Fish finder for christmas?

[andrewsailor]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

I have a humminbird 383c portable which has a built in map,but living in Canada,the map is not too good at all,also i use a humminbird 587 on my other boat , I purchased a navionics chip for Canada and that is awesome,I only really use the GPS on the 383 for speed and all the features on the 587.
Hope this helps.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

...If you do recording while you are on the water, I recommend the Sandisk Extreme III for the fastest recording times. You can save waypoints which will capture the screen image, too.

THAT is a really cool feature! I didn't know about that! I have the 480 unit- maybe I will need to shop a little 'deeper" before I get a unit for GPS.

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

THAT is a really cool feature! I didn't know about that! I have the 480 unit- maybe I will need to shop a little 'deeper" before I get a unit for GPS.

Look for one that has two SD slots. One can be used for map chip and other to record to. Otherwise you have to do musical SD chips with one slot.

 

[whofan]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

There was a time I would buy a Lowrance product over a Humminbird.
Now days I`m 180deg. different.
Take a look at the 500 series Humminbird products. They are a good budget to middle road compromise.
If you get a good Lowrance out of the box, your lucky, and have a great product.
If you don`t God help you!

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

There was a time I would buy a Lowrance product over a Humminbird. Now days I`m 180deg. different. Take a look at the 500 series Humminbird products. They are a good budget to middle road compromise. If you get a good Lowrance out of the box, your lucky, and have a great product. If you don`t God help you!

Yes, I hear that a lot. But I have friends who have 500-series Humminbirds. I liked one a friend had on his 19' Mirrocraft, but he kept having software issues. Others swear by Humminbird, too, but have other weird issues. All the local bass guys love 'em (HB).

Not too many I know have Eagle and/or Lowrance. I have only owned one Humminbird, but still have a working Eagle Fish ID Pro... No problems from any of us with Eagles... That's my mileage- yours may vary, so I am sticking with Eagle. In fact if I had $5K to blow there is this Lowrance I would enjoy.

I will shop the HB over the winter, but if Lowrance/Eagle will do what I want and not exceed my computer's ability to use all the features, I will probably stay with an Eagle product. I have the Fishmark 480 right now and so far I love it. Will love it more once I get used to the menu options I imagine! The Fish ID - I could get rid of clutter and still mark fish in seconds with that... The resolution on the 480 is so good and there are several menus for dealing with filters and clutter which I haven't mastered yet.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

I've been using a now very old Garmin GPS12map handheld GPS for both fishing and in the car for years. You do not need a combo locator/gps unless your livelyhood depends on it. Any GPS will get you back to the dock if you mark it as a waypoint to start with. Hit the Track Back button and away you go. Set your fishing spots as waypoints and you can always be taken back there. You don't need a picture of the lake to be displayed to use a gps. It provides one more bit of information if you have a mapping unit but it is not necessary. Waypoints simply show up as marks on a blank screen. You just don't see the outline of the lake. Buy a good locator and a separate handheld gps that you can also use for hiking, campling and if it is a mapper, in the car as well. Chances are 99% of the time you will not use the gps anyway. On combo units, if the GPS goes sour chances are the locator does too and vice versa. So why replace both units when with separate units you replace or repair the one that's broken. Obviously if you have deep pockets a "budget" does not enter the picture. I use my handheld when I'm on a large lake for the first time, and especially on large lakes with lots of bays, islands and inlets that all look the same after a few hours. If you mark the start of the trip and a few waypoints you can easily get back to the ramp with no problem.

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish finder for christmas?

If you are buying a new fish finder today, it's almost a no-brainer to go for the gps combo for the $100-$150 more. You can keep your handheld for redundant back-up if you need to navigate in big water. I hardly ever use the gps for navigation, it is nearly all fishing.

I had seperate gps and fish finder, and was fine until I got a combo. The combined features and less hassle, lead me to sell the Intellimap 502c.

If you fish the same waters you end up with hundreds of waypoints to mark fish and structure. Over time it is almost impossible to remember which was what. You can try to be dilligent and save text to the waypoint, but its a bit of a hassle. Having a snapshot to review will quickly jog your memory. I have mentioned the recording and playback and ability to set waypoints from the recordings at home.

As far as unit failure, I have never had one, be it any brand, on the water, outside of a battery or a wiring connection.

Yes, it is not for everyone, but if you are or plan to be more than a casual fisherman, its worth looking into what is available in a combo unit.