Which fishfinder

I am new to electronics I'm just old school I guess. I always thought I didn't need a fish finder to find fish until I tried one. It was just a cheap old eagle unit but it worked. I was amazed how much time it saved me. So now i am in the market for some new toys. I don't know a lot about them other than what I have read but this is what im thinking. A 2d with gps at the steering wheel doesn't have to be fancy just to find schools of fish and gps just to get me there and back. A 2d with SI up front. Most of my fishing is done spider rigging or jigging stumps and trees. Most lakes I fish are under 30ft deep. My question is do you think this would be an ok set up? If not let me know why I'm trying to learn. Which would be good units to buy for what I need? And I have a $1000 limit. What do you think my best option is? Thanks for any info you can give me

for $1000 the choices are so wide open it'd be hard to pick one unit there are so many good ones out there. Good luck finding one you like.

I would say to go to big stores like Bass Pro,Cabelas,etc. as they have a lot of units on display where you can turn them own and go through the demo modes to see how they perform. Then when you decide on the unit you like check with our sponsors and tell them you are a Crappie.com member they will give you the best prices.:twocents

bbgmarine

Marine Electronics & Boating Accessories

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/-memb...lassified-ads/

I have humminbird units but if I fished one lake primarily and did not need a good map card but just a GPS to be able to follow a track I would look hard at the Garmin Stryker series. They have a blank screen for the GPS that shows your track and your able to mark way points and save them. Super good clarity and a lot of unit for the money. If you need the ability to use a map card I'd would get a Helix 5 sonar/ GPS for console and Helix7 SI/GPS for front. Those 2 units should put you right on your budget. For your best deal call Brian at BBG marine. He is a sponsor on here, great honest guy to do business with. Tell him what your trying to accomplish and your budget and he will steer you in the right direction. No pressure to upgrade you or over sell you.

Get the biggest screen you can afford for the SI unit. If you just have to have two right now I would scrimp on the console unit and get a better one for the TM. Save an upgrade the console later. Get units that can be networked so when you mark something on the console unit it can be read on the TM unit and vice versa.

I NOTICE YOU SAID MOSTLY SPIDERRIGGING SO I DON'T KNOW WEATHER YOU NEED GOOD UNIT ON CONSOLE,BUT I AM A JIG CASTER AND FOR SURE YOUR BEST UNIT FOR THAT TYPE FISHING WOULD PUT MOST OF YOUR MONEY ON CONSOLE BECAUSE YOU WILL BE DOING MUCH SEARCHING BEFORE FISHING,AFTER FINDING THEM ONE THEN DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE TOO GOOD OF A UNIT,JUST A GOOD ROD AND GOOD CONSECRATION :biggrin

Save your money. There is no such thing as a "fishfinder".

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

Save your money. There is no such thing as a "fishfinder".

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Yes there is a Redneck fishfinder.:Rofl

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin...statt_id=45977

Ok thanks. I think I am going to go with the helix 7 and helix 5. To just use the gps to get in and out and mark waypoints do you have to buy a card or anything extra or does it save the info to the unit?

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Originally Posted by Lake king

Ok thanks. I think I am going to go with the helix 7 and helix 5. To just use the gps to get in and out and mark waypoints do you have to buy a card or anything extra or does it save the info to the unit?

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Waypoints are saved in the unit memory. You do not need a map card to see waypoints on the screen, they'll show up on the built-in background map.
The map cards contain a detailed map, and the waypoints are simply overlayed onto the map .... not actually written on it.
If you want to take screenshots and post them online, you can get a blank SD card/reader and use it on your computer to do so. You can also do updates with the blank SD card.

But, on units with only one card slot, you have to switch out cards to use the map AND take screenshots ... since you can't add any info to the map card.

I don't have a map card for my unit (yet) ... but I do have/use a mini-sd card (2GB) for screenshots. That's as big a card, and as much memory size, as my unit will take.

Do your self a favor. Get a blank card the size that will work with your unit like Pappy said. But beside doing screen shots, save any waypoints you create to that card as a backup. And do it every time you create a new waypoint. That way if you ever lose your waypoints you have a backup. I know guys who save them to their card and on a computer just in case. And at some point it usually happens to everyone.

If you are looking for Reelfoot, I could be wrong, but I have never seen any of the brands have detailed map for it.. So what you get is an outline or just a blank screen with your waypoints.