gps units - land and water - need help

[Bruce Yeaton]

Looking for advice on a possible GPS unit for both land and water. I've been looking at the Garmin 276C, but noticed that there are really no maps for the areas I fish. I'm new to anythng GPS, so is there a way to use the unit on any lake and and get details like in the provided map software?

If there are no maps for the areas I fish, is it really worth the $$$?



Thanks guys!

 

[Edward Lea.]

I have a magellan sport handheld unit. We can hook it into our graph. It can be very helpful in marking a spot so you can go right back to it. Ours also has a advantage some consider bad. The maps in it are contour maps. They are based on the government geologoical survey maps from around 25 years ago. We like them because some of your lakes are less than 25 years old and the lakes do not show up. So what we see are the contour lines from before the lake was flooded. All the creek channels and countour lines are there to see. So I can motor right along the creek channels. They are extremly acurate and will put you inside of a 3 meter circle of a marked spot. When we are out of town it makes an excellant map as the streets show up also. That is except for streets less than 25 years old. We find it very useful.



I find that the only lake maps available are well known lakes. Most of the smaller not famous lakes here in the midwest have no maps for the gps units. But you can build up a set of saved spots and you acan swap them with friends also.

 

[Jim B]

Bruce

Take a look at the Lowrance iFinder H20c. It should do everything you are looking for. The basemap will have most of the roads in it, and the map create software will have even more detail. For lakes it will take the Navionics stuff, the latest navionics chip for our area has tons of local lakes on it. If your not looking for depth countour maps on the lakes the map create software has very detailed maps of the shoreline.



Personally i think its worth it. Just for the ability to mark a spot and get back to that same spot time and time again. My first GPS had no map ability at all and honestly it did everything i need it to do as well as my 332c i have mounted by my console. Just without the fancy map. I use mine mainly for marking offshore rockpiles and humps etc. I have tons of them marked on Winni, Squam etc and i can get back to them any time i want without searching.

 

[Mike Ratko]

Bruce,



My vote goes for the Garmin Quest 2. Have a Quest (prior version to 2) and have the navigation charts for some of the Great Lakes, Central Ontario, Florida, and the Bahamas. It is small, poratable and extremely easy to use. It does have a small screen but it does the job very well. I travel for my job and it is small enough to put in a pocket or briefcase. It is very popular with cyclists: leg-powered and motored.



It may be a little pricey but the portability and performance is worth it. When used in a car with the power adapter, it will give you turn-by-turn instuctions.



Mike R

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

Jim -



What Navionics chip should I be looking for?

 

[Kevin Barbieri]

Don't forget the Humminbird 787c2 unit. I love mine. Got the Navionics Maps to go with it. Fished the Connecticut River with it for the first time and it was an amazing experience! :wub:

 

[Glenn Covington]

I got the Lowrance iFinder H2O and love it. Just went with the grayscale to save money and it works great. The screen is one of the largest available and is very visible even with bright sunshine. For lake maps, I went with the Navionics Premium Chart for my region and it has several thousand lake maps for my region. Use the link below to go to their web page and check the lakes out. It includes most lakes that I know of larger then 500 acres. You can also download some additional maps for free off the Lowrance web site, some of which will have 2 foot depth contours! Got the GPS and maps from Cabelas for about $300 total, so it didn't break the bank (or upset the wife!). Good luck!




http://www.navionics.com/HotMapsPremium_06.asp?RegionID=2

 

[Jim B]

The premium is the way to go, it has the most lakes. on some lakes like Winni the detail is awesome.