Getting out on the lake and finding your favorite trophy fish is one of the best ways an angler can spend their weekend. But in order to make your outing more productive and end up being a successful fishing trip, you need a good fish finder to help you locate the spots fish may be hiding, as well as see the contours of the bottom of the lake or waterway so you can find potential areas where fish may be holed up for the season or for spawning.
The top fish finder can offer a range of sonar data, including narrow beam side imaging, dual beam sonar, temperature sensor information, depth contours, and many extra features. Imaging sonars can be found on single and split screens, so you have full access to viewing the fishfinder GPS and other necessary information.
In addition to being the best fish finder, having your fish finder linked to a trolling motor can help make your fishing trip easier for everyone involved and will give you more time to do other things onboard instead of having to keep a constant eye on the GPS and trolling motor yourself.
Many trolling motors include a remote control to make it easier for you to make adjustments whether you are on the boat or on the shore nearby, as many remote controls can have a range of up to 200 feet away. This gives you a wide range of choices when it comes to setting your route via the fish finder and getting the boat moving as soon as you’re ready.
In this article, we are taking a look at the best fish finder and trolling motor combos so you can quickly and easily compare stats between them and see which one might be better for your unique situation and budget. You’ll find dual spectrum CHIRP sonar results, as well as side and down imaging fish finder reviews, to give you a good idea of which combo will work best for you.
Fish Finder/Trolling Motor Combos: Quick Picks
Best Overall: Lowrance Ghost with Lowrance Elite-9
Lowrance offers an excellent pairing of their fish finder and trolling motor. The trolling motor offers extremely quiet operation, so fish aren’t scared away as you are traveling through the water, while the fish finder delivers crystal clear, real-time images so you can find fish consistently.
Lowrance is an extremely well-known and trusted name for the best fish-related technology, making them a great brand name to have on board for your future fishing trips. When you want to find fish reliably, Lowrance is the right fish finder for you.
Best Value: Garmin Force with Garmin ECHOMAP
As one of the most respected names in the industry, Garmin has you covered with their best fish finder and trolling motor combined with the Force and ECHOMAP. The portable fish finder comes pre-loaded with countless maps of coastal and inland waters, while the trolling motor can provide the same amount of thrust as a 36V motor on just 24V of power.
You’ll easily be able to use this high-quality fish finder for both coastal ice fishing and inland fishing trips. The dual spectrum CHIRP down imaging sonar waves can help you locate more fish without any more effort.
Best Mid Range: Minn Kota Terrova RT 80 with Humminbird HELIX 9
A unique pairing that offers excellent mid-range scanning and distance coverage for anyone looking for an inexpensive fish finder and trolling motor combo. Even the best fish finder requires a specified pairing with most trolling motors depending on the brand, but the HELIX 9 includes a trolling motor-friendly mount that can work with a range of different brands to give you the best fish electronics combo around.
Humminbird fish finders make use of dual spectrum CHIRP sonar and include a library of charts needed for navigation and exploration, while the trolling motor provides 80 pounds of thrust with highly corrosion-resistant components.
Best Fish Finder – Trolling Motor Combos Reviewed
Minn Kota Terrova RT 80 with Humminbird HELIX 9
The Terrova offers a robust 80 pounds of force on a 72-inch, almost indestructible shaft. This gives you a wide range of down imaging versatility regarding mounting options and uses in freshwater and saltwater. The Terrova also includes a built-in GPS lock as well as an i-Pilot link for pairing with your fish finder.
The Helix 9 is one of the best fish finders for pairing with the Terrova trolling motor. It offers CHIRP style sonar in dual beam with directional sonar to give you side and down views around your boat when you want to locate more fish quickly. The compatibility with this fish finder transducer works with all Minn Kota trolling motors to give you the freedom of choice when it comes to shaft length and thrust force.
Once paired with the i-Pilot system, this linked fish finder and trolling motor combo offers a number of premium inland lakes and coastal waters map charts for you to download and use directly on the fish finder as needed. This helps save time in locating charts and GPS coordinates for your next fishing trip. Having the best fish finder and trolling motor combo can be great for fishing boats, pontoons, and kayak fishing setups.
- 80 pounds of thrust from the trolling motor
- Extremely corrosion-resistant external components for saltwater fishing
- Helix 9 fish finder includes built-in charts similar to other fish finders
Garmin Force with Garmin ECHOMAP
When it comes to trolling motors to help you along on a successful warm water or ice fishing trip, the Garmin Force is an excellent choice for smaller fishing boats, rafts, dinghies, and kayaks, as it offers the same amount of thrust as a 36V motor while just using 24V itself.
