MyFishFinder Forum
MyFishFinder Tips and Techniques => Fishing Equipment => Electronics => Topic started by: cpg39 on Jul 20, 2017, 01:13 PM
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I'm planning to fish a lot of deeper water this august, especially in search of Kokanee and Walleye that were supposedly stocked in my home lake. I've always wanted to put a fish finder on my canoe, but never really understood what I needed/never had the money.
Ideally I'm looking for some that:
-Can create and save bathymetry (contour) maps of my lake.
-Works accurately in up to 70 feet of water.
-Can be mounted to a canoe.
-Is as cheap as possible.
I know those new ones that you use your phone as the screen for are fairly cheap. Are they the cheapest option? Are there any great value picks out there I should be aware of?
-Thanks a lot
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If you want bathemetry you need a headunit with GPS. Probably the cheapest you are looking at will be in the $300 range new, and you'll want a chip for the lake charts which will run you around $150. But for $450 you will have a choice unit with features of the pro units just a smaller screen. My Humminbird Helix 5 GPS fits that catagory, I'm sure they all make something similar. Everything you want the device to do can be had for around $80 complete with say an entry level Garmin or Lowrance unit- except for the bathemetry. That brings you into a GPS enabled unit. Alternatively you could buy an inexpensive sonar unit and use a GPS enabled smartphone for chartplotting by downloading the $10 Navionics BoatUS app. Personally I couldn't live without charts on my headunit now that I've had them and it's a worthwhile purchase.
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If you want bathemetry you need a headunit with GPS. Probably the cheapest you are looking at will be in the $300 range new, and you'll want a chip for the lake charts which will run you around $150. But for $450 you will have a choice unit with features of the pro units just a smaller screen. My Humminbird Helix 5 GPS fits that catagory, I'm sure they all make something similar. Everything you want the device to do can be had for around $80 complete with say an entry level Garmin or Lowrance unit- except for the bathemetry. That brings you into a GPS enabled unit. Alternatively you could buy an inexpensive sonar unit and use a GPS enabled smartphone for chartplotting by downloading the $10 Navionics BoatUS app. Personally I couldn't live without charts on my headunit now that I've had them and it's a worthwhile purchase.
What he said.
Jethro pretty much nailed it.
You get what you pay for.
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Filed and stream store has the helix 5 g2 on sale right now for $279.99 @$20 off it may come with maps it may not?? not really sure if any thing for another $150 you get the maps.. any how best of luck deciding.. by the way humming birds made in usa.. were lowrance and garmin are made else ware..