Garmin Striker 4 Review

Introduction

When you are looking for a quality fish finder or GPS then Garmin is a name that comes to mind. For this reason I wanted to do a Garmin Striker 4 review.

The Garmin striker 4 is a very popular and well known fish finder, and for good reason. This fish finder has a ton of great qualities, easy to use design, and most important is all is one of the best fish finders under $200 .

So what’s the deal? Why do you need a fish finder, and why  is the Garmin striker 4 the right fish finder for you?

First off, having a fish finder is something that I personally didn’t use for a while. I didn’t think it would really make that big of a difference in my fishing success. The reality is though, my success went through the roof when I started using a fish finder.

Being able to see the fish, and know how they are responding to your trolling or jigging allows you to make adjustments.

Also, it makes it so you aren’t just fishing areas of the lake that don’t have fish. By knowing that fish are present where your bait is increases your chances of success by itself.

The Garmin Striker 4 is such a versatile fish finder with all the basic and advanced features you need. Most notable is the CHIRP technology and GPS capabilities. These two things together will greatly increase your success on the water.

This article will cover a lot about the Garmin Striker 4, check out the table of contents for each topic and you can click each one to jump to it.

Quick Review Table (AAWP single product box)

Garmin Striker 4 Review: The Elements of Review

Chirp Sonar

When it comes to advanced technology in fish finders, CHIRP sonar is the topic that always comes to mind. This is a tpe of sonar that the military has been using for many years, but the commercial world of fishing has only recently adopted in the last decade or so.

CHIRP sonar is so much better because it is continuously sending out and receiving signals. Regular sonar will typically send out a sound wave and that wave bounces off of whatever it hits then returns to the object that sent the signal, and an image is produced based on the signal returned to the transducer.

With CHIRP sonar the sound waves are continuously being send and returned. This leads to higher quality images and greater separation between objects you can’t see. CHIRP is essentially just more continuous and consistent in the signals it sends, which ultimately translates to you seeing the fish vs a rock instead of interpreting everything below the water surface as an object that might be a fish, you can now easily discern the differences.

In summary CHIRP does two things for you:

• Clearer pictures
• Greater separation of objects

Waypoint map

I bet you have a honey hole or two at your favorite fishing spots right? The waypoint mapping capability that the Garmin Striker 4 has allows you to put a tag on that spot so you can just turn on the GPS and it will guide you to it.

This is a great feature, especially as you get out and explore new fishing spots. This allows you to tag up to 5000 points.

Having the ability to mark up to 5000 points will make it so you can go to all the lakes/rivers and mark up the spots and come back to it months or years later, and remember where the hot spots were.

One thing I have used this for is those days with limited visibility on the lake. There was one time where it started to snow and the fog settled in while I was fishing on the lake. I couldn’t see the dock or much less any shore points to know where the dock was so we could load up and get outa there before it got bad.

Having the Garmin Striker 4 made it so I could just select the dock waypoint and it guided us straight to it. That was a comfortable feeling to know that I was heading straight for the dock and not for something else.

Speed

A Garmin striker 4 review wouldn’t be complete unless we mention something that so many anglers want, the ability to track your speed while trolling.

This fish finder will let you do that. You can watch you speed on the screen, so you know that you are trolling at the right speed (about 2-3 mph).

Why is this important? Trolling at the right speed makes it so the lure you are using is “swimming” at a believable speed for the other fish, it also gives the fish you are trying to catch plenty of opportunity to bite the bait. If you go too fast they might not catch it, and if you go too slow it gives them the chance to bust you on the fact that it isn’t a real piece of food.

Built in Flasher

This is great because anytime you are stationary fishing you can see the bottom whether it is is solid of muddy. Also, because of the built in flasher you will be able to see your jig or other weighted bait. This feature will allow you to see how high your jig is being lifted, and if fish are moving away from or toward your bait.

GPS

Not all fish finders have these, but the Garmin Striker 4 has a high sensitivity GPS system that will allow you to drop a pin where the fish are biting, then using the waypoint map mentioned above you can find your way back to the hot spot whenever you want.

The high sensitivity GPS system on the Garmin Striker 4 is able to tell your current position quickly and precisely.

Modes

The Garmin Striker 4 has three different modes. Each one is slightly different and has its own purpose, but all of them do exactly what you want, they help you quickly and efficiently catch fish.

Traditional Mode: This shows the bottom structure of any object in the water. This is the mode you think of when you think of fish finders.

Flasher Mode: This mode is one that used to be popular, but went away for a while and is making its comeback. This uses flashing lights to show movement at certain depths. It is a wheel that will show you a hard stop as the bottom of the water body, and will allow you to see your jig moving up and down and you will be able to see when a fish comes or moves away from it.

Split frequency: This allows you to put two different frequencies side by side on the screen. Why is this important  though? Higher frequencies give you better details and allow you to see all the finer points, but the issue is that higher frequencies don’t penetrate as deep into the body of water as the lower ones do.

