fish finder suggestions

[cocopuff]

Yeah I had talked to my friend about what map cards to get for middle tn and he said avionics was fine. I'm going to try and wait til the end of the Year and hopefully the cards will go on sale when they bring out next years. Cheatham lake where I fish right now isn't mapped on anything but the dragonfly links up to an app that can chart it. Once I hone my skills I will be moving on to lake Barkley and definitely want the contours for it. I just need to go to bass pro this weekend and play around with the units to make my decision :wink:

 

[bamabill]

Coco I have t bought one yet. Got laid off two weeks ago so I'm trying to get my retirement worked out. I'll most likely go with the Humminbird though.

 

[cocopuff]

Sorry to hear that man, hope everything gets worked out on your retirement. I went with the helix 5 si because I looked at a dragonfly 4 pro compared to one at bass pro and the dragonfly's screen was tiny in comparison. Instead of getting the dragonfly and tablet I went with the helix because I figured I'll always want an si unit and if I upgrade later on I can turn it into a dedicated SI viewer. I'll post a review here in the next couple of weeks once I get it out on the water.

 

[bamabill]

thanks coco, everything's working out good. As of right now I also plan to get the Helix 5 SI. The best price I've seen online is $437. Have you found it any lower?

 

[cocopuff]

I bought mine from jet.com for $430 shipping included and no tax. Apparently they are a website set up to compete with amazon, and by opting out of a free return for the helix and using a visa debit card I got this price (I think it's like $10 more if you want free returns I figure if I have any problems it will be going to humminbird under warranty). Best part is I ordered it tuesday night around 10 pm and it was at my door Thursday at like 5. To use jet.com you have to sign up for a free 6 month trial but you will not be charged a dime once this trial runs out (I emailed jet.com to be sure). To me they were a much more legitimate looking site than some of the others I found that had a similar price.

Now I just have to mount a cutting board on my transom so I can get the transducer on there without throwing up a rooster tail like my current one. I am very happy with the screen size on it, definitely glad I did not get anything smaller.

 

[bamabill]

I saw jet.com was up to 449. DigitalOasis was 435, but they are out of stock. I imagine they'll go up when they get some. I went ahead I ordered from Amazon, 449 and free ship. I still haven't gotten my head around the SI. Just have to keep looking at online videos. Next expense will be spider rigging setups.

 

[cocopuff]

Yeah like I said only reason I didn't want to order from amazon was they charge tax in tn so thats an extra $40 compared to other sites. I've been trolling around on youtube for videos on SI and normal sonar. When you get your helix it comes with a dvd that shows you how to use it, haven't watched mine yet so not sure how good it is haha.

 

[bamabill]

So far Amazon hasn't charged me any tax here in Alabama. Their free ship is slow. Took five days just to get ship notification. Should have mine Tuesday. Wife and I caught a few bluegill and couple of cats the other day. I just wish we'd kept all we caught and boated all we hooked!

 

[Wyatt]

I saw jet.com was up to 449. DigitalOasis was 435, but they are out of stock. I imagine they'll go up when they get some. I went ahead I ordered from Amazon, 449 and free ship. I still haven't gotten my head around the SI. Just have to keep looking at online videos. Next expense will be spider rigging setups.

A spider rigging setup is next on my list as well. I'll probably be going with a setup from Cumberland Crappie.

 

[bamabill]

Helix 5 SI should be here tomorrow. I ordered Driftmaster Tbars and holders from Bottom Dwellers Tackle. They were very helpful. Got a left hand thread setup for left side of boat and a standard for the right side. $166 delivered. Only bad thing is the extensions are only 10". May end up modifying them.

 

[bamabill]

Whoever came up with this CD manual for the Helix ought to fired.

 

[jethro]

Whoever came up with this CD manual for the Helix ought to fired.

Haha! Yep, there is that. Lemme guess, you are over 50 years old? I love it, I downloaded the PDF file to my smartphone and now have the manual at my fingers constantly, but I hear that complaint from a lot of folks. All Humminbird products come with a CD manual now.

 

[cocopuff]

Well my helix 5 shipped to me and I loved all the features, the sidescan was impressive...but it had a dead pixel smack dab in the middle of the screen. So it got shipped back and I'll hold off til spring to get one, hopefully they will go on sale when new models roll out.

 

[1lhorn]

I hear new, bigger Helix models (9, 10, 12?) are coming out early October.

 

[1lhorn]

I hear new, bigger Helix models (9, 10, 12?) are coming out early October.

Lots of places are starting to drop prices on outgoing models like 899, etc. Previously $999, could have been had at Cabelas for $719 (with 10% off coupon). Hopefully will drop even more when the new Helix models are officially released.

 

[bamabill]

Well I've been out a couple times with the new Helix 5. I still haven't done anything yet to have a manual in hand while I'm on the water. I tried that Document Pro, but can't get it to open a downloaded file. May just try and put it on my phone or print the pages I need. Anyway, I'm happy with unit so far. Hard to see in the sun no matter what palette I use. Structure looks nothing like the pics I've seen online or in the manual. My Mod V with 45 Merc will do 32 mph, but due to turbulence around the transducer I can't see anything at that speed or anywhere close to it. Still have a lot to learn, but I'm already in the market for a cheaper, smaller unit for the front of the boat. Maybe a Pirahna Max. Any other suggestions?

 

[bamabill]

A couple guys over on Crappie.com suggested using no more than 60' range in SI. I assume that's 60 per side. They say the images are much clearer. Will try that this Thursday when my son and I go out. Also ordered a Lowrance X4 Pro for the front of my boat. That'll let me monitor any depth changes if I'm trying to stay on a drop off.

 

[jethro]

My Mod V with 45 Merc will do 32 mph, but due to turbulence around the transducer I can't see anything at that speed or anywhere close to it. Still have a lot to learn, but I'm already in the market for a cheaper, smaller unit for the front of the boat. Maybe a Pirahna Max. Any other suggestions?

Huh, I have a deep V hull and even at my max speed of 28mph I can see everything clear. I use a Pirahna Max 160 on the front of the boat on my trolling motor.