How Important Are Your Electronics?

[Nova Kaw 650]

I'm possibly going to upgrade my electronics next year. Considering the extremely high cost of the newest high tech Lowrance and Humminbird units, how important does everyone feel the sonar is to their fishing success?

Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "I don't need anything electronic to catch big bass", to 5 being "I can do well with a fairly basic F.F. w/o side imaging or any of that fancier stuff", to 10 being "I would sooner fish out of a $500 12 foot aluminum boat with my $3000 electronic unit on board than fish out of a $50,000 BB that only has $150 fish finders".

[Triton21]

It's a 10. You can see from my user name I fish a high end boat and good FF. I intend to upgrade to SI next year(or maybe this fall).

Kelley

[gotarheelz14]

I don't have a boat or a fish finder so for me, it is a 1 right now. I will say this, once I get my first FF and I start to use it, I think it is going to be extremely hard for me to go anywhere below a 6 or a 7. I am increasingly reliant on technology (internet access at all times, GPS on the car, etc) and I can easily see myself becoming a 10.

I think that knowing what is actually down there and not having to go by littoral references would improve my fishing success 10fold!

[Jace372V]

I just upgraded my ranger with a hds 7 side and down view in my dash and a hds 5 on my bow and let me tell you when you get them and start using them you wonder how you fished without it. I prefish tourneys without throwing a line i just putt around and mark logs and rock piles then come tourney day just hit your spots one by one it works well for me.

Jace

[Bluebasser86]

I think it kind of depends where I'm fishing at. Little farm ponds you can find stuff pretty easy with no depthfinder. I've never fished with the S.I. stuff but it looks really cool. I'd say that having a depthfinder is an absolute must. I didn't have one on the front by my trolling motor until last year. I don't know how I functioned without it now that I have it up there . I have found some of my most consistent producing spots since I put that thing in there and watch the screen all the time.

[3dees]

I think a depthfinder is a must unless you do nothing but beat the banks. are these new dsi, di, si units going to put more fish in the boat? they look great and I ordered a dsi unit for the bow of my new boat. that being said, do you think the pros are doing any better then 15 years ago when they were using gray scale 2d finders? I don't think so. they should be better than the older units but they are not going to make you a better fisherman if you don't understand the basics of how fish relate to structure. used right a 200.00 unit can be just as effective as a 2000.00 unit.

[agssebvtsece]

For me it's a 6 or 7. I've got a humminbird and it's great for structures, depth, water temps, and drop offs.

[Nova Kaw 650]

Thanks for all the answers so far.

I currently have Humminbird 565 monochrome's. You may laugh, but they are very sensitive and show good bottom and fishy detail, and have a fairly big screen for a $200 FF.

I'm just weighing the value of going from $200 units to $2000 units.

[BRONZEBACK_ADDICT]

I'd rate myself an 8 or 9...My last boat had an HB 898 with SI which was nice, but I never had the unit long enough to reap the rewards of the SI. I bought a Ranger last year and have an HDS 8, which is also an awesome unit. The main advantage to going to an expensive unit is GPS with mapping. Once I develop some sort of pattern, I just look on the map and drive to another similar spot.

My advise would be to buy what you can afford, you won't be disappointed.

[Crestliner2008]

10. Get the best that you can afford. Every penny you put into your sonar is money well spent. Even fishing shallower lakes & ponds, it can tell you a lot about bottom content and contact points, such as old railroad ties, downed trees, etc.. All of which will put you on fish a lot faster than not having this capability. The Lowrance HDS series is a fine piece of electronics...in my opinion.

[milepost43]

10. Get the best that you can afford. Every penny you put into your sonar is money well spent. Even fishing shallower lakes & ponds, it can tell you a lot about bottom content and contact points, such as old railroad ties, downed trees, etc.. All of which will put you on fish a lot faster than not having this capability. The Lowrance HDS series is a fine piece of electronics...in my opinion.

it's a 10....this SideScan says it all....caught over 50 smallmouth off this boulder/rubble field including 2 > 6# in the first hour after finding it..........

[midnighthrasher]

10!!!

The best way to justify me saying 10 is the following phrase.

