time for an upgrade!

[rolltide08]

OK guys going to upgrade my electronics in a couple of months. There are a lot of new stuff out there but I don't want to break the bank... I'm looking for the best workhorse out there for your money. I've heard good things on the elite 7 and the hmb products as well... give your thoughts... any advice would be great

[Rees Guide]

If you slow troll I would go another direction than the Elite 7, GPS is slow.

[rolltide08]

I mainly try and find cover and pick it apart as much as I can...finding is the hardest part

[rnvinc]

Let's first determine which technology is going to best suit your preferred fishing style...

*2d will show a "cartoon like" image of stuff under the boat....
*DI will show a "picture like" image of stuff under the boat and out to the sides a few feet...
*SI will show a "picture like" image of stuff under the boat, out to the sides 100+ feet...and which side of the boat...

2d is good for vertical fishing....
DI is good for understanding what the 2d is showing...
SI is good for finding new structure out to the sides of the boat...

Rickie

[rolltide08]

OK then the SI stuff is what I'm.looking for... I want the best eyes under the water that I can get... the more knowledge I have of what's under or around me the better

[rnvinc]

OK then the SI stuff is what I'm.looking for... I want the best eyes under the water that I can get... the more knowledge I have of what's under or around me the better

Next question...

What's your budget...??

SI units range from $500 - $3500...

More $$ will get more bells and whistles and bigger screens...(bigger screen is always better for SI)...

Rickie

[rolltide08]

Well I think I could swing 1500 pretty easily... I'm not sure I would be smart enough to figure out a lot of toys on that kinda stuff haha. I'm just a blue collar boy ha...

[rolltide08]

I fish a lot of strip pits in southern Illinois and Egypt and rend a lot as well

[rnvinc]

A $1500 budget will put you within reach of several different options in features and brands...

Let's look at sonar technologies again (2d/DI/SI/GPS) ...and see if these technology choices can expand into your preferred fishing methods...

Lowrance and Humminbird have great 2d and GPS chartplotting....

Lowrance has the "average Joe consensus" edge in DI ....
Humminbird has the "average Joe consensus" edge in shallow water SI...

Your decision could be based soley in this info...or it can get deeper into unit configure-ability...expand-ability...etc..

Your input needed next...

Rickie

[justinp61]

Well I think I could swing 1500 pretty easily... I'm not sure I would be smart enough to figure out a lot of toys on that kinda stuff haha. I'm just a blue collar boy ha...

Call Brian at BBG Marine, great guy to deal with and his prices beat the pants off the big box stores.