Depthfinder/GPS Suggestion

[jhillman17]

I just put the down payment down for my first boat, now I need to figure out what electronics I want on the boat...any suggestions? I'm looking to stay under $1k.

I'm not sure between Lowrance and Humminbird. I hear some of the last few lowrance models have had some issues, but also, that humminbird doesn't take lakemaster chips...decisions decisions.

Any suggestions by people who have used these? I live in indiana, but do fish LOTW and hoping to get to Eagle this fall or next summer. What maps work best for Eagle?

[Steve Herbeck]

Jhillman,
In The Past We've Always Used Lowrance And Had Few If Any Problems.
To Stay Under A 1000 Look At The Hd 5 And 7 And For Just A Bit More We've Used And Like The 37-38 Series. I Know Several Guys Who Didn't Particularly Like The Hummers Mostly I Think Because They Are So Used To The Lowr Then In Know Others Who Really Rave And Like Em And The New Features Like The Side Imaging Though From What I Understand Just Takes Abit To Get Used To And Understand. You Might Want To Give Steve Heiting A Post On Mh Board About The Hummers As He's Been Using Them Alot The Past Few Years And Really Likes Them.
I Do Plan On Giving Hummer A Try When I Sell This Current Boat.
Perhaps Some Other Viewers Will Chime In And Give You Some More Tech Advise.

[GetnAny]

Jhillman,

If you have not seen the Hummingbird side finder in action you need to check it out before making a final decision. It will set you back around $1200.00 but will sure make a difference when looking for structure, fish cribs, stumps or brush. Worked great this spring while fishing crappie on Kentucky lake as well as Lake Shelbyville in central Illinois. All the structure comes to life unlike a traditional depth finder. Last summer it really paid for it self while fishing Eagle lake at AML. I was able to find unmarked humps out in the middle of the lake at least 1/2 mile from the nearest shore. Talk about fantastic fishing, once I marked a rock hump i would Mark the GPS, then set out a bouy marker and drop anchor in deep water such that the boat would ride over the hump in 10 to 12 FOW, let out enough rope so the wind swings the boat back and forth to cover more water. Used primarily lindy rigs, but also caught them on jigs and a few with slip floats. I literally was tired of catching walleye and northern, my fingers were bleeding from all the fish caught. Once you are on a spot you can click the screen back to a typical color depth finder and watch the walleye down below, when the Northern moved in they show up a little higher on the screen and as a brighter red/orange color due to their larger size. Eagle lake is a huge body of water and without the GPS and Navionics maps I would not have ventured nearly as far as I did, especially fishing alone. This unit was my life line to navigating big waters , finding hot spots and finding active fish.

Best of Luck,