Best Transducer for Salmon Fishing in BC? Try the Airmar P66.
- Roy Tanami
- Jan 20
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Out of Your Depth? Readings not accurate? Cant find the bottom? Changing your transducer might help.
Over the past 30 plus years, I’ve had all those sounder issues and more, with many brands and types of transducers.
Now, like many others, I run the Airmar P66, 50/200 kHz, 600 W Transducer on both my boats. Here’s why.
Introduction
For many of us, no matter how long we’ve been on the water, the world of depth/fish finders always seems to have a healthy amount of voodoo surrounding it. And the amazing range and capabilities of currently available sonar technology can make everything seem even more confusing.
Furthermore, since test driving different types of MFD (Multi-function Display) / transducer combinations before you buy is basically impossible, deciding on the right system often feels like a blind and potentially expensive leap of faith.
If you are in this situation and looking to tweak your current system, or considering a brand new system altogether, choosing the right transducer is a good place to start. Since the MFD (multi-function display) unit basically displays the signals it gets from your transducer, the old saying “garbage in, garbage out” could not be more applicable. All major brands such as Garmin, Lowrance, Raymarine etc offer excellent MFD’s but if you pair any of them with a non-optimal transducer, you will not get the performance you’re looking for.
Operations and Use.
MFD systems and transducers combos are not one size fits all, and the waters where you typically travel and fish are an important first consideration. In other words, equipment that’s perfect for shallow lakes will not work well for offshore, blue water applications.
This discussion is for boaters on the west coast who do a lot of fishing, crabbing, prawning etc, and would probably apply to most saltwater boaters who are generally fishing in waters of 500 ft or less. For us, I would say that the main priorities for a sounder, in order of importance, would go: A) depth B) seeing / finding bait and C) seeing actual “target” fish.
Depth is obviously key to deciding fishing spots and tacks, choosing depths to fish, and identifying locations for traps. Finding bait comes in second, as being able to see bait balls and their relative size and depth can often, but not always, determine where you find fish. And lastly, while lots of folks refer to sounders as “fish-finders,” in my experience, for salmon trolling in BC, seeing fish on the sounder is the least important function of all.
In fact many, if not the majority of the fish that have ever come to my boats have done so when the screen has been totally blank of bait or fish. Seeing either bait, fish, or both can certainly help you make decisions on what depths to fish, or if and when you might change fishing spots, but otherwise, I find that both fall into the “nice to know,” rather than “need to know” category.
Setting traps is of course a different story altogether, where depth is definitely “need to know” information. After all, throwing a trap with a 100’ line into 150’ of water never works out well.
Transducer Specs.
So for these applications, you will want to have a transducer with an output of at least 500 - 600 W, with frequencies of 50 / 200 kHz.
Wattage refers to the power output of the transducer, while the frequencies refer basically to the shape and pulse of the signal being sent.
The lower 50 kHz frequency is best for deeper water (over 300’) and produces a wider “field of view” cone of 45 degrees, whereas the higher 200 kHz frequency is better for water less than 300’. It produces a narrower cone of 12 degrees, which provides clearer images in shallower waters.
Experimenting with both frequencies in various depths is the best way to see the actual differences, which honestly, can be fairly subtle.
Finally, you will find transducers with a higher, 1K W output, as well as those with the CHIRP (Compressed High Intensity Radiated Pulse) capability. While higher power output and the increased resolution and target separation of CHIRP certainly can’t hurt, in my opinion, you don’t really need either. So in my view, this decision is more about how much you want to spend vs what you actually need.
Bottom Line.
The Airmar P66 is a cost effective, tried and true favourite among coastal BC boaters and anglers. As mentioned, I run them on both my boats: one which operates on the south coast of BC near Vancouver, and the other on the north coast near Prince Rupert.
I regularly travel between trolling speed and a cruising speed of about 25 kts on both, and have no problem continually tracking the bottom even in depths exceeding 1000 ft. It shows bait balls well, and in waters shallower than about 130 feet, fish (as well as my downrigger balls), show up well too. In short, they do everything I need and want them to do, as well as things I don’t, such as give me the surface temp of the ocean.
I happen to run both of mine off Lowrance HDS Live MFDs, but the P66 is compatible with all major brands. As with any transducer, proper mounting location is vital to good operations, so it is definitely worth doing this part correctly.
Whether you’re looking to change up your sonar system or get a new one altogether, the Airmar P66 transducer is a solid, reliable choice and a good place to start.
Price and product info here.
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