Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 33

Thread: Chart plotter / fish Combo - Guidance Needed

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Charlotte
    Posts
    1,520

    Default Chart plotter / fish Combo - Guidance Needed

    I've always been the research guy but time is limited these days and frankly as I read about these devices my head spins with all the branded marketing terminology. I found a 21' CC that is great for family use. It needs an electronic. The GPS/Chart will get used way more than the fish finding functionality. But being the over prepared dork that I am I want to be able to use it for fishing when the situation arises. We use the boat on inland lakes, coastal rivers, sounds, charleston harbor, and when feeling froggy for near shore reefs and spanish trolling. Tell me what I want and need in a unit and transducer without spending a fortune. If I feel adventurous I may flush mount it but more than likely it'll be bracket mounted on the top of console...thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Providence
    Posts
    6,189

    Default

    I prefer Garmin, the biggest screen you can afford.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    charleston
    Posts
    8,600

    Default

    Many of the new fish finders using chirp tech have giant transducers that get broken easily- get a good color Garmin 7" or larger combo that uses a standard sized transducer

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Awendaw
    Posts
    2,031

    Default

    I have the Garmin Echomap 74SV UHD. It has every feature I could ever want. The ease of use is amazing. It is touch screen, but has 4 shortcut buttons that you can customize and make switching between maps and charts a breeze. Garmin makes it a little confusing, but the second number of the model number is what maps it is preloaded with.

    IE: the 5,6,7,9 is the screen size, and the 4 or 3 is the maps... The 4 is coastal, the 3 is lakes....

    The letters indicate the transducer. SV= sidescan and down scan DV= only down scan.

    If you plan to use for both, be prepared to have to buy the second map card for the one you will need. I will say since Garmin bought out Navionics, their maps have increased greatly. The Active Captain app is pretty cool too. You can pull up the maps on you phone, even on a buddies boat, and fish your marked spots. You can also plan a route, then upload it to the unit and it will give you almost turn by turn directions.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Charlotte
    Posts
    1,520

    Default

    Thanks guys. Fireman very helpful on the model coding. Do I want side and down scan? And looks like for use in salt or deep water I need a different transducer than just for fresh water lakes. Which is most ideal?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Pawleys Island
    Posts
    35,934

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bad Habit View Post
    Many of the new fish finders using chirp tech have giant transducers that get broken easily- get a good color Garmin 7" or larger combo that uses a standard sized transducer
    CHIRP TD’s need to be shoot through hull units. Avoids a lot of issues you’re talking about.
    Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.


    You might take out a dozen before they drag you from your home and skull fuck you to death. Marsh Chicken 6/21/2013

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Awendaw
    Posts
    2,031

    Default Chart plotter / fish Combo - Guidance Needed

    Quote Originally Posted by Elcid_Fowler View Post
    Thanks guys. Fireman very helpful on the model coding. Do I want side and down scan? And looks like for use in salt or deep water I need a different transducer than just for fresh water lakes. Which is most ideal?
    On transducer will pretty much do it all now a days. The one on my boat will change frequencies for the different type of water. Side scan is nice if you plan to freshwater fish brush piles, etc. I have it, but rarely use it in the saltwater....


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Fireman; 04-02-2021 at 03:55 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Pawleys Island
    Posts
    35,934

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Fireman View Post
    On transducer will pretty much do it all now a days. The one on my boat will change frequencies for the different type of water. Side scan is nice if you plan to freshwater fish brush piles, etc. I have it, but rarely use it in the saltwater....


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Sidescan/Downscan works OK in saltwater 50’ and under, the shallower the better. We use to use it for catching bait before the sun came up. It’s completely worthless in deep(er) water though. A good 50/200htz through hull TD will do all you want or need. The CHIRP gives much better definition and will allow you to differentiate between bait schools and target fish and allow you to read bottom at higher speeds with less clutter. If you’re bottom fishing with it make sure you can run a split screen to zoom onto the bottom one one panel and the chart plotter on the other or the full column. Use your sonar screen to mark points, not the chart screen. Doing it on the chart means you’re going to be off the mark by the time you log the point. Almost all plotters allow you to do this now.
    Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.


    You might take out a dozen before they drag you from your home and skull fuck you to death. Marsh Chicken 6/21/2013

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Awendaw
    Posts
    2,031

    Default Chart plotter / fish Combo - Guidance Needed

    Quote Originally Posted by Saltydog235 View Post
    Sidescan/Downscan works OK in saltwater 50’ and under, the shallower the better. We use to use it for catching bait before the sun came up. It’s completely worthless in deep(er) water though. A good 50/200htz through hull TD will do all you want or need. The CHIRP gives much better definition and will allow you to differentiate between bait schools and target fish and allow you to read bottom at higher speeds with less clutter. If you’re bottom fishing with it make sure you can run a split screen to zoom onto the bottom one one panel and the chart plotter on the other or the full column. Use your sonar screen to mark points, not the chart screen. Doing it on the chart means you’re going to be off the mark by the time you log the point. Almost all plotters allow you to do this now.
    The one that came with my Garmin is Chirp, sidescan, and downscan. It will do all 3. I’m running a 17’ boat though... not much deep water action over 60’ for me... I had no need for a thru-hull.

