Looking to purchase a fishfinder for my boat over the winter. There seems to be many options.
I want to buy it right the first time.!
Any advice would be Greatly appreciated.
Best to all, tia
Ed
Printable View
Looking to purchase a fishfinder for my boat over the winter. There seems to be many options.
I want to buy it right the first time.!
Any advice would be Greatly appreciated.
Best to all, tia
Ed
that's like picking a boat. everyone has their favorites. I've been running lowrance for over 30 yrs. I also have a raymarine which when it works is great but it fogs up every single time it's turned on for over an hour! factory couldn't find a problem. but it does work great. the toughest part for me would be learning a new product to where I can control it like I want to. just takes alot of time. if you don't have a top/bimini color units can be a pain. I have 3 color units and one monochrome. I'll take a monochrome for GPS ( which you didn't mention) anyday as I can always see it. but color tells you alot more about the structure and fish size than monochrome. you'll have to decide what your expectations/needs are. down imaging? side imaging? how much do you like working with advanced systems. there are dvd's and classes that will help with your learning curve depending on the manufacture/unit you pick.
probably didn't help you any. but just some things to think about.
depends when you want to buy it, bass pro lowers the price on
last year units by up to 50 percent, this way you can get twice
as much a unit for the same amount of money. We also use
lowrance and ray marine, its all we ever used. this usually
happens in jan. to first part of feb.
Wayne reel sport charters
Yes, there are several choices out there with options that some will never or seldom use. Figure what you want to spend then get the best unit you can buy. Lowrance is what I use also, they came out with a new combo unit series. They are called the "Elite" series. Nice unit for the money. I have the HD series and its great for what I do. I prefer all color for ease of seeing what is what even from a short distance. Garmin has a few nice units also. Do the research since you have a few months before you need it. Do you already have a GPS ? Eagle is made by Lowrance if you didnt know, basically the same product. How much will you be using your boat is also a deciding factor. I wouldnt spend $1000 on a unit and only fish 4-5 times a year. Dont forget a good compass if your unit ever quits on ya while out there. Done that one already. I sent in my old non working unit to Lowrance and they sent me a nice discount off a new Lowrance unit. Just some food for thought. Good luck !
Jack,Wayne and Greg
I will be hitting lake erie with a 1992 thompson 240 Hardtop hopefully next yr 2012.. Just bought the boat this fall, having some upgrades done as we speak. Trim tabs, epoxy floor with wash down, 2200 gpm bilge with alarm, 5yr bottom paint with some other extras.
Been reading alot on the Lowrance HDS systems. LSS-1 add on also. I see where Lowrance has a dvd to help you with learning curve.
What i can gather is the hds model whether it be the 8 or 10 in screen they are the same as far as functions.
I think they all have built in gps.
My question would be what bells and whistles i need and can live without.
Just a thought on the raymarine fogging up the first hr of use. Maybe put plastic bag over unit after using it. Sounds like moisture is getting into unit, seal broken..? plastic bag and rubber band. just a thought.
Watching Pro Bass, Cabelas, and Amazon. I love Al Gore. Lol
I hope to use the boat 2-3 days a week after april 15.
Boat came with the standard black 3 or 4 in compass. But know exactly what you mean..!
I'm also in the market for a broken mid range lowrance fish finder. Thanks for the heads up.
Thank you all for the ideas and what to look for.
Any other thoughts are welcome.
Thanks
Ed
the seal on the raymarine is fine. not sure how it gets moisture inside. the fog would NEVER clear up to where you could see the screen at all till I took it apart and drilled some vent holes in the bottom. now it take a good hour to clear up. been like this for 2 or 3 yrs. almost did a 6,000lb truck test on that sucker. from the day I got it. it has been like that. the factory said nothing wrong with it. won't be buying raymarine again. buddy has 2 of their top of the line units on his boat. he removed on and replaced with a lowrance. he won't be buy raymarine again either. he has other problems that they say aren't there/can't fix.
here's another spot to watch for electronic's.
http://www.jollyannsales.com/
and fishing stuff
http://www.ffo-tackle.com/
I go on cabelas web sites go to boating, then electronics pick the the unit I think I want then read the products reports that other customers rite in, there not bashfull to tell you that the unit is junk or great. Then you have some kind of idea what decision you might want to make. Good luck PAP!!!
The HDS options are many, speaks for the 1500 price range. I have the Serius weather option which I like but has monthly fee. I could have the sidescan but its basically a different transducer. I have the radar option but dont have a radar. I probably dont use half of the options yet. I new a guy that was a salesman for a large outdoor supply place and knew the electronics very well. He liked Lowrance and Garmin equally, but that Garmin was easier to use. Lowrance, you have to open a few windows to make a change, not easy when running in 4 ft waves. For instance when I hit the manoverboard icon, but of course nobody fell over thankfully. Lowrance gives alot for the money if you want to use all the options, but if you just want to know where you are and can see fish on the bottom, you decide. Of our 2 boats, I have Lowrance and the other is Garmin. The use of data chips ( Navionics ) is good option that Lowrance has. Pop out the Lake Erie chip and enter a Gulf of Mexico chip.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmilinEd
More food for thought.
