spidergrub6 Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 After being frustrated this summer by my lack of consistant success beating the banks I've started thinking about updating to a new fishfinder to fish deep offshore spots more effectively. I am thinking about maybe getting a unit with GPS mapping capabilities but am puzzled about one thing. None of the local bass holes that I fish are big or famous enough to be on mapping software, at least I don't think they would be. So is the whole mapping capability useless to me then if I don't fish any of the big national lakes that would be featured. And with GPS how do I mark waypoints on it if I don't have a digital map of the lake that I'm fishing. Or will an arrow just point me in the right direction as I move across the lake. Sorry if these questions are confusing but as you can see I am thoroughly confused:huh:. Also how accurate are these modern GPS units will I be able relocate within 10 feet of a waypoint and does price effect this or are all units just about equal in accuracy. Thanks a ton in advance for any help on this matter. I just don't want to blow my hardearned money and then be dissapointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 Your gps unit will mark a wpt where ever you are whether or not you have a topo map. My first one only had a lake outline with no contour lines. I could mark a wpt and go right back to it. Accuracy on a gps can be affected by the atmosphere, your position relative to the sats., time of day and department of defense. Most are accurate to within a few feet. The big money difference is not the gps part but the sonar part it has always been about pixels and now it is about hd and side imaging. Go to Fishing Hot Spots and Navionics sites and look for your lake listed on different cards to see if one of them has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidergrub6 Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 Thanks for the response! So basically if I don't have a navionics or similar digital topo map of my lake it will just show an outline of the lake on my chartplotter but no topo lines so it will still show where waypoints are in relation to shoreline contours and other waypoints? This would be all that I need because I don't feel like spending 200-400 bucks on a map chip. Dang those things are expensive. One more question. I want to put a fishfinder at the front of my boat and mount the transducer on the trolling moter foot. I see that there are transducers for this but I don't know if it will work with my motor becuase it has the skeg in on the very front of the motor. It's a Minn Kota Edge bow mount and I don't know if mounting the transducer between the skeg and prop will cause interference or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 The transducer mounted behind the skeg shouldn't be a problem. The cards are not that expensive. 2008 Navionics Premiums are $99 at Bass Pro right now. LEI cards only run about $100. Did you check to see if your lake is listed on either site? Depending on the unit, your lake may also be in its base map. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 If you really aren't going to use the maps, there's actually no reason to have chartplotting or mapping on your GPS at all. I've never found lake outlines to be especially useful. Any unit, even a cheapo $100 portable, will mark waypoints and direct you back to them (yes, they have a screen that looks like a compass with the direction to the waypoint indicated by an arrow.). That said, I use a Humminbird 987C with full mapping and lake contour info on a Navionics cartridge, plus side imaging capability. Lots of $$$ but it's very nice if you fish offshore spots. If your "home lake" is on the Navionics cartridge, it is a very useful tool for doping out areas where fish should be as the seasons change. You WILL see areas you've never fished that you should be exploring. My "home lake" is a small 3500 acre power generation lake but it is on the Navionics cartridges. I'd never seen a contour map of the lake before I bought the cartridge (Hot Maps Premium East). It's worth a look-see on the Navionics site to see if your lake is on the cartridge. If it is, you should consider a more capable GPS with map cartridge capability (Lowrance, Eagle, and Humminbird use Navionics). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 Lowrance has emulator software you can download on their website for all their products so you can test drive on you computer nice to be able to give it a go before hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
