It doesn't matter which bottom machine you choose if you select a poor transducer or one that's not suited to your type of fishing. Asking a unit to do something it wasn't designed to do is just going to produce frustration and poor results. However, if you want your sonar to penetrate the deep, and if you like the thought of "dialing in" your beam width and transmitting power, then the new R209 transducer from Airmar should shoot to the top of your list.

This heavyweight features Airmar's new broadband technology and operates on any frequency from 33 kHz to 60 kHz and 130 kHz to 210 kHz. With this unit, you are no longer relegated to using a 50/200 or 38/200 dual-frequency transducer. The R209 allows you to change the beam width and power to suit the conditions for the day's fishing. You can even tune the transducer to specifically target a particular depth. The narrow, high-frequency beam provides great bottom detail that allows users to distinguish fish holding close to structure, while the wider, low-frequency beam covers more ground and illuminates a wide area around the boat. For more information, visit www.airmar.com.