheap tablet gives you a good NZ chart for a small yearly fee.
Live sonar is for the keen. Owners recommend it if you chase kingfish, tuna or marlin a lot, not for general bottom fishing.
Think about the network. If you might add a second screen, radar or an autopilot later, check how many displays the unit can link to before you buy.

Buy the screen you can read in the sun and learn it properly. A basic unit you understand will find more fish than a flash one you don’t.

Sean Lewis, fishspecies.nz

Brand notes

Garmin sells the widest range in NZ shops, from the STRIKER (no chart) to the ECHOMAP and GPSMAP chartplotters, which include Navionics+ AU/NZ. LiveScope is its live sonar.

Lowrance is the brand NZ boaties mention most on the forums. The Eagle is the entry range (it replaced the HOOK Reveal in NZ shops), Elite FS the mid range and HDS PRO the top. Most come with a C-MAP AUS/NZ chart.

Simrad is Lowrance’s sister brand, aimed at bigger boats. Its entry GO and Cruise units weren’t in stock at the NZ retailers we checked.

Humminbird has a smaller NZ presence. The HELIX 7 was in stock; the HELIX 5 was special order only.

Furuno and Raymarine are mostly fitted to launches and bigger boats, often by a marine electronics installer.

Questions

What is the best fish finder for a small boat in NZ?

For a tinny or small trailer boat, a 5 to 7 inch CHIRP unit with down imaging, GPS and a built-in NZ chart covers most fishing. Garmin's ECHOMAP UHD2 55cv ($879.99 at Burnsco on 24 October 2026) includes Navionics+ AU/NZ. Use a transom-mount transducer on an aluminium hull.

Do I need side imaging?

Not to start with. Side imaging shows structure out to each side, which is useful for finding reef and foul in shallow water, but many owners say they rarely use it. CHIRP sonar and down imaging do most of the work.

Is live sonar worth it?

Only if you fish a lot for kingfish or other fish you can see and target, and have a 9 inch or bigger screen. Live sonar costs about $3,300 to $3,900 for the transducer alone and works to about 75 m.

Do fish finders come with NZ charts?

Some do. Garmin's ECHOMAP and GPSMAP units include Navionics+ AU/NZ, and Lowrance Eagle and Elite FS units come with a C-MAP AUS/NZ chart. Garmin STRIKER and the Lowrance Eagle 4x have no chart. Simrad NSS and Humminbird units need a chart card, which costs about $180 to $400.

Why is my fish finder losing the bottom at speed?

Usually the transducer position. Air bubbles from the hull, strakes or rivets in front of the transducer break up the signal. Move it to where water flows cleanly off the transom, and set it just below the hull, square to the water.

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