    Another great Garmin feature when bracket mounting it is the bracket is powered, and the screen just pops in and out of the bracket. No wires to hook up every trip. Just snap it in the cradle and go.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Fireman; 04-02-2021 at 04:11 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    28,024

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Saltydog235 View Post
    run a split screen to zoom onto the bottom one one panel and the chart plotter on the other or the full column. Use your sonar screen to mark points, not the chart screen. Doing it on the chart means you’re going to be off the mark by the time you log the point.
    Spot on
    Read this and then re-read it slower so you understand it.
    Last edited by ecu1984; 04-02-2021 at 05:24 PM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    SW Louisiana / Edisto Beach
    Posts
    1,284

    Default

    I am in the searching mode as well to put on on my ordered Sabine Skiff. Garmin echomap and Simrad GO series keep coming up with manufacturers and others I have discussed this topic with. I dont know about for the nearshore reefs but for inshore these 2 seem to be very popular.
    "The best things in life make you sweaty"
    - Edgar Allen Poe

    “We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us...”
    ― Henry David Thoreau

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    SC
    Posts
    24,412

    Default

    Cmaps are the best mapping cards available. They work in Lowrance units,...which also have good downscan, sonar, and side scan.

    As already mentioned, buy the biggest screen you can afford.

    Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Lexington, SC
    Posts
    20,832

    Default

    Following this, because I'm gonna put a GPS/fish finder unit on my new kayak. I'm even looking at side scan units. But it obviously has to be smallish.
    "Only accurate rifles are interesting " - Col. Townsend Whelen

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    28,024

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Swamp Rat View Post
    Following this, because I'm gonna put a GPS/fish finder unit on my new kayak. I'm even looking at side scan units. But it obviously has to be smallish.
    One of my sons loves Kayak fishing and ordered a new 2021 Hobie Mirage Outback yesterday,
    I will be putting some basic electronics on it for him including a micro power pole. The new Hobie comes with
    a retractable transducer plate underneath and the rear is ready for micro power pole.
    Check this out, the one he ordered.
    Last edited by ecu1984; 04-02-2021 at 08:59 PM.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Charlotte
    Posts
    1,520

    Default

    So do I use Navionics with the Garmin units? Does $500 buy me a decent 7" at minimum screen with a plotter and finder and transducer? This crap is like reading a 3rd language and I have enough hobbies already I don't need to decipher. Someone just tell me what to buy. I'm not flush mounting any longer. Just going to put it on the console.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Chapin
    Posts
    6,787

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Elcid_Fowler View Post
    So do I use Navionics with the Garmin units? Does $500 buy me a decent 7" at minimum screen with a plotter and finder and transducer? This crap is like reading a 3rd language and I have enough hobbies already I don't need to decipher. Someone just tell me what to buy. I'm not flush mounting any longer. Just going to put it on the console.
    You can get the lowrance Hook12 12 in sceeen with transducer for side and Downscan at academy for 799.00. Damn good deal for a 12 in screen.

    Only real thing I noticed is it doesn't accept linking to other units or your motor.
    Last edited by mhogancu; 04-06-2021 at 08:53 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Rebel Yell View Post
    now Hogan can fuck off on here all day and call it work, thanks!

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Moncks Corner
    Posts
    15,556

    Default

    My suggestion is to buy two nearly identical medium sized units instead of one larger unit. Garmin sells units that are identical except one has freshwater maps and one has saltwater maps. Run both or only install one and carry one in a dry box as a back-up. Electronics in a marine environment will quit with little notice. I've heard of guys who lost electronics because of near lightening strikes. Buying separate mapping card can almost be as expensive as buying an additional unit with those maps built-in.

    I have a big side-view sonar/chartplotter in my fishing boat and wired up a smaller unit that I have both fresh and saltwater versions. I took the second mounting station for the redundant smaller unit and put it on my duck boat. When I'm using the little boat I pick the one with the right maps depending on whether I'm in coastal waters or freshwater and carry the other as a back-up. When I'm in the big boat I run the side-sonar unit and whichever smaller unit matches the water I'm in.
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    greenville
    Posts
    1,550

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Elcid_Fowler View Post
    So do I use Navionics with the Garmin units? Does $500 buy me a decent 7" at minimum screen with a plotter and finder and transducer? This crap is like reading a 3rd language and I have enough hobbies already I don't need to decipher. Someone just tell me what to buy. I'm not flush mounting any longer. Just going to put it on the console.
    Don't get a 7" screen. You will be disappointed.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    SC
    Posts
    24,412

    Default

    For $500 you are looking at a Hook with a 7 in screen.

    Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,812

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Catdaddy View Post
    As already mentioned, buy the biggest screen you can afford.
    Someone break it down for us. The software is the software and be it on an Apple watch or plugged into the video board at Lambeau Field, the information that you see doesn't change right? Other than size, what are you getting for your money? The flat screen television market has more than proven that an increase in size doesn't have to come with a meteoric rise in price. Screen manufacturing comes cheap these days...

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •