Fishfinders, your advice..

[evinrude2stroke]

Hey Guys, I'm looking at fish-finders for my new Manitou but I a novice at this so I'm not sure exactly what to look for... I'm also not thrilled about drilling things into the boat yet since it's still new. Does anyone have any advice on what to look for when buying one?Also mounting options?
I'll be using it mostly in my lake which gets to about 50-60 ft deep in some places And hopefully Rehoboth Bay, Delaware one of these days. I don't think I need all the GPS features but I hear they are good for marking locations.
I'm sure this topic has been covered before but thought I would seek the current advice from the experts. Thanks

[TDJ2591]

I recently mounted the new Lowrance Hook 5 (no room for a larger model) on my toon. Had to drill a 1-1/8" hole in my console for the wiring connectors to pass thru and four 3/16" holes for the mounting screws on the RAM mount. I recommend the RAM mount over the stock mount if you need to be able to tilt and angle the fishfinder. I also added Lake Insight (on sale right now at Cablela's) for depth contours.

I've had a number or Lowrance fishfinders over the years. I find this one to be too complicated to adjust the settings and the display. There are multiple levels of menus, depending on which screens are displayed and which one is primary. There is nothing intuitive about the menus or settings and the manual, though lengthy, doesn't help much. Perhaps after I've used it for a while and figured out all the settings, I'll grow to love it but for now I'm really frustrated with it.

[wijames]

I just purchased a Humminbird Helix 7 and absolutely love it. I also bought a ram mount for it so the footprint on my console is smaller. I use mine in a small lake as well as the gulf of mexico and find it easy to set up and use so I highly recommend it. It is a 7 inch unit so if you have limited space you might want to go with the Helix 5. The factory outlet store is offering both of these units now with the Navionics + card at less than half of what it would cost separately and I've used "sonarchart" which is included to map my entire lake with much better detail then it as originally.
Hope this helps

[HarryO]

I'm a fan of Garmin. I would buy a combo GPS / side scan capable depth sounder and then learn how to use it properly. You might not feel you need the GPS for your lake , but it will make frinding and remembering structure mush easier.

[Gearbanger]

I'm using the Lowrance Hook 4 and like it alot. I didn't want to drill holes either so I ran the wires through one of the cup holders on top of the console and then used the heavy duty velcro (all-weather 3m) to attach the mount. It works very well and if I ever want to take it off I just use some goo-gone for the sticky velcro and replace the cup holder.

[mzodarg]

I have both a lowrance and a hummingbird helix 5. IMHO, I like the Helix.

[urbnsr]

I have used the Lowrance Elite-7 Ti (also comes in a 5" model) which is a chartplotter/fishfinder with built-in GPS. Has different mounting options and if you have a new enough motor, you can use the NMEA 2000 interface to view motor information. Plus, I think you can interface an trolling motor autopilot.

Seems like a nice unit, but not sure of the cost.

[teecro]

... I'm also not thrilled about drilling things into the boat yet since it's still new. Does anyone have any advice....

No help on the fishfinder but while I feel your pain the sooner you break the cherry on drilling holes the better off you will be... Check my sig line and you will see I've got both a pontoon and a little bowrider and on both neither one lasted an hour in the driveway that the drill did not come out... Power-Outlets, cup-holders, gauges, speakers, depth-sounders oh so many fun and exciting toys to add... They don't stay new forever and you're not having all the fun you can if you're worried about getting dirty!

[rancherlee]

I'd pony up for a GPS combo unit, should be under 100$ extra over a base unit. I like the recently discontinued Humminbird 500/600/700 units because of they quick detach base that can also spin around with ease. With the humminbird units, the ones with i or ci after the number have internal GPS. I sure miss that quicktach base, I just upgraded to a 998C an need to invest other 100$ for a ram mount so I can turn it around so I can see it from up front where I cast from. I have a old Grayscale 580/gps and a Color Side Scan 798ci that I plan on putting up for sale soon.

[gmdfst]

I have Lowrance Elite-5HD works well I added the Navionics us lakes charts sd card and that makes it great for the navigation

[joe20toon]

I have had Lowrance fishfinders in the past and this time I went with the Humminbird Helix 7. I'm really impressed with it and the price compared to Lowrance. It has "side-scan" which is something I won't be without in future fishfinder purchases. For about the same price, Lowrance did not have the "side-scan" feature. I also recommend the RAM Mount as mentioned before... Humminbird seems more user friendly to me - that's always a good thing when adjusting the unit.

[tkrein]

Mine benni came with the Garmin 45dv I like ithe. The unit is a GPS fish finder combo. Since I boat on the Mighty Missouri the gps is a nice feature. The unit seams solid and looks great flush mounted.

[evinrude2stroke]

Thanks guys, I'm going to look into all that you guys mentioned. I definitely want something user friendly since I get quickly frustrated with electronics...(I still can't figure out the damn stereo that it came with, I just keep pushing buttons until I hear music).
The idea of running the wires thru the cup holder seems good. I think Ram Mounts also makes a cup mount, which I will look into more..

teecro- I hear what your saying...it takes me a while to build up the nerve lol.

Thanks guys, I'll post pics after I pull the trigger..