This article has great explanations 

Display

The display screen is one of the most important aspects of the fish finder for you. The Garmin Striker 4 has a 3.5 inch touch screen. This is a pretty good size for a fish finder of this overall size. Another nice thing, when the points on the screen are too close together and your finger can’t hit it just right and you end up hitting 2 or three buttons on the screen, there are buttons on the bottom portion of the fish finder to make it easier to navigate.

The display on the Garmin Striker 4 has a screen resolution of 480×320, meaning there is great details and a fair amount of pixels on the screen to allow you to see the details that the great transducer produces.

Battery

The battery is a 12 volt 7 milliamp battery. Which is pretty good for a small unit like this, the fishfinder has an indicator light to tell you that the battery is charging appropriately when you plug it in too.

One charge on the Garmin Striker 4 will get you a few good fishing trips. If you are going on a 2-3 day fishing trip without electricity, you should be able to charge it up good and not worry too much a out it lasting.

Waterproof

IPX7 rating

Waterproof up to 1 meter for 30 minutes

Basically, you could accidentally drop this fish finder into the water, and if you didn’t find it for 30 minutes in 3 feet of water, it should work just fine when you take it out of the water.

Portable Kit

So this portable kit is awesome! This makes it so you can take your Garmin Striker 4 on the ice, out on the kayak/canoe, really anywhere and have it help you find fish more efficiently. The portable kit comes with the fish finder of course as well as the carrying case.

This set up is a game changer for ice fishing, especially when it comes to flashing mode and ice fishing. Many of my friends and family have used this while we have been out ice fishing and it is awesome, I will says that I haven’t used it on the kayak quite yet, but I have heard great things about it being used that way.

You can check out the portable kit for the Garmin Striker 4 right here.

Why you need a Fish Finder

• Makes Fishing Easier: We all like easy stuff right? Especially with it comes to catching fish, the easier the better! Especially if they are big fish. Fish finders make fishing a whole lot easier, because they take the guesswork out of fishing.
• More Success: If you can see what’s below the water surface, then you can increase your chances of being in the right area at the right time. Using a fish finder just produces more fish on your line, and in your boat in general.
• More efficiency: This basically means that you will catch more fish in the same amount of time that oyu would have if you didn’t have a fish finder. We all appreciate it when the lines are hot and we just land one fish after another. Fish finders increase the likelihood that you will continually land fish.
• Better memories: If you go out and are catching fish left and right with your kids, they will remember that way more then the times where you got absolutely skunked out there. More fish create more memories, and fish finders help with that.

Choosing a Fish Finder

CHIRP

This stands for compressed high intensity radiated pulse, which means that instead of the traditional single sound wave that is sent out and then returned with sonar,  you get continuous sound pulses sent out and returned to the receiver with CHIRP. This makes the images clearer and more separation between objects in the water.

GPS

Not all fish finders have GPS, but if you want to tag a spot so you can return to it at a later time, then you need GPS.

Another important thing about GPS is the fact that most fish finders need GPS in order to calculate your speed. Having the ability to see your speed is super important when it comes to trolling. So if you plan on using the fish finder on your boat (which you should) you need to be able to see speed.

Screen

Ultimately you want a screen with higher resolution for better image quality. Having a touch screen is great, but make sure there are buttons just in case for whatever reason the screen loses its ability to be sensitive to touch (doesn’t happen much).

Waterproof

The fish finder needs to be waterproof. It doesn’t need to be water proof at 30 meters, but a meter or two is important just in case it gets dropped in shallow waters or out in the deep water with a floating case.

Other Garmin Striker 4 Review FAQs

What readouts does the striker 4 display?

This really depends on the mode you are in. The striker 4 can do depth, objects, it also has flasher mode. So ultimately, the readouts depends on the mode you are in.

Is the striker 4 waterproof?

Yes, the Garmin Striker 4 is waterproof in 1 meter of water up to 30 minutes.

Does the striker 4 have fish ID feature?

Yes, it does. You can go to the sonar set up and set it to be fish image instead of the typical arc you see on fish finders when fish are present.  You can display the fish symbol as fish with out without the depth.

Does Garmin Striker 4 have a battery?

Yes, it does. It is a rechargeable battery that can last for a few days on a single charge.

What comes with the garmin striker 4?

The basic package comes with the fish finder and the transducer.

Can the garmin striker 4 be used for Ice fishing?

Yes, with the portable kit the Garmin Striker 4 can be used for ice fishing. The flasher mode makes it a great fish finder for ice fishing actually.

The Final Verdict

This review of the Garmin Striker 4 has been pretty extensive, and for good reason. It is a good priced (but still expensive) fish finder, and I really wanted to give you as many details as I can about it.

I hope this review has helped you make a decision on the Garmin Striker 4, ultimately I love the fish finder and I think it will help you accomplish what you want to.

Check it out here.

Hope this helps

Good luck Fishing

Sean