GPS/Sonar. Which is best?

[SilverFox]

The units I use are no longer made. They came out with a new line a couple months ago.

 

[SilverFox]

If you Knoxville area guys want to check out the old Humminbird units maybe we can arrange a day on Douglas when the weather gets better. It's easier to get the big picture when you're looking at it. Side image is hard to understand for most people until they can look at the lay of the bank and then ride over it. I'm free Friday after 1:00 and pretty much any Saturday or Sunday.

One of my fishing partners uses Lowrance. Might can get him out to see both.

Now if you want to get a little deeper, Brandon does guide trips and will do sonar only lessons on the lake also. I'm not sure what he charges. He's excellent with Lowrance units.

 

[Crow Terminator]

Go for the biggest screen you can afford. The new 2014 Humminbird units have internal GPS on them and are several hundred dollars cheaper than the external GPS units they replaced.

Side imaging is really nice once you learn what you are looking at. It is amazing at all the things you never knew were in the lake on the bottom, in the spots you've fished your whole life and thought you really knew.

 

[Model70Man]

Humminbird now has the ONIX sonar systems that have the CHIRP imaging that the Raymarine Dragonfly and the Garmin echoMap DV have. But the Humminbird is $2000 compared to $700.

 

[SilverFox]

From what I've read the onix is more geared toward offshore fishing. The onix should also be side scan and down scan equipped.

 

[Model70Man]

The ION is the one that is geared towards the offshore anglers. The ONIX is for lakes and inshore from what I gathered. Both are game changers, but the prices are outrageous. In 5 years the prices should come down to more reasonable prices for this technology.

The Garmin echoMap DV series is looking better and better in my price range.

 

[SilverFox]

Good luck with it. I have no experience with the Garmin but they make some rugged gps stuff so hopefully the FF's are the same. I think most damage done to them is water damage... Finders in general. I always tilt my units down if it's raining so water doesn't pool.

 

[TN Larry]

I think that I am about to buy a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI for the front of my boat. Any recommendations on the best card to buy for it?

 

[SilverFox]

The fishing hot spots card is an awesome card for my end of the state with Lowrance... Don't know about your area.

 

[TN Larry]

I think that I am going to buy the Navionics plus card where you can go in and only download the sections/lakes that you need instead of having a card for each region.

 

[Spurhunter]

I am still researching but the Lowrance reviews are scary at best. Garmin seems to get great user reviews. I'm still not sure a color 2d won't do all I need. I am a mostly shallow water fisherman. I don't go to Ky Lake or Pickwick often. I love bass fishing Mississippi River oxbows.

I do a lot of crappie fishing at reservoirs but typically we fish visible structure in spring and spider rig the rest of the year. Crappie suspend at a certain depth and any cheap 2d will show you that depth.

Any opinions on what I need?

 

[SilverFox]

Humminbird excels in shallow water with structure scan in my opinion.

You still need to do on the water time with both to pick... You know what they say about opinions! LOL

 

[Winchester]

Lowrance HDS units coupled with Structurescan do well for me!