So I'm having a hard time justifying ~$1200 for a sonar/GPS fish finder once I get a boat, but I got thinking that maybe I could get away with just getting a mid-grade sonar unit, and buy a normal Garmin GPS unit to mark coordinates of good fishing holes. What do you think? I figure I could get all of that for ~$600, seems like a win win to me.
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I am using a Eagle fishmark 480 fish finder on my float tube and pontoon. I started off using it with fish icons. I wasn't happy with it at all. I started to use it in raw mode and now I love it. I have been using a hand held GPS for a couple of years. When I hit fish like crappie, perch, walleye or Catfish I mark each fish caught. After a while I see a pattern and I focus on the hot spot. I also use the GPS to give me speed for trolling. A guy does not need a 1200 dollar fish finder. I would like to get down and side imaging and I am having a hard time justifying it. Ron
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For 600.00 bucks you could get a real nice GPS/fishfinder unit. Lowrance HDS 5, Humminbird 587c hd Combo(469.99), on up to the Humminbirds 597ci HD Down Imaging combo(649.99). Those are very similar to the two units I run on my boat and they perform great. Hope this helps.
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