steer me to the right gps

[icepike]

okay looking for a new gadget this winter and a gps is what it is..im sick of looking at lake maps and wanna get a higher detail of where iam fishing..im looking to be around the 350 dollar range and would like to be able to download lake maps of the northeast.if this is possible. ive heard that some gps's show stump fields as well as other under water obstruction...please point in the right direction..

thanks -joe-

[Matt Johnson]

The Lowrance iFinder H20 is a nice unit. You can buy different chips to download lake maps and you can also work in correspondence with your computer. A great GPS with a lot of features and it's relatively easy to use too.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Guest]

I will second Matt on the H2O.I use it both summer and hard water fishing and the Lakemaster Pro-maps are very nice,also pretty easy to learn.

[icepike]

im getting to the thinking..i already have an lx3.would it be worth my while to get a gps or an aqua vu??

[Matt Johnson]

I would personally go with GPS before the underwater camera. There are many days on the ice where I never use the underwater camera, but I always used the GPS. It's also nice to have a GPS if you fish large bodies of water like Mille Lacs, LOW, Red, especially now that there are lake map chips that can put you directly on the spot. An underwater camera is a great tool for fishing, you will learn a lot from them, but I would rank the GPS as a more important piece of equipment.

What underwater camera were you looking at? Some are reasonably priced and you might be able to swing both a GPS and an underwater camera for the price you'd spend on a higher end underwater camera...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Bob Horn]

If you are fishing alot of lakes that you are not familiar than I have to agree with Matt and I would get a GPS. I have the Garmin 176. It`s the black and white not color. I heard that they had problems with the color version. If you fish lakes you know than get a camera. The GPS has saved my life a couple of times. They also will get you off the lake when it`s a white out.

[icepike]

matt and bob..i was looking at the osv500 by marcum.the issue is this..i know the lakes i am fishing...but they are big lakes.and i have fishing hot spot maps of them.im just wondering if the gps will give me a higher detail contour of the lake bottom and show me different structure that the map already shopws me?

[burl]

I have the H-20 with the lakemaster chip.I found it amazing to find new structure on lakes i have been fishing for years.I would purchase this before the camera just to keep things a little more simple when out fishing.I move around alot when fishing during the day so it seams like it take alot of extra time to be setting up a camera every stop.Burl.

[Matt Johnson]

A GPS will help limit a lot of guess/trial and error work when trying to locate a spot. However, the underwater camera can really help in locating the "spot on the spot." What I mean by that are transition areas, weed type, bottom make-up, etc. An underwater camera will identify those characteristics.

If you already know the lakes you are fishing and you feel comfortable sticking to those lakes all year, than maybe the underwater camera would be the better choice for you...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm with MJ on this one... An underwater camera can been an awesome tool for an ice angler if used correctly! Same with a GPS, flasher, ect... its up the the angler to decide which will help them the most. For me, I choose all... LMAO