Depth finder , school me.

[Iglow]

I'm wanting a new depth finder / graph or whatever they are called now. What I'm doing is tight lining crappie bushes and I want something at the back of the boat where when I go over it I can see it for sure. I'll use my old unit mounted on the trolling motor up front on flasher mode to stay on the bush once I mark it. I'm looking for something simple and want to spend about $500.00 or less. Y'all help me out.

 

[WTM]

does the 500 bucks include taxes or 500 bucks plus tax? gonna make a big difference for such a small amount of money.

 

[Iglow]

Plus I guess. What im doing is going over bushes I've put out and marking them then turn around and tightline them. I had them all waypointed on my old unit but forgot to pull the cards when I sold my old boat so I gotta go find them again. I've got a pretty good idea where they are on most of them.

 

[WTM]

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/garmin-echomap-uhd-73sv-fish-finder-chartplotter-with-gt54-transducer?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CBoating%7CGeneral%7CNAud%7CNVol%7CNMT&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD1TgtdTg-ATDDCK_ok9pp6mOusA5&gclid=CjwKCAiAp5qsBhAPEiwAP0qeJl_IIAo9uJC5adaeABNpXs_K_fSga5C5A0wrt29L3NUIa55YbelJlxoCeaEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

or, but no networking capability and not sure how well theyve improved the built in mapping.

Humminbird Helix 7 Chirp Si Gps G4

Humminbird HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G4HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G4The HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G4 fishfinder features CHIRP Side Imaging, CHIRP Down Imaging, Dual Spectrum CHIRP Sonar, AutoChart Live, Internal GPS, and Humminbird Basemap builtin An upgraded hig...

www.hodgesmarine.com

or

Lowrance HOOK Reveal 7x TripleShot Fishfinder | The GPS Store

The Lowrance HOOK Reveal 7x TripleShot Fishfinder is a 7-inch standalone fishfinder offering a bright SolarMAX display, SideScan and FishReveal technology.

www.thegpsstore.com

or for a 9" unit

Lowrance HOOK Reveal 9 TripleShot with US Inland Lakes | The GPS Store

The Lowrance HOOK Reveal 9 Chartplotter Fishfinder offers a 9-inch SolarMAX display, convenient keyed controls, TripleShot Sonar, FishReveal technology and US Inland Maps.

www.thegpsstore.com

the lowrance hook 1 and 2 were lousy, software issues but maybe they fixed them with these reveal models. the reviews seem to be good.

the lowrance and garmin will work right out of the box on auto settings.

no tax from hodges or gps store.

keep them off drill batteries and those 16v lithiums and theyll last a long time.

 

[Iglow]

Maybe a Helix 5 with gps?

 

[WTM]

ive never used one that small so i cant really say. 2d and down imaging might be useable on a screen that size for finding brush.

 

[m_allison71]

Maybe a Helix 5 with gps?

I had one of those for about 3 months. Mapping was crap. I would be running down the lake and suddenly have a white screen. Depth would read 900 ft when I was in 10 or less. I took it off and got a Garmin. It is much better and more user friendly.

 

[Big Pop]

Bought a boat with Helix 7 on dash. Glad I kept my Garmin 73SV from my old boat! That is all!

 

[kornbread]

They all have their own perks. I have 1 Lowrance, 1 Garmin, and 2 Humminbird. I have a humminbird/Lowrance combo at the console. Use both for mapping when running, Humminbird for side scan, and Lowrance for 2D and Down Scan. On the front I have humminbird set up with a 360 and Garmin setup to run livescope. It's a bit overkill but I tournament Fish and have for almost 20 years. I've been through every transition up to this point with electronics. My best advice is watch some videos on YouTube of what you're looking at and go with someone that has them and made a call. I personally can use any of the ones I have for any function but choose the most efficient for my personal needs and roll with it.

 

[Crow Terminator]

Definitely...they all have benefits. The downside of Lowrance is the mapping if you fish TVA lakes during the fall/winter drawdown. They don't have lake offsets for maps...they show everything at summer pool levels. That can run you into some trouble if you don't know the lake well. Otherwise, I think they have the easiest to use system of them all.

Garmin...I love their Vision+ maps. You can do the lake level offsets for them and they are pretty good. They show the creek channels, and all that good stuff. They have pretty good down and side imaging and of course, are probably the leader in forward facing sonar.

Humminbird has good maps. They do the lake off sets and CAN make some of the prettiest pictures of structures you've ever seen. But...getting them to do it, can be a Hassel and their interface is wonky and complicated.

I've had all 3 on my boat and am currently going back to all Garmin. They make everything so simple to network from unit to unit and IMO...if you have an Ultra model or GPS model with GT56 transducer, you're splitting hairs on image quality between them and the Mega imaging of the Birds.

 

[Iglow]

I was thinking about it and here's what I need. A decent topo map, the ability to set waypoints /zoom down to them and a reasonably good look at what I'm looking at. Other than that I won't use any bells and whistles. What would y'all get ?

 

[kornbread]

I was thinking about it and here's what I need. A decent topo map, the ability to set waypoints /zoom down to them and a reasonably good look at what I'm looking at. Other than that I won't use any bells and whistles. What would y'all get ?

How many are you wanting to buy? If I was starting from scratch I'd prob buy 2 Garmin and link them.

 

[Iglow]

I ended up getting a garmin sv73….

 

[m_allison71]

I ended up getting a garmin sv73….

Wise choice. I ended up with 2 of them (front and console). They do everything I expect from them.

 

[Iglow]

It appears simple enough that a dunce like me can get about 10% of what it can do and that will work for me.