" its the difference between fishing and catching fish "

You can follow edges, depths, contours. I fished my local lakes my whole life and caught tons of fish. But when I got my Hummingbird units it really kicked up a notch. Now if I get on a pattern I can follow it on my gps. Down imaging/sonar split screen is amazing when drop shotting. You will not regret the move.

Hummingbird 998 si/di

Hummingbird 788 hd/di

[Siebert Outdoors]

Honestly I'd say about a 6-7. Why. Some of the places I fish are so shallow that any SI or DF is useless. I spent 4 days on Lake St Clair and never fished more then 5 FOW most of it was 3 or less. Now if your fishing deeper water its a must have.

[stepchild]

I'd say I'm an 8. I have a discontinued Eagle 500c w/GPS and between that and an old 2d, b&w unit...a color unit with GPS definately helps take some of the guess work out of your fishing day.

Like others mentioned, once you start to determine a pattern, it's a lot easier to go to another similar location when you have a lake map displayed besides your sonar screen!

Now I know my unit isn't as high end as what you can now find on the market, so I can only imagine how powerful a tool it can be if the unit has features such as structure/down scan!!! It would likely make it that much easier for you to focus on the details that can really help you put the pieces together on any given day.

[Fish Chris]

Cool

I enjoy being the odd-ball.

I'd rate electronics a 1... for myself that is. I know some guys really know how to use them for a great advantage. I just suck with them. I'd get all side tracked watching that screen > instead of fishing (you know, my whole AADD thing) and I might as well be watching a portable TV LOL

But it's cool. I've been known to stick a big one every now and again without electronics.

Put me on some water.... any water, with fish in it, and I'll find them, if not with my eyes, then on the end of my line

Nova Kaw, you didn't give the option > "I'd sooner be fishing out of a 12ft aluminum which also had zero electronics" ......which is what I'd have chosen

Peace,

Fish

PS, I actually do have a little portable FF that works quite well for what it is..... and I'm thinking I might have to take it out the next time I go for those deeper water Smallies.....

Then, their is this one, deeper hump which I can't seem to find (with just my eyes) with the lake being practically over full ! If I could just find that hump, that might be a good place to start. After all, I caught the 8.5 in my avatar, as well as 3 others over 7 lbs, all on this same hump. Of course it was probably about 5ft shallower, but.....

[kms399]

I'm about a 5 i use mine constantly mostly for finding deeper weed edges and keeping my depth. I have an eagle fishmark 320 that works great for that purpose and at $160 I cant complain.

[Jig Man]

TEN I fish mostly with structure scan and look at limbs, logs and brush to see if there are any fish in or around them. That way I am not fishing blind. I use a Low hds8 with structure on the back and on the trolling motor.

Here is a down scan pic of some sandbass hanging near some shad. I caught 6 of them after I saw them. I doubt I'd have gotten more than maybe one if not for the unit.

[Nova Kaw 650]

TEN I fish mostly with structure scan and look at limbs, logs and brush to see if there are any fish in or around them. That way I am not fishing blind. I use a Low hds8 with structure on the back and on the trolling motor.

Here is a down scan pic of some sandbass hanging near some shad. I caught 6 of them after I saw them. I doubt I'd have gotten more than maybe one if not for the unit.

So you depend on the Structure Scan more than the Side Imaging?

[Jig Man]

Nova I use down scan more than side when fishing under 25 fow as I can see something and drop a bait right down the tmotor shaft to them. I use side to find stuff along banks and mark wpts so I can go back and fish over them if the water is deep enough.

[kash1]

I just purchased a new Triton TR18-Pro and I put a 998ci SI on the console and a 788ci HD DI on the bow. I had the same type on my last boat and my catching went up 50% on catching bigger fish. Once you use Side Imaging and down Imaging it really helps you to understand what your seeing on a 2D locator. I give it a full 10.

[bronzeman]

You simply need them to locate off shore locations on Erie. Subtle changes can result in good concentrations of smallmouth.

[Dwight Hottle]

it's a 10....this SideScan says it all....caught over 50 smallmouth off this boulder/rubble field including 2 > 6# in the first hour after finding it..........

Milepost 43

Know that I know your secret spot I'm going to work it over really good. Bye bye fish for next year