The Green Box

Does anybody remember this Lowrance 'fish locator'? Everyone called it The Little Green Box. This early depth sounder was battery-operated (9-volt) and you suction-cupped the transducer to the transom. It was a 'flasher' type unit and worked quite well for me back in the day. This photo was taken in 1974 at Playa Requeson. (No..I didn't have to use it to find clams!) I did find schools of fish suspended, though and I could also read the bottom to about 200 feet.

Nevertheless...my panga buddies would laugh at such a goofy device, saying it might make a good ancla.

And they usually out-fished me...but sometimes I would get into more action than they...thanks to the Green Box.

Was The Green Box...

Great pic!! Didn't need anything but bare hands to grab hadfulls of those babies back then!! Thanks for sharing this.....reminds me of.........

Iflyfishnestolgicattimeslikethis

Paladin, I've got my 'green box' too, on the wall in my game room. Hey, it might be fun to take it out for a spin at that. What fun we had with that first unit..and what high expectations it gave us for the next fishing trip! I bought mine in 1964 and it's now a colllector's item.. for me anyway.

Thinking back on sonar used in fishing, a new industry was formed in 1957 with the sale of the first transistorized 'sportfishing' sonar. In 1959, Lowrance introduced that "Little Green Box" which became the most popular sonar instrument in the world.

All transistorized, it was the first successful sportfishing sonar unit. More than a million were made until 1984, when it was discontinued due to high production costs. We've come a long way since 1957. From "little green boxes" to the latest in sonar and GPS technology. Who knows where it will be next year? One thing for sure..they are a lot of fun and perform well in Baja.