Fish Finder

[Chris_Jackson]

I noticed there is no GPS's in the online breammaster store.
So what do some of you people use? if you use one that is.

[chopper]

hi,

i dont know much about fish finders, other then they find fish for you, under your boat.

but, what is the purpose of having GPS on the boat?

other then knowing where you are?

thanks

[Craig_S]

Knowing where you are is probably the most important use for a GPS, that and the ability to "mark" a good spot to go back too. GPS is also a more accurate measure of speed than you get from a fish finders transducer.

Its also another fishing toy and as everyone knows you cant have too many toys

[jimi]

Chopper, for breaming the location finding benefits of a GPS are marginal since you can see the structure most of the time. They are good for working out total distance traveled so you can calculate fuel consumption which is handy for larger engines and underfloor tanks.

Offshore you might as well stay home if you don't have one since they are essential for finding spots that you have fished before or taken off a chart. They are critical for finding your way home when you are fishing over the horizon (no landmarks) or if it gets foggy or in heavy rain. Also handy up north if you are doing coastal runs from creek to creek.

They are not expensive anymore. You can by a basic handheld like a garmin etrex for $300

Chris, not sure if you are asking about fish finders or GPS's, but with regard to fishfinders you will find a wide variety in use. It all depends on your budget.

You can start with the basic but good value Lowrance X51 for around $400. These are very popular. I have a predecessor of this one. From there you can move up to the matrix 35 which will give you an ultra wide beam, more pixels and power for around $900. These are getting very popular for breaming thanks to the wide beam, which is great for shallow water.

After that a nice colour unit from Lowrance or navman would be great but you are looking at $1500 to $4000 plus for a good one.


James.

[Chris_Jackson]

Im after a good fishfinder, it doesn't have to be GPS. But i dont really wanna spend over the $300-$400 amount. Whether it be hand held or other.
Do hand helds hinder the information? or the accuracy?

[jimi]

For sounders in that price range there is not a hell of a lot of choice. The standout would be either the lowrance x51 or the eagle fish easy 2 (I think that is the model?). You are looking at high $300's but they have good screens and a reasonable amount of power.

Sounders don't generally have a gps option until you get up to the $800+ price range. The more expensive ones will either come with a gps, or allow you to interface with an external gps using NMEA via a cable.

There are no hand held sounders (actually someone brought out a watch based one once - didn't last though) since screen size and resolution is critical to the quality of info you get from one.

However for GPS's, handhelds are quite common. A basic GPS just tells you your latitude and longitude on the earth. Since these are just numbers, you don't need much space. Most handhelds also have a compass screen, a simple plotter that can draw a track showing where you have been and a goto screen that can guide you to spots that you have stored in the unit.

Being handheld doesn't make it any less accurate. Accuracy depends on how many satelites it can track and the quality of the software on board. Also, the US military (they control the global GPS network) can induce an error in the signal, so it may sometimes be less accurate. Even if everything is perfect, it will generally only get you to within 15m of the target spot.

More advanced units can take map cartridges that make the plotter and goto screens more meaningful. If you are going to show maps, bigger screens (and colour too if possible) are better as the detail is easier to read and you don't need to scroll as much.

Cheers
James.

[Chris_Jackson]

Thanks for the info Jimmi. I'm saving up some money with me dad so we can put together for a good GPS/Finder.

[Chris_Jackson]

I've been looking around and saw this one:

http://www.navman.com/marine/products/fishfinders/f4100/index.html#


in the shops for $279 reduced from some pretty good amount.
Would this be ideal for my 435 Gannet Savage? for the river mostly and some but little ocean fishing?

Cheers