Help Me Outfit My Boat

[titelines]

Hi All,

I have an 18.5' Fish-n-Ski that needs some new equipment, so I thought I'd enlist your expert opinions. I'm a little overwhelmed seeing what's available. I know what I want, just don't know how to go about picking it out. I want good, reliable equipment, but it doesn't need to be top of the line.

Here's my list:

• New Bow Mount Trolling Motor: I currently have a 45# thrust Motor Guide and a 24v system for it. I'd like to replace this with something that has more power. I'd also like to have an auto-pilot. What do you suggest?

• New Electronics in the Bow: I need to replace my current fish-finder. Temp/depth readings etc. needed.

Question: I love my Vexilar and would love to have one in the boat. Am I better off getting an open water conversion kit for the one I have, or getting a permanent one in the boat? Would this replace the bow fish-finder, or do people generally have both?

• GPS/Fish Finder: I need this in the console to find humps/structure etc. while steering. I will also be out on Superior (in calm water) going after lakers etc. so I'd like to see the thermoclines. I have a stern casting platform: If the screen was big enough, could this serve as a fish-finder for the person in the stern?

Question: I was going to get a hand-held GPS for ATV'ing/ice fishing etc. Can this be used in the boat, eliminating my need for one in the console? Or, are there advantages to having both a GPS and the fish-finder in one unit, on a split-screen?

• Rods Holders: This is a fiberglass boat, and the gunwales are not very wide. Is there a track system that can be mounted, but that has a quick release so the rod holders can be taken off when not is use?

Is there anything that I'll need that I'm missing?

Lastly, if I can't do this all at once, what should I do first? Do I need to consider the system as a whole when deciding what to do first, second etc.?

Thanks for all info you can give me!

[solbes]

Bow Mount: For a 18.5 glass boat you're going to be in 24 volt territory for sure. On the high end of thrust if you want to use it out on Lake Superior with any kind of wind & waves. In MinnKota Powerdrive V2's there are 65 and 70 pound with 24 volt. If you go with a Terrova there is an 80 pound model. I would absolutely recommend the Autopilot. I bought a new 16' Lund Rebel last summer and use the AP a lot.

Electronics: Can't answer your vex conversion question, because I don't know much about them. Seems like you have two good options though: the new Lowrance HDS series or the Humminbird with Side Imaging. The Lowrance HDS has broadband sonar which should be able to see through thermoclines, but I'm unclear on whether it will display it. These reportedly can be upgraded sometime in the future with side imaging, but details won't be given until sometime later this summer. Be careful if you go HDS though, they are brand new this season. I'm sure you can get some deals on the older outgoing models, but some models there have issues of their own.

The Humminbirds are probably more established, but will not have the broadband sonar capability. The side imaging is pretty cool though.

As far as using a portable GPS, you absolutely can use these in boats. I have an H20C that uses a RAM mount on my console and works great for me. It will not be very visible to anyone except the person driving the boat. If you want a transom unit with a large enough display for visibility to the stern casting platform, you will likely be into the 7"+ screens anyway. Most, if not all of those will have GPS included.

I use Lunds sport track for mounting my rod holders. I have seen some very nice bow rail type systems installed on glass boats on the bow and near the stern. Nice clean installation of rod holders to those.

For priority on those four, I'd say trolling motor first, transom GPS/FF, rod holders, and vex conversion for bow if possible. All of this is really fun, until you start seeing the charges! Good luck!

[PerchJerker]

Lots of questions, lots of decisions for you to make.

For starters, I'd probably try to narrow it down as follows.....

You talked about a bow mount trolling motor and new electronics in the bow. For prioritizing your spending, how important are these to you .... or to put it another way, how much time do you spend fishing in the bow. They're great to have, although not much use if you're not fishing in the bow, but really needed if you are fishing from the bow a lot.

Console electronics - lots of options here, like a big screen combo unit, or 2 smaller screens that are separate sonar and gps, or as you mentioned using a handheld gps. The problem with handheld gps are that the screens are so small that unless they're right in front of your face they're hard to see the detail on, especially in sunlight. The sky is really the limit in this area, there are tons of options depending on what you're looking for and what you want to spend. But I have the same question here as for your bow equipment ---- are you going to use this more, and want newer/better equipment here first, or would you rather spend the money elsewhere. It really depends on how you fish.

Vexilar - some guys like having their flashers in their boats (sounds like you're one of them), some guys don't like them in boats (that's me). If you already have one and like it, it can be a good way to get a unit in the boat that you like and that won't cost you as much money. But if you want to network stuff together and if you like big color displays and cartography capabilities then the Vex might not be the best unit to use.

I'd be happy to work with you to try to answer your questions or get you some pricing and specific recommendations. If interested you can email me at the address in my signature.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Fun! Come with me to the Sportshow and I will help you spend your money

Seriously, the show started today and does offer some good deals. Have fun!

