Garmin Striker 4 Review: A Top Budget Fish Finder

Since I first started using the Garmin Striker 4 in 2020, it has remained one of my favorite fish finders for its incredible value, reliable performance, and features. Even though I’ve upgraded to another Garmin device on my tournament kayak, I still have the Striker 4 rigged up on a spare yak for friends and family to use. Here’s a look at the Striker 4 and why it remains a great budget fish finder. 

• Color Display Size: 3.5-inch diagonal 
• Display Resolution: 480 x 320 pixels
• Keyed Inputs
• GPS Enabled 
• Current Draw: .28AH
• CHIRP Sonar 
• Garmin Fish Symbol ID 
• A-scope (real-time display of fish passing through transducer beam)
• Autogain technology (minimizes clutter; maximizes targets)
• Waypoints: Up to 5,000 
• Weight: 0.5 pound
• Speed Tracking 
• Built-in Flasher 
• IPX7 water resistance rating
• Price: $130 (On Sale for $110 at Bass Pro Shops)

CHIRP Sonar

CHIRP (Compressed High-Intensity Radiated Pulse) sonar uses a range of frequencies rather than a single one, delivering improved resolution and clearer images of what’s beneath the surface.

GPS Enabled

A GPS-enabled fish finder offers navigation features, allowing you to save spots and track your movements with a dedicated waypoint button for quick access.

Low Current Draw

With its low current draw, this fish finder provides extended battery life, allowing you to stay out on the water longer.

Garmin Fish Symbol ID

Garmin’s Fish Symbol ID is a feature that helps anglers easily identify fish on the sonar display. It uses fish-shaped icons to represent fish targets detected by the sonar.

A-Scope

The A-Scope feature on the Garmin Striker 4 provides a real-time, vertical sonar display that shows fish and underwater structures as they pass beneath your boat.

Built-in Flasher

The Garmin Striker 4’s built-in flasher is ideal for ice fishing, providing a real-time vertical sonar display to track fish and bait beneath the ice.

IPX7 Water Resistance

I really appreciated the IPX7 water resistance rating of the Garmin Striker 4 since the last thing you want is a fried fish finder. The IPX7 rating means the device is protected against immersion in water up to 1 meter (about 3.3 feet) for up to 30 minutes. This ensures it can handle rain, splashes, and even brief submersion, making it reliable in a variety of conditions.

Testing the Garmin Striker 4 on the Water

After using the striker for four years, I can confidently say it’s still my top recommendation for an entry-level fish finder, especially for small watercraft.

Setting it up on a kayak is a breeze. All you need is a 4-inch YakAttack GT90 GearTrac and a YakAttack Round Base Fish Finder Mount. If you’re using a canoe or Jon boat, you can easily attach the gear track to a piece of plywood and mount it. The Striker 4 is also portable, and with the Garmin STRIKER 4 Portable Bundle, you can set it on your seat without any permanent installation.

When it comes to powering the unit, it runs on 12 volts. My favorite power solution is the Nocqua Pro Battery Kit at 4.4Ah, which has been reliable ever since. While cheaper lead acid batteries work, they’re heavier and don’t last as long as lithium-ion options. My Garmin Striker 4 runs about 19 hours on the 4.4Ah battery. It easily gets through a full day of fishing, with the potential for part of a second day without a recharge.

Once installed, the Striker 4 is incredibly user-friendly, thanks to its intuitive keyed input interface. As someone who often hits the water at sunrise, I particularly appreciate the auto-adjust feature for day and night modes. It ensures the screen isn’t blindingly bright at dawn or too dim as the sun rises. 

I began using this unit’s Fish Symbol ID to ease the learning curve. There are four options available to choose from:

• Fish Symbol: Displays suspended targets as symbols.
• Fish Symbol + Number: Adds target depth information to the symbols.
• Fish Symbol + Bubbles: Includes background sonar data along with the symbols.
• Fish Symbol + Bubbles + Target Depth: Combines symbols, target depth information, and background sonar data.

I used these features briefly as “training wheels,” and they were great for teaching me how to interpret the sonar and identify what to look for. Once I felt confident reading the sonar, I turned off the settings and relied on the raw data for more detailed feedback.

What stood out to me immediately was the ability to monitor my speed. As someone who enjoys trolling while pedaling my kayak between fishing spots, I could easily fine-tune my speeds to optimize success with my target species. I found on the lakes that I fish that 1.75 to 2.2 miles per hour was the magic speed for bass and crappie. 

The water temperature display proves invaluable. Fishing several times a week, I used it to anticipate bass behavior, especially during spawning seasons.

Depth readings were a total game-changer for me. Before using the Striker 4, I was essentially fishing blind and often stuck competing for space along the bank with most other anglers. Discovering underwater ledges and hidden topography completely transformed my strategy. Spots I had assumed were shallow turned out to have significant structure, opening up high-percentage opportunities away from the crowded areas on a busy Saturday morning. 

The CHIRP sonar was another revelation. It revealed underwater features like stump fields, logs, and humps in the middle of the lake, often holding large bass. After locating these spots, I’d circle back and cast an All Terrain swim jig paired with a Strike King Rage Swimmer (KVD Magic Color). Yo-yoing the lure back to my kayak consistently resulted in some of my best catches of the season, including several in the 5- to 6-pound range. Starting with the gain set to Auto-Medium provided a perfect balance of clarity without unnecessary clutter.

I love the built-in GPS on the Garmin Striker 4. It’s more than just a fish finder — it lets me save waypoints and track my paths, so getting back to those hot fishing spots is a breeze. Having both sonar and GPS in one device has been a total game-changer for me. I don’t have to rely on memory or landmarks anymore, and it’s made my time on the water so much more efficient. 

Where the Garmin Striker 4 Can Improve

While the Garmin Striker 4 is one of the best kayak fish finders, a few areas could be improved. The screen size is on the smaller side, which can feel limiting at times. Another downside is the lack of advanced mapping features — while it includes GPS for waypoint marking, it doesn’t offer detailed mapping, so you’re marking waypoints without much context. You’ll have to look at higher-end models if you need detailed maps. Additionally, the basic transducer, while effective, may not offer the level of detail desired by more serious anglers.

The good news is that there are several versions of the Garmin Striker 4 available with upgrades. For example, you can choose a larger screen size, or opt for the Garmin Quickdraw Contours mapping software, which allows you to create and store maps with 1-foot contours for up to 2 million acres. There’s also the Striker 4 series that includes Garmin ClearVu, a downscan technology that provides a near-picture-perfect view of what’s below your boat.

What the Garmin Striker 4 Does Best 

From my experience, the Garmin Striker 4 stands out for its intuitive, user-friendly design. I was able to pick it up and start using it right away without any confusion. The GPS and waypoint marking are straightforward, making it easy to track my location and revisit key spots. The sonar imaging is clear, and the interface is clean and responsive, so I never feel overwhelmed with unnecessary features. Plus, the low voltage draw means I didn’t have to invest in a high-amp-hour battery. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Garmin Striker 4 is an excellent entry-level fish finder for those looking to explore fish finding technology without breaking the bank. It’s especially well-suited for kayak anglers or those with small watercraft. However, if you’re looking for the latest and greatest in high-end features, this might not be the right choice. While the Striker 4 has been on the market for nearly a decade, advancements in fish finder technology have come a long way, and with that, prices have increased. Still, for beginners or casual anglers, it offers solid performance at a reasonable price. Its simplicity, reliability, and affordability make it a great starting point for anyone looking to dip their toes into fish finding. For those who need more advanced features later on, Garmin offers upgraded versions with enhanced functionality, ensuring there’s room for growth as your fishing needs evolve.