GPS/Fishfinder help please...

Brian N

Brian N

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Folks, the Admiral needs some advice please...

She has a fishing kayak that she uses primarily for exploring lakes, rivers, and inland saltwater for wildlife and bird photography.

Some of the salty spots have some pretty good tidal swings, and can be a maze of interconnecting streams, estuaries, rivers, etc.

She's looking for a good GPS/Fishfinder to install for peace of mind, to find her way around, avoid obstructions, etc...

I'm sure she will be along shortly to explain further...
 
B, I put a basic Garmin Striker unit on Ann's baby Whaler. It does everything she needs and works fine for me. Main use is depth for her. It has no mapping but does do gps course tracking so it is easy to return over same route or hit previous waypoints. Simple and small with easy hookup and removal. does not clutter things up. There are units with mapping. Hard to wrong go here.
 
Hi!

I have the Old Town Sportsman AutoPilot 120 kayak with a built-in Minn Kota motor.
I have been looking at a few options;

Garmin ECHOMAP UHD2 73sv with GT54 and Navionics+ Inland & Coastal or
HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4N

I also looked at the;

GPSMAP 86sc

But I do not like the small screen and reviews that is was hard to navigate around the charts.

I am learning to fish now and plan on going to Joppa Flats, inland saltwater areas around NH, MA, ME and Delaware. (Florida a big possibility). Would also like to explore Nova Scotia.

Thoughts?

Thank you!
 
Bill D. said:
B, I put a basic Garmin Striker unit on Ann's baby Whaler. It does everything she needs and works fine for me. Main use is depth for her. It has no mapping but does do gps course tracking so it is easy to return over same route or hit previous waypoints. Simple and small with easy hookup and removal. does not clutter things up. There are units with mapping. Hard to wrong here.
Click to expand...
Does it have tidal charts?
 
wanderlust22 said:
Does it have tidal charts?
Click to expand...
Not on this unit. We have such a small tidal change on the alabama gulf coast that I just use a cell phone app. I had garmin and simrad units on the bigger boat and both were reliable and full function. No longer have that boat. My issue with the many feature units is not using the features often enough which made them harder to use.
 
Take a look at maptattoo. I don’t know much about these units, but they are getting very good reviews for use on kayaks. Gps, charts, tides, currents. But not fishfinders.

Marine GPS with Large 6" E-Ink Screen. 50-hour Battery Life.

Boat GPS designed for small craft. Large E-Ink touchscreen - perfectly readable in bright sunlight. 50-hour battery life. Rugged, waterproof, and portable.
www.maptattoo.com www.maptattoo.com
 
alk said:
Take a look at maptattoo. I don’t know much about these units, but they are getting very good reviews for use on kayaks. Gps, charts, tides, currents. But not fishfinders.

Marine GPS with Large 6" E-Ink Screen. 50-hour Battery Life.

Boat GPS designed for small craft. Large E-Ink touchscreen - perfectly readable in bright sunlight. 50-hour battery life. Rugged, waterproof, and portable.
www.maptattoo.com www.maptattoo.com
Click to expand...
$800 and just B&W? This is 2025; not 1985!!!

Look into Lowrance, Hummingbird, or Garmin. You really can't go wrong with any of them.
Get a 200Hz or 108Hz (can't remember exactly) transducer. Do not get 50Hz; that's for very deep water.
Some transducers also provide speed and temperature--your call there.
 
sugilbert said:
$800 and just B&W? This is 2025; not 1985!!!
Click to expand...

E-ink is not 1985 technology. It’s viewable in direct sunlight. Which on a typical boat is pretty much meaningless. But on a kayak, the normal displays we are used to don’t really work. At least that’s what I’m told. Last time I was on a kayak was probably 1976 or so. And there is also the power draw. These things don’t hook to the battery, and instead you charge them like a phone. Another useless feature on a boat, but big plus on a kayak.
 
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