Fish Finder Help!!

[mattfish11]

I'm looking to upgrade the fish finders on my tracker... I have $600 to spend and would like to upgrade my console-mount FF as well as my bow mount...

Can anybody make some suggestions? There are sooo many out there I'm confused every time I start looking!

I prefer to get FF/GPS that are compatible with navionics chips...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fish Finder Help!!

I personally feel that unless you are a tournament fisherman with equipment sponsors, a combo GPS/Locator is not a good investment. If either the GPS or Locator function takes a dump you are very likely out both functions. Why not buy two quality locators and one handheld GPS that you can also use in your car or anywhere else for that matter. This is especially true if you happen to fish the same water frequently. You don't need a GPS on familiar water.

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish Finder Help!!

I am not a tournament fisherman but would opt for a combo unit for the console. If you want to mark structure or fish, with most combo units, you can move a cursor back over the spot you want to save and mark it. If you save on a handheld or seperate gps, you add the distance that you have already traveled to the gps error, or guess how far back on the plot it was. To get back to that mark point can easily require a search pattern over using the curser option.

Just something else to consider and may depend on the type of fishing you regularly do.

 

[Randybeall]

Re: Fish Finder Help!!

Many hand held gps units allow you to set waypoints on a trek. Simply set each lake up as a trek and add waypoints where you want to go. GPS error is a function of money, you can buy accuracy down to about 1 meter, you don't need that. Get with in 10 meters and your fish finder can show you the honey hole your wanting to drop in.

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish Finder Help!!

There are advantages of having seperate units like Silvertip suggested. There is no arguing one function lost, you probably have lost both. Now if you had two combo units...

I tried the standalone GPS (Eagle Intellimap 502C) with standalone 2D Fish/depth finder. If after going over a brush pile or other small structure, it was hit or miss if I chose the right position behind the boat. If there wasn't a WAAS lock, then the miss was highly likely.

I switched my console finder to a Humminbird 797C2 SI. Trying the above still lead to errors. Using the cursor and positioning over the 2D structure has provided a much more accurate return location. It is very valuable for side imaging. I can mark a bolder, log, tree, etc which is behind and off to the side, and then return to casting distance, and able to fish it without ever passing directly over the spot.

When I am done fishing, I will creep over the spot and mark it on the standalone. Because of the SI, and 797 screen size, I use the Intellimap for most GPS and Lake Map duties. It is just this one feature that the combo provides, that seperates are more difficult. It may not be important, but depends on the type and water the fishing is done on. Or you can just call me hardcore!

I may be getting some additional accuracy with the 797 because I have the ext gps antenea mounted within 2 feet of the transducer. The 502 has internal antenea, and there is about a 6 foot offset. Again, I am typically looking for the needle in a haystack vs a basketball.