The higher level of efficiency on the thrust range of this trolling motor can help you save money on fuel and onboard power. The 57-inch trolling motor shaft is made from corrosion-resistant metal and high-density fiberglass to give you years of use in both freshwater and saltwater. When it comes to receiving the best fish finder reviews, the Garmin line takes the cake on reliability and durability.
The Garmin ECHOMAP down imaging fish finder offers a 9-inch display with touchscreen capabilities, making it comparable to other similarly priced fish finders on the market today. The best fish finders use high-quality down imaging CHIRP sonar waves to help you locate fish and underwater structures easily. When linking the ECHOMAP fish finders to your trolling motor, you can open additional features, including detailed route waypoints and GPS markers.
- High-efficiency 24V trolling motor for any small boat
- Excellent fish finder linkage between most trolling motors
- Fish finders can be used for GPS waypoints and routes
Lowrance Ghost with Lowrance Elite-9
If you have struggled in the past with loud trolling motors scaring away your target fish or obstructing the best fish finder’s picture quality due to vibrations on the transducer mount, the Lowrance Ghost is an excellent choice. As one of the quietest trolling motors with very low vibrations, it can run at high speeds without causing excess noise nearby.
When paired with the Elite 9 fish finder dual beam transducer that offers both down and side imaging, this fish finder and trolling motor combo can deliver extremely clear images of everything around your boat, including fish, sunken structures, terrain changes, and thick vegetation with obvious target separation so you can easily locate more fish whether you are casually fishing or in a tournament.
Visual updates on Lowrance fish finders are done in real-time and displayed on the full-color monitor display so you can easily adjust your route on the fly regardless of your fishing style. Finding a trolling motor mount that works with the Elite 9 dual beam transducer fish finder can also work with a variety of Lowrance trolling motors.
- Extremely quiet trolling motor operation even at high speeds
- Fish finder imaging is crystal clear and updated in real-time
- When linked, the fish finder offers advanced Navionics for waypoints
Newport Vessels NV-Series with Simrad NSX
Made from extremely high-quality materials and created to be saltwater corrosion resistant, the NV Series trolling motor features a 30-inch shaft and can provide more than 36 pounds of thrust power. Able to run on a 12V deep cycle battery, you’ll find it can be used with Gel, AGM, or lead acid types. It can also be paired with several different fish finders as long as they have variable compatibility.
Once installed on your boat, this fish finder and trolling motor combo can provide five speeds of forward thrust and three for the reverse to give you full control over how fast and where your trolling motor takes you. While not one of the best fish finders on the market, you’ll find this fish finder and trolling motor combo is an excellent choice for anglers on a budget.
The NSX fish finder sonar offers extremely high-resolution imagery on both sides and down-scan images with the CHIRP sonar transducer mount. The 9-inch touchscreen display on the variable scan fish finder is both full colors and polarized for easy viewing in bright sunlight and can show detailed information on water depth and water temperature.
- Trolling motor provides 36 pounds of thrust on any trolling motor mount
- A fish finder can easily be used on fishing boats, dinghies, and kayaks
- Offers a 9-inch multifunction display in full polarized color
Black Haswing Cayman with Raymarine Axiom 7
Complete with a remote control, this trolling motor can easily move boats weighing up to 3,000 pounds giving you a wide range of coverage when it comes to boat sizes and types you can use this with. The engine is very quiet, giving you the upper hand and better target separation when it comes to sneaking up on target fish schools or single trophy catches, whether you are fishing in warm waters or doing some ice fishing.
When the trolling motor is running, you’ll be able to use the included remote control to make smooth adjustments to direction and speed from anywhere onboard your boat, as well as up to 170 feet away. The highly corrosion-resistant exterior materials on the trolling motor are perfect for marine environments as well as any freshwater lake maps you may be fishing at.
When paired with the Axiom 7 fish finder dual beam sonar technology, you get the benefits of a high-quality down view and side imaging CHIRP sonar with quad-core processing to give you clear images of fish and contours in real-time with no performance issues. This is the same high quality that some of the best fish finders on the market offer at a fraction of the price.
In addition, you can pair the fish finder with native Wi-Fi to download more than 20,000 inland and coastal navigation charts from around North America. This sonar data helps with charting paths, locating the best spots for catching fish, and can even help direct you towards ice fishing locations with the same accuracy as the top fish finders on the market.
- Enough trolling force to move boats just under 3k pounds
- Fish finder offers crystal clear images from down view CHIRP sonar
- Includes more than 20,000 preinstalled Navionics charts
