Fishfinder/GPS units

[CryptoSquirrel]

I was hoping I could get some feedback from the group on a good Fishfinder/GPS unit for my kayak. I'm looking at 4 different companies right now and wanted to see if anyone has any experience with any of them. Right now, I'm looking at Hummingbird, Lowrance, Garmin, and Raymarine.

I was leaning towards the Raymarine but am still undecided. Any thoughts?

[Cowpokey]

I have a Lowrance Elite-4 HDI and am very happy with it. With the current prices, I would go for the Elite-5 HDI...I would have done that if they were this price when I bought it this spring.

[BassMoore]

i have an elite 4 right now as well, if i dont pull the trigger around xmas on an elite 7 hdi im going to wait till the new depth finders come out with the chirp technology

[Cowpokey]

i have an elite 4 right now as well, if i dont pull the trigger around xmas on an elite 7 hdi im going to wait till the new depth finders come out with the chirp technology

This is the first time I heard about the chirp technology, looks interesting.

[HawkGT]

I have the raymarine dragonfly 5 and am quite happy with it. I bought it primarily for the chirp sonar feature and the fact that any bad user problems would have come to light by now. It works just as advertised and I'm happy with it. You will want to be sure of all the install details for your 'yak so the install goes well. I have a pro angler 12 and the install was just as I hoped.

Gps performance is what I expected and very accurate. I like the ability to save tracks of where I fished. It locks onto my position before I can get the "boat" launched and has never lost my position.

The sonar and chirp downscan work well, too. I just can't compare them to anything else since this is my first sonar unit. The images seen out on the water at 40 feet and less match the advertisements. I've seen bait balls and large blips nearby, which I assume were larger fish. I didn't catch anything to confirm that. But. I did watch a very large blip come up from the bottom to near the transducer and felt a pressure wave on the mirage drive as it went by. Spooky!

The chirp feature is fun to watch now and again, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Still, it works as advertised and I would rather buy a good unit once and be done with it. I tend to get frustrated with a purchase that saved a few bucks when buying the first time, but then left me wanting in the long run.

I found my best price at the NC GPS store


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[DOGFISH]

I have always used Humminbird, without any problems. I now use a 597 HD DI. I do like the Garmin units, with touch screen. Garmin is very user friendly.

[Cowpokey]

I did watch a very large blip come up from the bottom to near the transducer and felt a pressure wave on the mirage drive as it went by. Spooky!

Where were you? The Dragonfly units look sexy, but they are spendy and I've seen more bad reviews than good ones. Glad you are happy with it...makes me wonder why all the bad reviews are out there. Maybe it's just "those people" that focus on negative feedback?

[Yak Fish]

I never heard of the Dragonfly unit, but taking a look at the website, it's appealing. That CHIRP stuff really sounds promising. It may be worth a try. It's tough because the only real way you know how it works is when using it real time.

I like my humminbird 788 with down imaging. Sometimes I wonder if I should have sprung for the side imaging.

[BassMoore]

Chris is coming out on Lowrance very soon

[HawkGT]

Cowpokey, I launched out of the Romancoke Wharf fishing pier and went out Southeast from the wharf. Here is the image... Any guesses as to what that was? It looks like two large blips, one stayed deep, the other came up to investigate.Spooky.jpg

[HawkGT]

Here are some other images from the Dragonfly... same area. Normal sonar on top, chirp image on bottom.Dump007.jpgDump008.jpg

[Cowpokey]

Cowpokey, I launched out of the Romancoke Wharf fishing pier and went out Southeast from the wharf. Here is the image... Any guesses as to what that was? It looks like two large blips, one stayed deep, the other came up to investigate.[ATTACH=CONFIG]13656[/ATTACH]

Wow, that's weird. I don't have a clue.

[Cowpokey]

Here are some other images from the Dragonfly... same area. Normal sonar on top, chirp image on bottom.[ATTACH=CONFIG]13657[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]13658[/ATTACH]

Cool images! Looks like it has really good resolution on the screen.

[CAGE RATTLER]

Cowpokey, I launched out of the Romancoke Wharf fishing pier and went out Southeast from the wharf. Here is the image... Any guesses as to what that was? It looks like two large blips, one stayed deep, the other came up to investigate.[ATTACH=CONFIG]13656[/ATTACH]

Nothing to worry about. It was just a 10 foot Bull Shark looking for lunch.

[CryptoSquirrel]

Thanks to all for your feedback! Buying your first is always the hardest :-)