Plotter and fishfinder info plz.

[Rocker]

Hi, can anyone recommend a good plotter and fishfinder? seems to be hundreds of different types!

[big_sean]

What is your budget as that can make a massive difference to the quality of the Kit you can get.

Garmin and Lowrance do some good stuff

Sean

[Rocker]

Cheers Sean, around a grand all in. Or am I better off saving some more?

[big_sean]

you can get some good kit for a grand now, so do you want an all in one or separates?

Also the boat show is due in a few weeks and there should be some cracking deals to be had

Sean

[Rocker]

Cheers Sean where is the boat show held mate?

[Fishygone]

gps-fishfinder

Hi
I bought a Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp GPS-Fishfinder combined plus Tanceduser for £400 and the Navonics Anstruther to Crimbsy CF Card for £119 total £519 off the Ebay, and must say very pleased with the set up. The company was PRSCOMMS

john.

[big_sean]

Hi Rocker

The boat show is at Southampton, but the marine dealers will all have deals on very shortly.

Just wait a few weeks and the deals will be on.


Regards

Sean

[alcaucin]

the lad next to me just got the lowrance 5 with chirp and he is well chuffed with it. I have the x4 dsi and it's ok for small boats or kayaks but not for the bigger boats which have the room in the cabin. Downscan is the kiddo now for greater detail. You should get a decent one for the money you have to spend. Try the boat show and do a bit of haggling it's good fun and may be rewarding.

[Joe-m]

Lowrance are my first choice in plotters and sounders for small sportfishers designed for the job, which they do very well

[Paul_h]

Joe
what boat have you got ? does it have a cabin, cuddy etc.
have you got any electronics and transducer fitted at the moment.
is it outboard or inboard engine shaft/leg

I would recommend the biggest screen your budget will allow.
Do you need just a plotter or are you looking to have sonar (fish finder) with it, will you need to install a transducer if your looking for sonar or have you got one fitted already, there are a lot of good recreational MFD's on the market at the moment, you need to thin them out to what will suit your needs.

cut a piece of card board for 5" 7", 9" and 12" and place them on your dash or roof to see what will fit and feel comfortable with. that opens the options on sizes

Paul

[Wasabi]

For 95% of what I do, the "fishfinding" is more a navigational process than an active "finding".

the two major locations here are wrecks and grounds and techniques are drifting or anchoring.

coming to your question......

the two major talents of the fishfinding are accurate plotting with pre-loaded maps and ground imaging.

nowadays technology develops all the time and I believe the GPS plotters with 3D maps are nowadays affordable..I would love to have one at least for ground fishing and uptiding.

the sonar function is usually quite a primitive device and largely only used to know that we actually are on a wreck. If you have enough marks on your plotter you can do wreck fishing without a sounder imo.

other underrated value of those devices is measuring of sea temperatures, tracking, voltmeter, VHF/GPS link, split screening, zooming

after all this, the only advice I can give is: buy as good as you can or want to afford, but the plotter is the really important thing

dont buy old and outdated stuff

also check connectivity (PC, VHF, other devices, multiscreen, Iphone/Pad) and touchscreen/controls