gps/fish finder
 

i am looking to finally purchase some electronics for my boat. some of you guys know its long over due. i am looking at this unit and wanted some pros and cons. this unit has side imaging and down scan. my budget is about 700-800 bucks. im not stuck on this one unit if you guys can recommend other brands.

thanks
jason

GET IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... I hate fishing in ur boat.... no electronics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope the next time you jump in i will have some electronics. my boat still beats walking the banks. lol

I got 1 of those on my jon boat. It works great!

I have the 989 model and it has been a very good unit the maping for the gps is very good.

The lowrance HDS units are nice too...bout to buy a HDS-5 for my whaler. IMO the down imaging and side scan are pretty useless for inshore saltwater fishing. Works good for finding laydowns and brush in freshwater.

I think Kanunaz has one for sale in the classified section. Not sure what it is but, it looked pretty cool to me!

Likes my Lowrance HDS. Got a 5 and 7

love my 5....fixing put one on the gront but sure what to tap into...not hijacking the thread but if can help...pm me...

Thats what I was telling him. Being able to see the bottom in sidescan in 3ft waters doesnt seem worth it. And we all know you never go bass fishing. Im telling you man, just get a gps plotter/depthfinder. You dont need the sidescan for inshore sw fishing. Unless you wanna see what the weirs look like. Depth, temp and gps is all you need.

Garmin makes the best GPS systems imo. Now their sounders arent the best in the business but as far as map quality Garmin is #1

I felt the same way untill I used the HDS.....garmin got nothing on the detail the HDS unit's have. And yes garmin's depth finders blow

Love love love my Garmin.....its the Cape Horn of the plotter/finder world!

Garmin got some bad azz hand held gps's.....I don't understand why their gps/fishfinders are not in the same class.

I see side scan in saltwater as a waste of money. Its really unnecessary and not useful. Sure it can see what the bottom looks like 300' to the sides in 60' of water, but in 3-6' of water, really need to see what the bottom looks like? Maybe you can find that sunk scb.

Re
 

So u had to rebuilt ur garmin too??:)

If this is the case I retract my earlier statement ;)

I have to disagree, ive got an hds10 on dash and hds7 on bow and the down/side imaging is incredible in lk p and breton sound. I can tell if theres fish on a structure before making 1 cast.

I could see how it could be useful in that area.....he mainly fishes big lake,water averages 7 foot deep. Down imaging and side scan does very little for finding oyster reefs that hold most of the fish.

What structure is there in bl to fish besides reefs and holes. Find em with the depth finder. I mean J if you wanna spend your money on it, go for it. I couldnt justify buying side imaging fishing strictly big lake.

D.I and S.I are useless on biglake.
About as useless as downriggers for fishing the lake.

I'd just buy a good gps combo and stick with that.

Yall go on believin that

Experienced it first hand. Only place it would remotely help you is at the channel find underwater structure.

LC if the added feature and unit are in price range ; then go for it . The use of the added feature may come to your advantage for instance : u may be fishn the channel and not doing well fishn towards bank ;side view may open a hole new chance of finding fish and no telling what else. Especially if that veiw show"s view of a depth of 5 feet to average channel depth of say 40ft.Just something to consider.

Think Ship Channel!

+1

Fool, I can tell you that I can't use mine good enough on Big Lake, but had someone else show me oyster reefs on thiers.

I will figure it out.

I could maybe see somebody with a detailed unit.such as the 1198, but something small like the 798 or whatever, it obviously ain't happenin.

If you fish ship channel a lot I guess its worth it.

Works fine on my 798c SI.:rolleyes:

Isn't the 798 right at 1k?

I found one for $798.00. Thanks for all the info.

Sorry. $778.95.

Retail, but who pays that anymore? :D

Make sure it isn't a ebay refurb :D

Mime wasnt! I checked the "cereal" number with my connection. ;) :D

+1

Please take a detailed screen shot of oyster beds holding fish with a 798. Sure you can see structure, but you ain't seeing a Detailed oyster bed in 3 ft of water with that unit.

I sure will.

+1

I just don't see it being detailed. On the 1198's I can watch my friggin drop shot rig, and watch the fish in front of it. Fishing with longcasts dad who has a 798 it doesn't get near the detail.

I have no doubt that the 1198 with its larger display has more detail. But for the price range and features Jason is looking at I personally do not think he will find a better unit.

The HDS 5 Gen 2 with the same features is going to be over $1000.00.

+1

i got a garmin for ya...with 3d topo map and inland lakes etc...i'll sell it to ya for 375 and you can use the remaining to get you another upfront or put it towards a couple k2 coolers!:D

That is a good deal right there