Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm new to pontoons , we are kinda learning as we go. We just recently bought a sun tracker 20 DLK with a 90 mercury on it. It came with a lowrance hook 4x fish finder , it doesn't have a gps on it . Would it be better to replace it with a fish finder gps combo or keep it and buy a hand held gps with lake maps on it like a Garmin.

I don't do much fishing and my lake is small so I don't use GPS for mapping but since my toon has no gauges I use the finder to tell me my speed.
Yeah my phone will do that but it's not waterproof & the display is hard to see in the sun.

I would go handheld.

* Will cost less money than replacing your current unit.

* You can take the handheld with you if you sell your boat or go on a friend's boat.

It really depends on what your looking for out of it. From what I have seen it is handy to have an all in one unit if your fishing and want to come back to a spot etc. The down side is you can't use it anywhere else.
Now a handheld is nice for portability but adds in the chance of forgetting it on a trip or something.

As far as price that just depends what you want. I have seen GPS/fish finders for pretty cheap. And the reviews were pretty good. Yeah it isn't top of the line but I don't take that as what your asking for.

Handheld GPS is one I have been away from for a bit. But generally they are almost if not as much as the lower end combo units I have seen lately. Like I said I have not looked for a while. But if it is anywhere close I'd go with an all in one unit. Only downside I see if price is the same is you'll have to install it.

[quote="BobL"]I would go handheld.

* Will cost less money than replacing your current unit.

* You can take the handheld with you if you sell your boat or go on a friend's boat.[/quote]

I'd argue that one, for not much more money a GPS/Finder combo is the way to go.
-Screen size, way easier see the map under way
-speed/satellite lock on , the fish finder units usually have a lot more processing power and update the screen more frequently and usually,more accurate, and lock on to more satellites quicker.

My pontoon had no gauges so I bought the Garmin Striker 4 fish finder.....$89 at Menards. It has GPS so I can get what I need.......Speed and Depth. I like the other features like waypoint mapping and hopeful will get some use out of the fish finder feature.

Thanks for the help and everyone's input , I'm leaning towards upgrading my current fish finder for one with a gps probably the lowrance hook 7 and downloading an app on my IPhone for hiking and a backup . I'm hoping I can use the existing wiring and transducer that's already mounting for the hook 4x

I like the Lowrance Unit on m boat.

GPS, Temperature, Depth, Fish Finder, Trails & Waypoints as well as speed.

But it's on the boat.

I have Garmins for hunting as well as in all my vehicles cause when I retired, I took them out of the business vehicles.

I think Garmin makes excellent products.

I talked with the guy at bass pro today about different units available. He mentioned the Garmin with the 3d tech...that was pretty impressive...not in my budget but impressive.

I'm leaning toward a hummingbird. Helix 5 for my boat. He mentioned each company has their strengths. Hummingbird being the best sonar wise according to him. But I am using the fish finder part of it maybe more than some people. So I look to that first. The Helix 5 is in my price range and I like the size of it.... of course it is down the road a bit for me. For now my Old Hummingbird 525 will have to do.

Why not Navionics on your smart phone and tablet with Sonar Phone wi-fi for your sonar fishing needs. That's my set up. Truly portable and you probably already have a phone and tablet.

https://www.navionics.com/usa/apps/navionics-boating

http://sonarphone.mobi/

https://youtu.be/EpFE-tog-N8

I have seen the sonar phone stuff. It looks interesting.

I think it depends on what you want to do. If you fish and want to come back to certain points or have an underwater contour may then a new unit may be in order. Screen resolution has gotten better as well being able to see it in the sun.

if you just want to see where you are at on the lake your phone will do.

[quote="JLester273"]I'm leaning toward a hummingbird. Helix 5 for my boat. ...[/quote]

I hope you can save up some cash and get the Helix 7. Some reviews on the Helix 5 have mentioned the screen is too small.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/arkansas ... f0a4baaf97

Best to compare them side by side at some sports/marine, Bass Pro retail store.
When mounted on your console, it may be farther away from you then what you see at the stores.
That's where the slightly larger screen will be much easier to view.

By the way, here's the new version of the Helix 5: http://www.sonarwars.com/humminbird-hel ... g2-review/