Upgrade question

I would consider myself blessed with a good payin steady job but i don't see how some of you guys afford some of these high dollar FF's. I just upgraded from a 16' aluminum boat to a 18' fiberglass. It's like daylight and dark difference! For the most part the wind doesn't control the trip. The previous owner has a slighty upgraded etch a sketch on it. I had a Lowrance 335DF with GPS and Humminbird 525 on my other boat. I'm lookin for a couple good middle of the road, won't break the bank FF's. Any suggestions? I'm sold on the GPS but what about down/side imaging? Must have or about like power windows? Nice but don't have to have em. Thanks

Well, I'll tell you how it goes with me, that's all I can do. For finding FISH, not so much. For finding stumps, brush, logs, seeing how a creek bed lays out or intersects with another creek bed, OUTSTANDING. I can see fish on it, but I don't really need to. Shad, but mostly cover that I didn't know about, is what I look for.

I'd sure consider side imaging. It's unbelievable how easy it is to find brush piles etc.

A must-have....no. Cause Im like alot of folks and cant afford it either and I can still catch a few fish.;)

For finding and fishing your "honey holes" any unit with GPS is sufficient.....(or any unit and a handheld GPS is sufficient)

DI and SI comes into play finding new structure to add to your "honey hole" list....

I was amazed at the number of brushpiles that I passed right by going from 1 "honey hole" to another "honey hole"....

This is where SI shines...showing structure you never knew was there....

Decide what features you can't live without...then find a unit in your price range that has those features....

Brands are opinionated......find the features you want....

Rickie

Let's start with what's on the boat.. What unit(s) are currently on it? bow and console? How much you want to spend/budget? I assume that your budget will not allow for a SI/DI unit...

I lean towards the Humminbird units my self but If you can find an Eagle 480 or 620 with GPS that would be my recommendation for a "budget" unit.