scjakester
Seaman
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2007
- Messages
- 57
Hi folks, I haven't owned a boat in a few years and I went last weekend and purchased a little Carolina Skiff J16 / Nissan 4-Stroke 25hp Tiller rig. I know people have asked this question before, but electronics change a lot in a short period of time. State of the art designs and circuits in this year's pro model equipment will be in entry level ones in 24 months. My last boat, I went "hog-wild" on the electronics and I really just ended up wasting a lot of money on features that I never used. I used 2 buttons and one of them was the on/off switch!
I never go in salt water, I just mostly fish a couple of large, man-made lakes in South Carolina (Lake Murray & Lake Wateree). I fish for Striped Bass almost exclusively, a little crappie, a little catfish, but 95% of the time I go out on seasonal patterns hunting for Stripers. I think about the deepest place I ever fish is 200' of water, though I really only care about the top 100' of it. Most of the time, I fish areas about 20'-75' at the deepest. Space is at a premium, and so is power consumption, so a smaller gizmo is probably a better choice for me. A color display is unimportant to me, but determining bottom material (sand/rock/mud) and seeing structure (suspended objects, humps, standing timber, creek channels, river beds, etc) is critical. Big buttons and a display easy to view in sunlight is important. I'd also like one that would give me a reasonably accurate depth reading on plane.
Owning this little J-Series Skiff is more of a practical effort on my part. I learned my lessons last go around so I don't want anything fancy. I don't need to own the best of the best on the market. I'd just like get an inexpensive little fish finder that works well, is easy to use, and is reliable. I have seen models from Lowrance, Garmin, Humminbird & Eagle for about $100.00 and I was wondering if anyone in-the-know might mind sharing their opinion/research with me.
Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
-Jake A.
South Carolina
I never go in salt water, I just mostly fish a couple of large, man-made lakes in South Carolina (Lake Murray & Lake Wateree). I fish for Striped Bass almost exclusively, a little crappie, a little catfish, but 95% of the time I go out on seasonal patterns hunting for Stripers. I think about the deepest place I ever fish is 200' of water, though I really only care about the top 100' of it. Most of the time, I fish areas about 20'-75' at the deepest. Space is at a premium, and so is power consumption, so a smaller gizmo is probably a better choice for me. A color display is unimportant to me, but determining bottom material (sand/rock/mud) and seeing structure (suspended objects, humps, standing timber, creek channels, river beds, etc) is critical. Big buttons and a display easy to view in sunlight is important. I'd also like one that would give me a reasonably accurate depth reading on plane.
Owning this little J-Series Skiff is more of a practical effort on my part. I learned my lessons last go around so I don't want anything fancy. I don't need to own the best of the best on the market. I'd just like get an inexpensive little fish finder that works well, is easy to use, and is reliable. I have seen models from Lowrance, Garmin, Humminbird & Eagle for about $100.00 and I was wondering if anyone in-the-know might mind sharing their opinion/research with me.
Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
-Jake A.
South Carolina