i also have a lowrance gps fishfinder combo hds series i love it cost was high but had it 5 years with no problem. has a lot of things on it i dont use but it is fun to play with .when i bought mine i went to lowrance .com and downloaded a simulater for my model to my computer got out the owners manual and played with it over the winter. and was ready to go i use mine for fishing waypoints and the fishfinder and use the trails when trolling it is loaded with functions that i dont use
I have had them all,Garmin, lowrance, hummingbird, and raymarine just to name a few. I now use Furuno except for my autopilot, it is Raymarine. I have the Nav Net II series 10.4" screen with radar and GPS and I have a seperate fishfinder it is Furuno 620. I love this set up and works well for me. If I were to change anything I would get the Furuno 585 fishfinder. Its the same as the 620 but a larger screen. The Radar/GPS unit was expensive ($4000 +) with raydome and sensor, plus an electronic compass so the radar can be overlayed the GPS. The fishfinder and transducer was around $1000. I did like the garmin unit I had, it was very user friendly. This Furuno equipment is much more difficult to figure out. I spent days at the dock just going through the manual and learning how to use all the features. I also prefer C-MAP charts over Navionics, C-MAP more accurate and better detail. Just my 2 cents worth on marine electronics. There are a lot of deals out there now on electronics. Check out thegpsstore.com, defender.com, tuppensmarine.com, boe.com, just to name a few, if you know what your looking for you can find some great used equipment on E-Bay. I avoid Bass Pro and Cabelas for electronics, great places to purchase tackle but when it comes to electronics they don't have a clue. One more thing I have a good amount of cash wrapped up in electronics, but I did also purchase a top of the line compass and a good set of charts learned how to use them.
Mkalink,
The Furuno 585 looks very interesting. I will call gpsstore tomorrow. What transducer did you go with.? Even though the unit does not have gps/charts. i'm not against 2 pieces of electronics on dash.
Anyone for the pros and cons of have 2 separate units, one fishfinder/sounder and one for gps/charts..?
Thanks for everyone's input.
Best to all
Ed
I cant think of any cons but the pros would be , if one doesnt work you still have the other. You dont have to flip flop screens like some units. Some units its hard to get the just right screen that just has all the info right there. two units you can set one up and still be looking at the other. One boat I run has 2 gps and one fishfinder. Only have to zoom in-out. Spend more time fishing and less time playing with electronics. If you are fishing the eastern depths of Erie the sidescanning option would be a waste in my mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmilinEd
I've been running 2 units on my dash for 10 yrs. 3 units now since the raymarine only gets used part time.. see other post. when running around the islands etc I run both as gps with depth displayed digitally on the screen. one zoomed in to 1 to 2 miles the other zoomed out to 8 miles. this way I can stay on track for where I'm going to start looking for fish and make sure I don't get to close to any of the reefs. also when it gets nasty out there. much easier to stay on course with shorter glances at the screens as my eye sight sucks :D then I switch to fishfinder when I'm ready to start looking for fishable fish.
Haha wait until you get to decide on a chip if you are going to go that route, decision time all over again. I put a humminbird 788ci on my boat, first year with it and was happy with it. Also this is my first year on lake erie so not much experience. I also bought the navionics hotmaps, and it was everything I wanted, shows nice depth contours etc, but I do not fish in canada and also wanted some other lakes in ny. I don't think it shows canada? Also I am in the eastern basin. I found it was easy to get yourself too busy trying to find fish on electronics, sometimes you just need to fish.
I think the 2 separate unit gps/charts and fishfinder makes good sense.
After reading up on the different combo units for 2 wks i have to say it was a little confusing. Thought there were many good options.
I think right now I am leaning towards the Furuno 585 and the Standard Horizon CP190i 5" color chartplotter.
Going to give it few days to digest...
Talked with the boat shop today, should have boat home by next saturday.
Just want to say thanks to everyone for their help/advice in this.
Any other last minute thoughts are still welcome.
Thanks again
Ed
I have always had seperate fishfinder and gps, I really never liked the thought of switching back and forth on the same screen. My brother had a fishfinder/gps and I didn't like it too much (I gave him my Garmin unit and bought a new furuno unit) I like to know where I am going and I also like to watch for fish and different structure as I am going. The best day walleye fishing I ever had on my own boat could have never been if I was switching screens. I was running from north west of rattlesnake and just came around about 1 mile south of South Bass and right in the middle of the Miller Ferry Line I marked a bunch of fish. I shut the boat down and we started casting, 1 hour 15 minutes and 38 walleyes later we were heading back to East Harbor. This was a few years back when the limit was still 10. I always tell this story when somebody asks me whether to buy a multi unit or buy 2 seperate units.
I have a fishing buddy in the marina that has a standard horizon gps with a 10 inch screen, it is a very nice unit and very easy to see and operate. He also has a furuno 620 fishfinder too.
The transducer I have for my furno 620 is the SS60-SLD. The boat wasn't mine 24 hous yet and I drilled a 2 3/8" hole in the bottom of it, but it work great at all speeds. This same transducer can be used with the 585 also.
Boat is home,
Feel like a boat owner now. Bought it 2 months ago, had the upgrades done. brought it home friday night. Just cleared the 10ft door with an inch to spare. lol Told the wife I didnt know what we were going to do when we add the Furuno DRS4A NavNet 3D 3.5' 4kw digital Open Array Radar on the hardtop, lol
I'll post pics next week.
Best to all
Ed