gps question...with limited funds what should I buy...handheld or fish finder?

All the hardliners will probably gets a chuckle out of this but I have a small boat and am planning to start fishing the lake instead of the small bodies of water like strip pits and ponds so here is the need:

I want to be able to store brush points on a GPS and locate them on the lake. Advice on what kind of unit to buy for around $200 or less.

It appears that I could buy a Garmin handheld for $100-125 that would "store" up to 500 waypoints...would this work? or other suggestions, pitfalls, etc.?

Or to look for a low end fish locator that has some GPS capability? Suggestions for around $200

Thanks in advance for the help

I have GPS on my hummingbird but I still use Garmin handheld for all my waypoints and returning to stakebeds/brushpiles etc. I can't speak for lowrance, but I've seen the Hummingbird and Garmin side by side. I have absolute confidence in the Garmin handheld if I have a good mark on what I'm trying to find, can use the hummingbird but it takes longer and I'm not as confident. I would buy the best Garmin I could afford and never look back, but even the $100 e-trex works great. I'm using the Gpsmap 76Cx. I would look around online, you can find pretty good deals sometimes.

I have a garmin 60c unit that I use to mark structure with, the screen is small but not an issue for me at this time. I think I paid around $200 for it sometime last year. BPS has the Lowrance M68c S/Map FF/GPS on sale for $200 on Black Friday per the flyer I got in the mail yesterday. I'm sure numerous retailers will have various gps units on sale at reduced prices this holiday season. I like my garmin HH, and I've had good experiences with Lowrance procducts, as well. I considered getting a gps/ff but decided against it since I already have the HH unit.

I have a Lowrance Hds w/ GPS and it does okay but I really count on my Little Garmin E Trek for the spot on work.
You won't be disappointed in the Garmin performance.

Any Garmin handheld will be the best..............................

I agree, Garmin GPS they work well for the money, I had an e-trex, 99 dollars, and I have an astro 220, love them both

I have a Garmin etrex legend HCS handheld which I use. I loaded the Garmin lake maps on it as well. It has marked waypoints and has found itself out of the swamp many times!

not experienced with the handhelds....but consider a eagle fish elite 480, they are good units (I have 2 of them)....def not top of the line hds type stuff, but good gps and a decent graph, can prob find one for a little over 200....just a thought, I will buy a handheld soon myself though prob

garmin seems to be pretty popular.wonder why?????????? i also use garmin. gpsmap76csx. i like ,but if you can find a sonar unit with gps .any brand for that price you cant go wrong

Garmin etrex handheld, good thing about handheld if you go fishing with a buddy you can mark fishing spots.