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Posts: 39
| I understand this might be a loaded question.
What feature of your fish finder do you find most useful/ important and why?
Sonar, GPS, Down Imaging, or Side Imaging.
I know DI and SI are Humminbird terms...not sure what the Lowrance equivalents are.
Thanks
Sam |
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Posts: 2276
Location: Chisholm, MN | For me, a gps with good mapping is the most important. It helps you find structure and stay on it. Boat control is everything. Sonar is nice for finding bait fish, but that's after you find the spot with the gps typically. |
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Posts: 770
| Ya GPS hands down |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | GPS. If you have never fished with it, it is a huge game changer. |
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Posts: 408
Location: MN | 1) chartplotter (GPS + mapping)
2) side imaging |
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Posts: 612
| Know my lakes well. All I need is sonar with temp. |
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Posts: 330
Location: SE Wisc | Side imaging. With the amount of pressure most lakes receive these days side imaging gives you the spot when that spot is something other than a super well know point or hump, like bottom composition change or schools of bait. |
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Posts: 1209
| I hardly use side imagining, only when looking for info on why a spot is so good or on new water.
Never use di, just not needed
2d is better for seeing everything below the boat and with time you can read through the miscellaneous information in it.
Gps with mapping along with 2d sonar is the most important thing especially when you figure out the "spot on the spot" or are fishing offshore when you may think you are where you belong but your really a cast length off and absolutely wasting your time and effort! |
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Posts: 426
| GPS & a good map chip. Together they are game changers. You always know exactly where you are and where to cast or troll. Even on lakes I've fished for 30 years and thought I knew well I was surprised how the two working together improved my catch rate. You always are exactly on your "spot". Not just close. Down imaging is useful in the early season to find that first weed growth that is only just being to grow. It shows up better with the DI than 2D sonar and is key to my pre spawn fishing. Weed growth starts in warmer water even if the surface temp gauge is stable I find fish in these spots early using the DI. |
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Posts: 39
| Thank you for all the great information/opinions. I currently do not have a unit with GPS. I'm using a Helix 5 Sonar/DI, but saving up for something a with GPS.
I have been trying to use landmarks to come back on fish that follow but dont bite. Works pretty good when fishing close to shore, but on mid lake structure not so much. I do have a handheld GPS that I would like to try to use to at least mark waypoints when I raise one. Anybody ever try that? |
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Posts: 392
Location: KY | If you don't have GPS/mapping on your boat get the Navionics app on your phone. its like $15. You can download the area you are going to fish at home so your not using data. The phone knows where its at even in airplane mode. It shows a trail and you can mark spots. I used it as a backup when my GPS wasn't getting a signal. I think they have a free demo for a month too. |
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| I used a Lowrance H2O handheld GPS with chip in the boat a few years back. It has a small screen but worked very good for me. I still bring it with me sometimes to have as a backup and for my old waypoints. |
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Posts: 1759
Location: new richmond, wi. & isle, mn | Baby Mallard - 4/13/2018 1:54 PM
I used a Lowrance H2O handheld GPS with chip in the boat a few years back. It has a small screen but worked very good for me. I still bring it with me sometimes to have as a backup and for my old waypoints. I still have mine in the boat at all times. Great to bring when hopping into another boat or ice fishing. |
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Posts: 112
Location: Illinois | GPS
Changed my life lol. |
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Posts: 52
| Fisherman navigator is a free app for you phone. Works good. Great for marking spot when you are on a different boat than your own. |
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Posts: 860
Location: NE Ohio | as stated previously.........GPS and accurate mapping card. lets you find alot of fish deep that go un-harassed by shoreline beaters. |
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Location: 31 | On any sizable body of water the ability to accurately mark fishing areas and hazards on a GPS should be standard issue electronics nowadays. However, side imaging was *almost* as much of a game changer as GPS was back in the day and can't imagine fishing without it now as well. A good 1-2 punch... why not just get both while you are at it?
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Posts: 39
| Another question. Anybody use Garmin fishfinders? I had been mainly interested in humminbird products. But then I saw somewhere that Garmin has built in mapping software. Can anyone confirm this for me? Or would I still need to buy something similar to Navionics or Lakemaster?? |
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Posts: 330
Location: SE Wisc | pklingen - 4/18/2018 11:16 AM
as stated previously.........GPS and accurate mapping card. lets you find alot of fish deep that go un-harassed by shoreline beaters.
How so? All it does is get you close to obvious structure that receives as much pressure as the weed lines along shore. On some lakes gps and mapping is excellent but on others in can be quite a bit off. On most lakes you fish do you even need to look at your gps mapping, you probably are already familiar with the structure on your favorite lakes. I find myself looking at side imaging now more than anything. |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | Ciscokid82 - 4/23/2018 10:31 PM
pklingen - 4/18/2018 11:16 AM
as stated previously.........GPS and accurate mapping card. lets you find alot of fish deep that go un-harassed by shoreline beaters.
How so? All it does is get you close to obvious structure that receives as much pressure as the weed lines along shore. On some lakes gps and mapping is excellent but on others in can be quite a bit off. On most lakes you fish do you even need to look at your gps mapping, you probably are already familiar with the structure on your favorite lakes. I find myself looking at side imaging now more than anything.
The lake I mostly fish, I would be lost without the GPS. Vast majority of my time is spend casting at the outside weed edge of large mid-lake reefs, and large points/bars extending off the mainland. Nothing visible to see with the eye. I fish the same structures all the time, and still need the GPS to locate them. |
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Posts: 408
Location: MN | obsessed_angler - 4/21/2018 11:15 AM
Another question. Anybody use Garmin fishfinders? I had been mainly interested in humminbird products. But then I saw somewhere that Garmin has built in mapping software. Can anyone confirm this for me? Or would I still need to buy something similar to Navionics or Lakemaster??
I have an Echomap chirp 93SV on my boat. The built in mapping (they call it Lake Vu) has been great on the handful of lakes I've had it out on. Those maps cover lakes in the US. I had to buy a separate chip for Canada. No complaints on the unit overall.
Garmin has made a big investment in sonar over the last decade. They have become a major player in the saltwater market. IMO, their product lines haven't been structured the best for freshwater, but for some applications they can make sense.
They don't have a trolling motor control like HB I-pilot Link or Lowrance/Motorguide Gateway. In the 10-12" screen size, they were not cost competitive in the past, but the newer GPSMAPS look to be closer. They have an answer to HB MEGA (Garmin UHD) but it's an added module rather than integrated with the unit. On the lower end of things, the HB and Lowrance models are a bit more cost competitive as well IMO.
If you're looking at a Garmin unit, make sure to check that it has the maps you want, and it might be worth doing a competitive analysis with HB and Lowrance units before pulling the trigger. |
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