Fishing Electronics

[HEAD0001]

I am in the process of buying a new boat. I do alot of Crappie and catfishing. The boat is an 18 foot aluminum flat bottom. I want to put a good depth finder on my boat. I know depth finder technology changes every year. On my old boat I had Eagle electronics.

Does anyone have any suggestions?? Just name a unit, I can investigate the unit on the net. I d not need anything fancy. Just a good basic unit that will show structure, and baitfish.

Is color necessary?? I have never had a color unit before.

I have never had a GPS unit. Do you guy's like your GPS unit??? Pro's and con's??? Tom.

[HARRY]

I would put a Lowrance X125 on that boat...
and NO, I don't think a guy needs the color...

Good fishing to you...

Harry

[Phil]

Eagle is owned by Lowrance and I think that this is just about the same unit as the L125 but would cost less. 480 x 480, 800ft, 1500W. I couldn't imagine needing more on a crappie boat. Perhaps we'll run into one another at Burnsville this summer. I am ready and a half. Bout sick of winter weather! Harry has had real good luck with Lowrance and I've had good luck with Eagle. Pretty much the same thing.

[HARRY]

That Eagle L125 is probably the exact same unit as the Lowrance X125.

Lots of Manufactures do this, so they can sell their product through two places in the same city.

Be sure to post all your fishing stories here, and we also like to see pictures..

Harry..

[udiablo]

I use Lowrance for fishing year-round and depend on my electronics (depth, sonar, temp, and gps).

I've heard their customer service is good, but I haven't needed them for anything yet.

You can get depth/water temperature/sonar, and speed/gps on the same instrument if you want.

I agree that color is not needed (at least, not by me). Some people really seem to like the pretty color displays, but I have a "color deficiency" so the black/white/gray scale suits me just fine.

Whatever you get, take the time to learn how to use it. I mostly fish for crappie, so I set/locate brushpiles, then use gps coordinates to return to them later.

It's more than just a depth finder. With practice you can detect changes in the bottom (silt/sand/gravel/rock), locate structure, detect suspended debris, baitfish, and larger fish.

If you know what make/model you want, see if you can get it as part of your boat/motor package through your dealer, installed. He might be willing to sell it to you at cost since you're getting the boat from him.