Fish Finder/GPS

[bloyet03]

Ok, someone school me on Fish Finder/GPS units. I have no idea what to look for or even at. I want to eventually pick one up to put on my boat but, don't have any idea where to start and can't afford to just throw money at units till i find what I want or like.

I know I want GPS built in and would like it to be able to move between boats so i can use the GPS feature on my buddies boat. I would like to have the lake charts on it to help with navigation and finding the channels. I don't want to spend more then $1000 for the full setup, preferably 750 or less. Best bang for the buck is my goal.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Everyone who answers is gonna' tell you that you gotta' get exactly what they have. In my case I have a Humminbird 798 and it works well. It's also got a second memory card slot for lake charts, so that meets your criteria also. Prices on the 798 have dropped recently also, so they'll meet your criteria for budget as well.

Moving from boat to boat is going to be a bit of a challenge. You'll not only need to purchase a spare mount but also a second transducer (or else find yourself spending a lot of time moving stuff around). I've actually done just that, I have a thru-hull transducer in my go-fast boat and have the side imaging transducer on the bass boat I just rebuilt and now I have mounts installed in each boat so it's easy to move it back and forth. All I use it for in the Checkmate is seeing the bottom depth and navigation, so the side imagine transducer isn't needed for that.

edit: I see that you mentioned just using the gps in a second boat, that would only require installing a spare mount and getting power to it.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Hummingbird 587 ci hd.. $400 ish. Nice unit

 

[dingbat]

What are your priorities Sonar? Gps? Sensitivity for fishing or just depth read out?

 

[ronaldj]

Why doesn't your buddy get his own. You do not want to have to run transducers on 2 different boats. You have not mentioned what size boats you are talking about so we don't know if you are replacing a unit already installed or you are starting from scratch. Do you have room for a 7 inch unit or 5 inch unit. If nit you may need a 4 inch unit. Do you want color or black and white. I have a Lowrance unit because it came with maps already installed. I also have a separate simulator program for the same unit which runs on my PC and allows me to simulate outings. You could always get a VHF radio that has GPS. You could go from boat to boat with that. Your only issue is that a DSC radio can only have 1 MMSI number

 

[bloyet03]

What are your priorities Sonar? Gps? Sensitivity for fishing or just depth read out?

All of the above, LOL. More then anything I want the sonar for finding fish and watching depth. Depth and geometry of the bottom more so. GPS, I think I could get by with a hand held unit that I want to buy anyways with looking at doing some hunting in unknown woods (being able to find my stand back in the dark) but, I want to be able to see the depth charts for the water I'm on and where I'm at (as accurate as possible). It is going to be on a TX17 Bass Tracker.

As far as my buddies boat, I was looking to be able to use the GPS only but, I could throw that out with a good handheld unit (thinking of trying to just save cost of two units but probably would be a good idea to have two when I'm in unknown waters in the event something fails).

It has the stock unit on it still from Tracker but, it doesn't work. I think I want color. I don't begin to have a clue what type of sonar I want, down imaging, side, etc. Pros? Cons?

 

[bloyet03]

What would be a good hand held for right now? Still looking for advice on the on board Sonar/GPS.

 

[dingbat]

All of the above, LOL. More then anything I want the sonar for finding fish and watching depth. Depth and geometry of the bottom more so.

I have separate sonar and chart plotter (gps). My primary source of depth and contour information is the chart plotter. It gives me the depth of the surrounding water at a glance. I only use sonar to find fish and pinpoint objects/structure.

I don't begin to have a clue what type of sonar I want, down imaging, side, etc. Pros? Cons?

Side scan has it's place if you fish and boat in calm waters. Not so good in rough water or speeds much above idle.

Down imaging is useless IMHO. Why would you want a "photograph" of the water column when you can have a color MRI of the same area? Learn to read and interrupt a color sonar and you'll never look backl.

 

[bloyet03]

I have separate sonar and chart plotter (gps). My primary source of depth and contour information is the chart plotter. It gives me the depth of the surrounding water at a glance. I only use sonar to find fish and pinpoint objects/structure.

Side scan has it's place if you fish and boat in calm waters. Not so good in rough water or speeds much above idle.

Down imaging is useless IMHO. Why would you want a "photograph" of the water column when you can have a color MRI of the same area? Learn to read and interrupt a color sonar and you'll never look backl.

