looking at boat electronics-fish/depth finders

Tarheeler

Twelve Pointer
Son looking to buy some electronics for a 2072 seaark he has ordered. Looking probably to get a unit such as the Lowrance HDS7/9 but they are pricey, anyone here with experience with them or with anything comparable. Pro' or Con's
 

Bailey Boat

Twelve Pointer
I am a firm believer in Lowrance electronics, IMHO, the best available. I currently have an Elite-7 CHIRP and love it. I'm still learning some of the finer points but the unit is great. On all of my last boats I have had Lowrance and never regretted paying a little more.
 

Bruiser

Old Mossy Horns
Tons of great info on this site(see below). I was looking at a new unit last year at this time. I wasted alot of time talking with folks (retail locations) that knew nothing about electronics.

I stumbled on thehulltruth.com....and started reading and reading and reading! I quickly learned Gil with semperfifishing is THE MAN!! He knows all there is to know about every unit out there. The best part...he will talk as long as needed, answer all questions in detail etc etc....I would read on your own, determine YOUR needs and $ amount you want to invest....then call Si, you won't regret it.

I was looking at hummingbird, lowrance and Garmin. I purchased the Garmin 94svchirp, and absolutely love the unit. Good luck!



http://www.thehulltruth.com/semperfifishing-marine-electronics-transducer-sales-135/
 
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oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
what type of fishing will you be doing? are you probing deep water a lot? do you need the wide screen? do you want the contour lake bottom features?

If not the cheaper lowrance units work great for crappie and bass, structure, and bait.

i will say though that a new boat is the time to get what you want in electronics, you dont need to buy them twice. as in an upgrade soon after purchase.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I was a Lowrance guy for years, you couldn't give me anything else. Their customer service got to where it absolutely sucked :donk:donk:donk and I went to Hummingbird. Their customer service is first rate I'll give them that. That being said my current unit is a Garmin, it's clarity and definition is the best I have ever seen. It is not the most user friendly unit I have ever had, but once you get the hang of it you can do well with it.

I have no idea how much your son fishes or exactly what applications he will be using it for. I can tell you from years of experience, don't cut corners. Buy the best unit you can afford and you won't be sorry. If you want a better unit and settle for less you will never be happy.
 
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Tarheeler

Twelve Pointer
Thanks for the info, he will primarily be cat fishing in the Yadkin/peedee chain, so bait finding will be something that he wants,as well as learning more about stripper fishing and the ability to locate structure for bass crappie etc. But primarily catfishing, boat will be a outboard jet cc, geared for river fishing.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Thanks for the info, he will primarily be cat fishing in the Yadkin/peedee chain, so bait finding will be something that he wants,as well as learning more about stripper fishing and the ability to locate structure for bass crappie etc. But primarily catfishing, boat will be a outboard jet cc, geared for river fishing.
You don't need electronics for strippers, just lots of money. Stripers is a whole 'nuther ballgame though. ;)
 

Tarheeler

Twelve Pointer
There are several variables SEEM TO BE dif types of transducers, i may try the guy @ the hulltruth electronics and ask him some nubi ????'s. DONT KNOW IF WE REALLY need to get the module,(lss) total scan, or just the 83/200 and chirp--------could be overkill for looking for bait and structure
 
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oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
cabela's has some hummingbirds in the bargain house in garner that would take care of his river needs.

you might could call and get specifics and see if they would be worth the effort.
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
Garmin Striker series seems like just up his alley as it doesn't sound like he wants mapping. Can still mark waypoints however.
 

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Thanks for the info, he will primarily be cat fishing in the Yadkin/peedee chain, so bait finding will be something that he wants,as well as learning more about stripper fishing and the ability to locate structure for bass crappie etc. But primarily catfishing, boat will be a outboard jet cc, geared for river fishing.

I enjoyed my side image units from hummingbird. if you going to fish the Yadkin chain...you will want the mapping for the navoincs card. It will be money well spent once you put everything together. I fished for several years before tillery and badin was put on a SD card..once I plugged the card in and my GPS cord. popped up...I knew why I caught fish in those places. The side image was nice to see how fish relate to structure for me. These guys today are using the side image portion to locate fish...they seem to have it figured out. Bad part for the side image in the pee dee river is those transducers aren't cheap...or at least they wasn't when I had mine($350). You can break it quick in the river. That 2072 is a big boat for the river because you need to be able to turn it quickly and it wont do it like a small one.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I enjoyed my side image units from hummingbird. if you going to fish the Yadkin chain...you will want the mapping for the navoincs card. It will be money well spent once you put everything together. I fished for several years before tillery and badin was put on a SD card..once I plugged the card in and my GPS cord. popped up...I knew why I caught fish in those places. The side image was nice to see how fish relate to structure for me. These guys today are using the side image portion to locate fish...they seem to have it figured out. Bad part for the side image in the pee dee river is those transducers aren't cheap...or at least they wasn't when I had mine($350). You can break it quick in the river. That 2072 is a big boat for the river because you need to be able to turn it quickly and it wont do it like a small one.
I have owned two 2472s and sold both of them because I was beating them to death in the actual river. They are great in the lake. And you can add even more area for maneuvering them if you go with a jet.
 
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catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
I have owned two 2472s and sold both of them because I was beating them to death in the actual river. They are great in the lake. And you can add even more area for maneuvering them if you go with a jet.

The polarkraft I had was a 2096 which is basically a 2072 seaark and mine had a jet drive. I went to Cheraw SC once and came up the Pee Dee river...we came up it fine because water was running. Just got anchored when a fellow who wanted to go with me from SC said..." Looks like the water going down" in his SC slang voice. I asked how fast will it go down....he replied..." like flushing a commode". It went down just like he said it would. Now here is the good part..that jet drive dont have any brakes. All you can do is hit reverse against the current and when you do ....that boat is going to turn sideways and getting that long of boat to straighten back out takes some room. That turned out to be the best work out I ever had. One more tip on a jet drive..spend the extra and get hydraulic steering put on it.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The polarkraft I had was a 2096 which is basically a 2072 seaark and mine had a jet drive. I went to Cheraw SC once and came up the Pee Dee river...we came up it fine because water was running. Just got anchored when a fellow who wanted to go with me from SC said..." Looks like the water going down" in his SC slang voice. I asked how fast will it go down....he replied..." like flushing a commode". It went down just like he said it would. Now here is the good part..that jet drive dont have any brakes. All you can do is hit reverse against the current and when you do ....that boat is going to turn sideways and getting that long of boat to straighten back out takes some room. That turned out to be the best work out I ever had. One more tip on a jet drive..spend the extra and get hydraulic steering put on it.
He wasn't telling you any story about that water going down in that particular stretch. I had heard about it but didn't believe it to I witnessed it first hand.
 

Tarheeler

Twelve Pointer
The polarkraft I had was a 2096 which is basically a 2072 seaark and mine had a jet drive. I went to Cheraw SC once and came up the Pee Dee river...we came up it fine because water was running. Just got anchored when a fellow who wanted to go with me from SC said..." Looks like the water going down" in his SC slang voice. I asked how fast will it go down....he replied..." like flushing a commode". It went down just like he said it would. Now here is the good part..that jet drive dont have any brakes. All you can do is hit reverse against the current and when you do ....that boat is going to turn sideways and getting that long of boat to straighten back out takes some room. That turned out to be the best work out I ever had. One more tip on a jet drive..spend the extra and get hydraulic steering put on it.
yea he gotthe hydra steering and we know well about how fast the water drops- we fish behind the powerhouse to bridge stretch a lot- There will def be a lot of learning to be done,
 
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