Back in business

[Dr.Ed]

Yesterday was the first day that everything on the boat worked properly. New GPS/Chartplotter helped a lot. Trolled the west side of Kelley's with copper willow blades with watermelon colors back 42' (Paul Warfield) with a 1 oz snapon and another 42" feet to my Church Walleye boards at 1.7 mph. All nice 20" to 24" nice eaters. Lost a Fish Ohio about 15' from the boat. I guess he saw me and did a 180. I started with scorpion spoons but caught nothing but white bass. That whole west side of the island out 1-2 miles is loaded with fish. All I can say is if you all go running over there, respect your fellow fishermen and know the rules on right of ways. It's a big lake so spread out and enjoy the day. Happy Fishing.....

[wakina]

My curiosity has gotten the best of me! I was wondering which GPS/Sonar unit you ended up getting.

I know that after using them for who knows how many years that I feel kind of naked without them, especially the sonar. When I started out fishing the lake there were no such gadgets for us to spend our money on, heck they didn't even know what a satillite was let alone a GPS.

First sonar gizmo I had was a Ray Jefferson flasher I purchused at Sears Roebuck for $59.00 at the Great Eastern Shopping Plaza on Woodville Rd on the edge of Toledo, then several graphs with the paper and stylus headachs, a Vexlar Video sonar followed by several H-birds, Eagles and Lowrance units Leading up to today. My first electronic direction plotter was a Sitex Loran-C which worked like a champ.

[Dr.Ed]

I ended up with the Lowrance Elite 7 for several reasons. First, I was familiar with the various functions so I didn't have to relearn from scratch. Second, the connectors were the same so I didn't have to yank out the old and put in the new. I could use the electric and transducer cables and the old transducer images are remarkable. Last but not least, the price. I researched the internet and found this one for $500 plus free shipping while it is listed for $800. The old 520c unit had a 5 inch screen. This Elite 7 is a step up.

[wakina]

Let me guess the 520C was an Eagle which was the economy line for Lowrance! I liked them better than the Lowrance units. They all used the same transducers before the down-vision became popular.

Have heard some really good reviews on the Elite 7 there are allot of happy users out there and the price is very reasonable also. I bought a new Airmar Transducer model P66 for my HDS unit but still was not sure the HDS unit would work as intended, and the jury is still out on the HDS unit to date, but it is much better. LOL, It may just be the operator!!!! I also purchased a Raymarine Dragonfly 7 GPS/Sonar/Downvison and am happy with its performance so far. The Dragonfly7 is basically a plug and play stand alone unit that is extremely easy to operate without all of menus and pages buttons to learn. I just love the chirp technology that it provides and the crystal clear sonar images it displays. Those tasty little perch can no longer hide in the clutter a standard sonar produces.

[MasterKraft]

I bought the elite 7 hdi this year myself. It was nice to be able to use existing power cable. I got the bundle and had to pull the transducer cable through. The body is much bigger than my old one, I didn't think it would be compatible with the downscan imaging. It is pretty nice, user friendly but I can't say its been filling my cooler. Lol

[Dr.Ed]

To clarify something, my old GPS was a Lowrance LMS 520c with blue connectors which were compatible with the new Lowrance Elite 7 HDI so by unplugging the old unit and plugging in the new unit, I am back in business with all the info I need to win the battle with the elusive walleye. I'll be at the Catawba ramp tomorrow and Sat at 7:30 AM. I'll be on Ch. 68 and listening to all with scanner.

[Bggeary]

Thank you for clearing that up Doc. I'll try to raise you Sat.