Any handheld chart plotters/gps units that you would recommend? I see there are a few by Garmin but I hear Lowrance runs more channels and connects up to more satellites (don't know for sure as i've just started looking hard).

 

[bloyet03]

I'm sure someone has a suggestion as to what handheld to look at.

 

[dingbat]

I see there are a few by Garmin but I hear Lowrance runs more channels and connects up to more satellites (don't know for sure as i've just started looking hard).

Marketing hype....it takes 4 satellites to get a fix. Like using the max speed on the speedometers a selling point.

 

[Skimmons]

I have the humminbird 598ci si. It has the 5" screen and the color option is nice. The only downside is the preloaded maps are a joke...you can buy the map cards for the area you like. The side imaging is a cool feature.

 

[bloyet03]

Marketing hype....it takes 4 satellites to get a fix. Like using the max speed on the speedometers a selling point.

so with that in mind Garmin is back on the table. do you know much about them? suggestions on them?

 

[crb478]

Ok I am cheap, but I have a basic garmin fish finder, 140 I believe, and a garmin hand held gps, 78 I believe mounted with a ram mount. It will show me tracks and let me set waypoints if I want. I can also follow it back home. It can also be taken on another boat with no problem. Would I love to have a better unit with both? Yep. Does this work? Yep

 

[bloyet03]

Ok I am cheap, but I have a basic garmin fish finder, 140 I believe, and a garmin hand held gps, 78 I believe mounted with a ram mount. It will show me tracks and let me set waypoints if I want. I can also follow it back home. It can also be taken on another boat with no problem. Would I love to have a better unit with both? Yep. Does this work? Yep

You sound like me! lol

With the 78, is the 78sc worth the extra money? I can't find anything that says for sure where the Bluechart G2 charts covers. I'm getting a feeling it doesn't cover the inland lakes, or at least not very well.

 

[dingbat]

You sound like me! lol

With the 78, is the 78sc worth the extra money? I can't find anything that says for sure where the Bluechart G2 charts covers. I'm getting a feeling it doesn't cover the inland lakes, or at least not very well.

Personally, I don't think so...the displays on those units are not much bigger than a "stickie" note (1.4 x 2.1"). Probably not bad if you can hold the unit up to your face, but I can't see having the unit in a holder on the helm and expect to see much of anything, let alone any detail. I'd advise to handle one before purchase

G2 is better suited for coastal. Lake Vu is the inland verison.

Area coverage
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on-the-water-maps/bluechart-g2/prod6452.html

Mind you, this is coming from a guy that has standard alone chart plotter and sonar, each with 8" displays and wishing I had larger.

 

[bloyet03]

Personally, I don't think so...the displays on those units are not much bigger than a "stickie" note (1.4 x 2.1"). Probably not bad if you can hold the unit up to your face, but I can't see having the unit in a holder on the helm and expect to see much of anything, let alone any detail. I'd advise to handle one before purchase

G2 is better suited for coastal. Lake Vu is the inland verison.

Area coverage
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on-the-water-maps/bluechart-g2/prod6452.html

Mind you, this is coming from a guy that has standard alone chart plotter and sonar, each with 8" displays and wishing I had larger.

I know what you mean there. I want it primarily for at night when I'm trying to get off a lake. Way to easy to get disoriented. But, I might take a look at what else garmin has to offer. See if they have anything that is waterproof and bigger. I like the handheld though for the portability.

 

[mrmamiller]

You sound like me! lol

With the 78, is the 78sc worth the extra money? I can't find anything that says for sure where the Bluechart G2 charts covers. I'm getting a feeling it doesn't cover the inland lakes, or at least not very well.

When I was looking for a new GPS, I had a hard time getting good info on the Garmin maps. Now that I have one (547XS), here is what the maps cover: The Bluechart G2 Marine Coastal covers everything on the coastal boundary of the U.S, and that means all borders, and, it also includes all rivers that flow directly into boundary waters and some of the lakes that are on those same rivers. The Garmin U.S. LakeVu covers an awful lot, including a lot of what is already covered on the Bluechart G2 Coastal. A lot of small lakes are not covered. If you have a particular area of interest (state, name of lake and a nearby town), I'd be happy to look it up on my maps (via Garmin Homeport) and let you know. FYI, I visit this forum on a "periodic" basis, ever since it became a bit more cumbersome than the "old" forum. Post a Q here or PM me. Mark