fish finder advice..

[whisker]

hey guys..im in process of looking at the new gps fish finder. i have a humminbird 3d wide view right now. would one of these color gps worth the money..

 

[JB]

Re: fish finder advice..

First, whisker, you need to recognise that a fish finder (SONAR) and a GPS are different instruments. They may use the same power supply, box and display, but if that power, box or display fails, you lose them both.

I recommend seperate units.

What would you use a GPS for? Where? How often? How would it enhance your adventures?

Would you want a portable? Chartplotter? Marine only? Marine plus vehicle navigation?

You need to answer those questions before "would it be worth the price?" should even enter your mind.

 

[whisker]

Re: fish finder advice..

hi thanks for reply. first i just want marine only. i would be using it to plot channels and submerged trees,tec to find where those big babies are. it just seem it would be alot easier with gps rather than looking at map. the 3d is not color and i think a color would help me out alot more when finding bait fish and structures.any ideas.

 

[kaferhaus]

Re: fish finder advice..

I have the combo units on two of my boats. They're both the Lowarance 500C models. I'm well pleased with them and they're "cheap" I've seen them for $250.00.

5" screen, color has water temp, speed, nav and gps/sonar split screen ability.

This unit is so inexpensive (close out) that if it does burn out you'd be hard pressed to replace just a fishfinder for the same or less money.

I use the GPS all the time, in fact the unit is usually set to split screen. A boat speedometer is usually just about worthless unless you're in a lake where there's no water movement.

Here on the gulf and in the bays/rivers the water is always moving, wind is always blowing and the speedometer is sometimes off by as much as 10mph. GPS gives your speed made good... not speed through the water.

Also everyone sometimes will stumble across a fishing hole that few if anyone else knows about... marking the spot with the GPS means you'll always find that exact spot.

I also use the water temp feature as down here we have underwater oil and gas pipelines running all over the place... the water temperature will be slightly different around those pipelines... this time of year the oil pipelines will warm the water just a wee bit at the surface (shallow water, 5-6ft) but at the bottom the water temp right around the pipe will be several degrees higher.... fish will be there.

Works in reverse for the gas pipelines.... in the heat of the summer those can be good spots.

The other great use of gps is on those foggy mornings.... when lots of other boats are sitting at the ramp, we're in the water moving towards our fishing area. there are lots of channels here in the bay and rivers that are only 30-50ft wide... a good gps unit can steer you right between the markers.

Same obviously applies at night.... again many of the bay and river channel markers are not lighted..

We do a lot of night fishing in the spring, summer and fall... makes getting to your spot much quicker when you know exactly where you are.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: fish finder advice..

Although gps is a fine tool, there is not a sonar on the planet that can't allow you to navigate a channel. I do it regularly. Besides, if you fish the same area frequently, you can drive to those spots (yes, pipelines and other structure will show on the locator) since you saw them once before on the locator and that's why you punched the waypoint button on the GPS is it not?? I also agree that a separate GPS and sonar is a good choice. Combo units mean you throw both functions away if one takes a dump. Besides, the GPS can be used in the car, hunting, camping, hiking, and if you happen to geocache.