GPS for fishing?

[smitty2640]

I have now looked at just about every color GPS under $500. Both handheld and Perm. mount.

From Garmin, Hummingbird, Lowrance, Eagle, etc..

Every time I think I found a descent color unit. I read reviews and there are negative posts.

To make a long story short- Can you please advise me of a descent color unit for under $500. Handheld or permanent mount. I can always get a RAM mount for a handheld. With a semi larger screen like the H2O from Lowrance.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[buckw13]

Re: GPS for fishing?

Don't know if this will help, but i have the Lowrance xog and love it. It can be used in the vehicle for turn by turn then used on the water, and with the chip you can get the fishing hotspots. The screen is smaller than you want but for an all around gps it works great

 

[david_r]

Re: GPS for fishing?

i have a h2o and i love it...........i havent ponied up the $100 for the maps yet and i havent found a way to get those "free" maps from the net yet.....but it works great with the map it has.

 

[Splat]

Re: GPS for fishing?

ok I'll throw a wrench into the mix. I use a garmin 60CSX handheld and have a ram mount plus a cable running to my batteries so I can run the thing for weeks with the backlight on. Anyways I LOVE IT. but I also use it for driving directions, and Geocaching as well as on the boat. It's a great multi purpose unit.

Bill

 

[timalabim]

Re: GPS for fishing?

Every time I think I found a descent color unit. I read reviews and there are negative posts.

I have found that if you look hard enough you can find a negative review or post about anything. It is actually easier to find negative posts since a person with a bad experience is more likely to post some comment than a satisfied customer.

I also have a Garmin, a GPSMAP 76CSx. I did shell out for the additonal maps, Citi Navigator and Inland Lakes. I use it in for turn by turn directions in the car and in the boat. This is my third hand held and favorite so far.

 

[joe09]

Re: GPS for fishing?

do a search and see if you can get the garmin 498 c.it is a discoed unit but still available.try marine closeout.com.a great unit.go with the fixed mount.bigger screen,less tbl holding and nav the boat.external antenna if you have any overhead cover.

 

[jhebert]

Re: GPS for fishing?

You can get a nice GPS receiver for $35. I don't know what GPS receivers you're looking at the cost $500, but these days a good, state-of-the-art GPS receiver can be purchased for about $35. Take a look at

http://www.semsons.com/

Maybe ten or fifteen years ago a GPS receiver was $500, but in 2009 they're $35. And very good!

 

[John_S]

Re: GPS for fishing?

How will you be primarily using the gps for fishing?:

- Marking key fishing spots
- Navigation
- Lake Maps
- Trolling Grids

If the latter two, you will appreciate the larger screen over a handheld, especially if you have those over 40 eyes like myself.

Also consider a combo unit for the usually ($100-150) diff in price. Having a redundant fish finder is not a bad thing.

Be careful of internal receivers, especially on older close-out units, made by Lowrance/Eagle and Humminbird. Many early models didn't have the receiver mounted in the top edge of the unit. At least make sure it has the capability to add an external receiver.

 

[echo690]

Re: GPS for fishing?

I've be doing a lot of research and I have settled on the Garmin GPSMAP 440S. This is a GPS and Fishfinder combo unit. The best price I have found is at PC Nation $445 for the unit with the dual frequency transducer included. The Garmin part number is #010-00516-42. Also Garmin is offerning a $200 rebate when you purchase a Garmin unit and a Garmin G2 Vision data card. Anchor Express.com has the info and rebate form, they also had the best prices for the data cards. Both vendors were highly rated. Hope this helps.

 

[sebago_kid]

Re: GPS for fishing?

I was shopping around, and like you, found some with neg reviews.
I just went ahead and looked for one with the features I was looking for, and bought what I thought was best for me. I got the Humminbird 580 combo.
I've yet to use it, so I can't give my own review, but at around 340 bucks for the entire setup, and given the capability of this thing ( info I gathered from the user's manuals) it should be a great rig, and with far more features than I think I'll ever use. It has dual beam tranducer, external receiver, chart chip capability, and I can even hook it up to my vhf radio so that it transmits my coordinates in case of emergency, or to find or be found by my buddies. Pretty cool stuff. Not a color display, though.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: GPS for fishing?

You might want to decide what you want the GPS to do for you. While most of the better GPS units have great on-road and reroute features, specific units for fishing need more than upgrade maps and features. As good as most units are, if they don't accept cards like Navionics, you won't get any underwater contour details.

Even some of those specific fishing maps are basic, but much better than just a line of your last track over a blue expanse. I study paper maps like crazy before and after I fish a body of water- the underwater details are critically important.

 

[mphy98]

Re: GPS for fishing?

I went a little higher line on the hummingbird with side imaging. I would do hummingbird no matter what because (sorry all Lowrance users) lowrance has had way to many software issues of late. Hummingbird is great on quality. eagle is the lower priced lowrance, same software issues.

 

[John_S]

Re: GPS for fishing?

I just received a new HB 798ci, and like the improvements over the 797.

- Wider, higher resolution screen
- 2 SD slots, one for map, one for data recording. etc
- SD latch takes 3/4 turn vs screw on 797
- Internal gps worked fine in living room, but plan on ext high-accuracy receiver for boat
- Three user selectable buttons easy to program
- Included heavy duty power cable with noise elliminator choke
- Included the "spray" fix plug
- Included hard plastic protective cover

I probably won't get any water time until the 18th/19th. I have everything out of the boat for a rear casting deck improvement, and a new coat of deck paint.

FWIW, it was made on Feb 25th (not a Friday ), on production line 3, and was the 622nd unit made that day.