Humminbird® 597ci HD DI Interna GPS Fishfinder Comb????? Is it any good?

[swollencrappie]

I am just curious if this fish finder is any good. The reviews on Bass Pro are not bad, but i would like feedback from the guys who fish all the time!!!! I am needing a new fish finder before the first touney on Lake Eufaula march 24th!!!! Do I want DI or Side Imaging? Does the maps help? Should I get the Navionics? I want to stay somwhere around $800 to 1200. Any Help would sure be appreciated.

[CrappieWhisperer]

SC, I've got one of the birds your asking about and I really like it. I think I got what I paid for. All of these new units take a pretty good learning curve to operate. They've just got so many capabilities, it takes a while to push all the buttons enough to figure out the best settings. I've had mine in the water 3 or 4 times and I'm still scratching my head, but I've learned something every time I've been out. I adjusted it so I could watch my jig this last weekend. That's a giant leap for me over my old unit. Every time I go out I can't believe how well the down imaging works. You can see the branches on the brush piles and fish and baitfish around them. That being said, I think if I had to do it all over again, I would've saved up a little more money and bought as big a screen as I could afford. If you fish brush piles, the best way to find them is with sidescan. Down imaging works great, but you can find brush so much quicker with side scan. You can cover hundreds of feet on each side of your boat with sidescan and not a whole lot wider than your boat with down imaging. The bigger sidescan units have sidescan, down imaging, and 2d traditional sonar. My next sonar will be a sidescan and as big a screen as I can afford. The thread below asked the same question you did a few weeks back.

Kevin

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/oklah...75-finder.html

[swollencrappie]

Thankb you so much for your input and also for leading me to the other thread. That was very helpful. It is double reward points Friday at local bass pro and I think I will be a new owner of the HB 898c SI. It's more then I wanted to spend but can make up for it by catching more fish. I can't wait to try it out this weekend and hopefully by tourney on eufaula I will know how to use it. Thanks again for your help. Sad thing is, this will cost more then my boat did.

[CrappieWhisperer]

No problem, I'm sure you'll return the favor to someone else. I'll be fishin the tournaments too, so I'll probably see you there. Holler at me when the Oologah tournament comes up, maybe I can help you find some fish. Might hit you up to show me your new toy in action.

Kevin

[Crappie Reaper]

Thankb you so much for your input and also for leading me to the other thread. That was very helpful. It is double reward points Friday at local bass pro and I think I will be a new owner of the HB 898c SI. It's more then I wanted to spend but can make up for it by catching more fish. I can't wait to try it out this weekend and hopefully by tourney on eufaula I will know how to use it. Thanks again for your help. Sad thing is, this will cost more then my boat did.

You'll be glad you bought it after you get to use it for awhile. I have a Lowrance HDS-8 and love it. I'm certain either a Humminbird or Lowrance unit with SI/DI and 2d will help you when it comes to locating fish. You'll be happy you spent the extra money for the larger screen! Even though my Lowrance can give me several screens at the same time, I prefer to use the entire screen when easing in on one of my waypoints, toss a bouy out and change my settings to Di and 2d and motor into position to drop anchors. Regardless of what brand you buy, do go as big as you can afford! With Lowrance or Humminbird, you'll be able to network more than one unit together so you can always step up to a bigger unit later and network the two together.

[Redge]

I have had one of the units (597hd di) you asked about for almost a year now. It really works good. I have the Navionics map card and think it is worth the money. Especially if you are on a lake that you are not familiar with. For what it's worth, I would go with the SI, I bought a new one about a month ago and can tell you it is worth the money.

[goofy1]

Yeah I just got my new boat and it has a 788 ci gps at console and a 385 ci at trolling motor. I don't know how to use either one because I always had lowrance on my bass boats but not with this new DI and Si stuff. Haven't had it out fishing yet but wish I would of gotten the 898 Si at console and 898 DI on trolling motor. I also want to get navionics chip and lake master. I will get these upgrades this year and play my 788 and hopefully get someone out that can teach me how to use them and get the 898 Si. Don't want to get it and not use it because too confusing. Not good with computers.

[dinobot]

for anyone interested the version of the 587ci HD GPS combo that Academy has right now comes with DI there is a small sticker on the box that says "free down imaging" and on the unit itself under 587ci HD instead of saying fishfinder it says down imaging. Only a 4.5" screen but DI and GPS for under $500.

[dinobot]