[Fish Head]

There is a lot to discuss here. I'll just throw in my quick 2cents.

First thing I would do is the electronics on the bow. I think you need separate units on the dash and bow. I have a lowrance 552c on my bow and love it. Personally I would leave my vexilar in my ice fishing bag and put a lowrance sonar on the bow, but that just me. Now that Lowrance has the new HD, you might be able to get a steal on last years models that are still in the stores. I'll bet the sports show would have some deals.

When it comes to the trolling motor, GET THE MOST POWER YOU CAN AFFORD!!! Everyone wishes they had more power. Especially with a fiberglass boat. I would recommend a MinnKota Terrova 80 or 101. Get a 60" shaft too. On windy days, a shorter shaft will come out of the water. Also, I would recommend Auto Pilot. Without AP you cannot stop to tie a line, or net a fish, or whatever, because you need to be steering the boat constantly. With AP, you can take a quick break to do something and keep the boat on line. No big deal on calm days, but if there is any wind, you will need AP. Get universal sonar so you can use the built in transducer for your new fish finder.

Good Luck. Its always fun to outfit a boat.

[Sandmannd]

I second the 522c, awesome unit. If you have the money, get one for your console and one for the bow and network them. It's a steller setup.

I agree with the trolling motor, go as big as you can get. Also, IMO, the Co-Pilot is the bomb. I have both the AP and the co-pilot and use the co-pilot the majority of time.

You can use a handheld in the boat. My opinion, it's one more item in there. Works fine, but with the 522c, you don't really need it.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Short and sweet...

Terrovea (80 minimum)

Lowrance 500 series sonar/Gps system

Great project

[titelines]

Thanks so much for all the info - This is great.

I fish from the bow 90% of the time, so I think the priority would be the trolling motor and electronics. I do want as much power as possible up there, so the info provided confirms my thoughts there. I've never heard a bad word about auto or co-pilot from those who have them, so that sounds like a must.

Sounds like the Lowrance 500 series is the way to go. I can find out more about each one to find what would be best for me...this gets me pointed in the right direction though.

I think my second priority will be the console electronics. I mainly fish lakes that I'm familiar with currently. I do want the ability to mark spots etc., but I think that can wait. I probably won't fish Superior again until I have upgraded equipment, so I can wait on that if I need to.

If nothing else, I can use hand-held to mark and find spots until I'm able to get the full electronics in the console.

I like my Vex for jigging, so that's why I would want it in the boat. I find it much more user friendly than a traditional fish-finder for that type of fishing. That being said, I haven't really looked at the new models, so I don't know if they are as effective (i.e. Can you see your jig on-screen, or a fish actually coming off the bottom?). It sounds like I should just get the conversion kit and use it when that's how I'm fishing.

A couple of you mentioned "networking" the system together. What do you mean by this? Can I still network the system even if I don't do it all at the same time?

What is "universal sonar"?

Sorry for all the questions. Trying to get my head around this, but having fun, and getting excited about doing this.

Thanks!

[Sandmannd]

To network the lowranc, you simply run a cable between the two units. This way they share a transducer and antenna. Not sure if they share the lake map or not though.

[PerchJerker]

Networking lets you share 1 gps antenna between multiple units, lets you share digital data between units and even your boat motor if it's got an NMEA output cable, and if you go with Lowrance units you can add an ethernet cable and share sonar diplays off 1 transducer, etc. You can add to and expand networks at any time as long as the units you buy are network compatable.

Universal sonar is a transducer built into the lower unit on the trolling motor, so you don't need a seperate transducer. All you need to do is connnect a universal sonar cable from your locator to your trolling motor.

AutoPilot and CoPilot are great for some guys, but other guys don't feel they're needed. Again, it really depends on how you like to fish and what you do when you're in your boat - do you like running the trolling motor with the foot control and paying constant attention to it, or would you rather let AP take over for a while, or use the CP to control the motor?

Graphs will mark your jig (as long as it's under the transducer) and will mark fish on the bottom and coming off the bottom. But if you like using your Vex for that maybe you'd rather continue to use your Vex. If you want your Vex in the bow you could put a standalone GPS beside it, either your handheld or a 5" fixed mount unit.

Just a heads up, the Lowrance 500 series is discontinued and has been replaced by the HDS-5 line. You might still find some 500 series units on closeout but they are getting to be in short supply.

[PerchJerker]

To network the lowranc, you simply run a cable between the two units. This way they share a transducer and antenna. Not sure if they share the lake map or not though.

That's the basic idea.

To share a transducer you need to run an ethernet cable between the units. But you can't share GPS data over the ethernet cable.

To share the GPS and other digital data you need a network backbone cable and other network components like T connectors and terminators. And you can't share sonar display info over that network.

You can't share lake map data over the network, each GPS needs to have it's own map card (or internal maps) if you want it to display lake map data.