Roughwater

I hear ya Koz. I don't mind Clemson when they loose at football, problem is they don't often loose! One reason I like N Carolina is cause they have lots of good basket ball teams, Duke, State, NC State and their football teams keep getting better too. I have no prejudice against any of them but in a given year I might like one slightly more than the other but I root for them all. Often, one or the other will take it all at something. I've heard they have some Walleye. Guess I need to get over there and seek them out. They are my favorite eating fish Next to Yellow Perch. When I lived in Ohio I used to go up to Lake Erie sometimes just to catch the perch.

Ive heard the helix are nice. But most who eventually buy a unit with side imaging wish they had done so sooner. It allows you to see more of the bottom with one pass so is great for finding structure etc. I like the garmin echomap series also especially the 73 and 74 SV chirp models which includes side view downview and is compatible with the newish Panoptix technology and of course includes GPS mapping software for a reasonable price. Chirp doesn't cost a lot more but gives you a cleaner, more accurate picture than non-chirp. Good luck fishing whatever you choose.

Much appreciated James.

Thanks.

Thanks Glenn Admin. Much apprecitated.

Thanks NHBull, though I don't know what you fixed? It's too late for me though to fix all my bad spelling.

Hope I'm not confusing you even more with my suggestion. I have a Garmin 74SV and like it a lot. I want to get the Panoptix transducer too but at the same time trying to pay off the credit cards I have and the two things I want to do don't quite coincide with each other. Ok my suggestion: If you do go with the panoptix, instead of the Panoptix Ice bundle I would buy a Echomap 73SV Chirp Or 74SV chirp and a Panoptix PS22 transducer. Then for less money you have the panoptix forward and down and a finder/plotter with sideview/traditional and downview or clearview as they call it now. You would still have some money left over to buy a 12v/12 AH battery (Amazon for under 30 dollars) and other accessories for Ice fishing. Just read over any item you buy carefully as there are still some non-chirp models out there and some models don't come with transducer especially some of the 73SV Plus models. For about 599 or less you should still be able to get the 74 or 73 SV and a grand for the PS-22. Looks like the panoptix Ice bundle is about 1800 dollars.

Finner, I don't mean to through a wrench in your plan but with you being new like me you might want to also explore the Garmin models. Why? Price, great GPS capability, Panoptix capability, very reasonably priced Sideview and Chirp, and easy to lean menu. If you shop around you can find a good Echomap 73SV or 74SV chirp model that has Sideview, Clear or downview and Traditional view. Also the 73SV and 74SV (7inch screen) Chirp model is compatible with Garmins Panoptix transducers. The 74SV is the salt water version and comes with great lakes and coastal maps and the 73SV comes with Lake maps. That said I have the 74SV which comes with both sets of maps (coastal and lake) and works great in the fresh water lake that I have so far used it in. If you do consider one of these models be sure it's the Chirp or plus model. As to the plus model it is the newest model in this series and features wireless and of course is also Chirp as well. Oh, here is an awesome deal on a 9" Chirp model with transducer: https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-echoMAP-CHIRP-94sv-with-ClearVuSideVu-Transducer-P5098.aspx?msclkid=a5db44e814581c8516df1e5b014b1236

Dmack, I don't know if you have since made up your mind yet but I have been able to get out a few times with the Garmin 74SV Chirp that I recently purchased . I don't really have anything to compare it to so I don't know if the 73SV shows any more detail in shallow water but my 74 seems to be doing just fine in shallow water. The only lake I have used it in so far is right at 30 ft deep in the deepest part of the lake. I can clearly see individual fish and schools of fish etc really well with it. I can even see fish sitting on the bottom and individual fish stacked up. My 74 came with the CV51-TM Transducer. After buying it I was really concerned like you thinking I might have to buy a different transducer like the 50 to see detail well in shallow water. But my main concern was whether I could see fish OK, but having used it I can honestly say there is definitely no problem with the 74 seeing fish in shallow water. Same goes with structure, I have no problem seeing structure and I can see the fish in the structure as well. So the short of it is the 74 Works GREAT in shallow water and I couldn't be happier with my purchase (unless I had got it even cheper). I would like to sooner or later pick up a panoptix transducer for it also. It would be pretty awesome being able to stop or anchor my boat and still see the fish but you can't do that with anything I know of except panoptix. Next time I am in my boat I'll take some pics of the screen and paste them here. Terry

Thanks for clearing that up.

You can do it I'm sure without buying the ice bundle kit. Being budget minded, and with the PS21 selling for several hundred dollars less than the PS22 I'm wondering why a person can't just point the PS21 down instead of forward if they want the downview feature instead of sideview? In looking at the PS22 it has the same specks for the most part as the 21. The 22 like the 21 can't see in 2 directions at the same time, it has to be pointed down to see down and pointed forward to see forward. I'm not clear on why a person can't just point the 21 down if they prefer to see down instead of forward? Or would that cause a programming issue and confuse the the picture we see on the screen as it might still be assuming a forward view and not a down view if the 21 were pointed down? For what it's worth there are 2 versions of the PS21. One version, the PS21-TR is the Trolling motor version and has a 45 degree Beamwidth and then there is the PS21-TM which is the transome mount verson and has a 20 degree beamwidth which is the same beamwidth as the PS22. They all seem to operate at 417Khz. Just a thought.

No problem and wish you the Best of luck! What ever you end up getting I hope you let us all know and also how it works out? I-O Terry

That's good to know. As I said above, I got the info from the Garmin store website and wondered if it was accurate but apparently it wasn't. I"m glad it will work with your 74VS Chirp since that is what I also have. https://g.factoryoutletstore.com/Category/CategoryListNoCache.aspx?category_id=0&search_term=Garmin PS22

Blake, The deeper Pro+ sounds like a great product for what you want to use it for. Wish I had some experience with the castable finders but I don't. I just wanted to mention and you are probably aware that certain times of the year, like right now, fish are often in deep water not always related to structure. I have in the last few days been exploring a small lake in North Carolina. I have a Garmin 74SV Chirp on my Kayak. I can see the fish really well with it as long as I'm moving anyway. Most of the fish right now are in the deeper parts of the lake and there is virtually no scructure there. I'm talking about water 13 to about 30 feet deep. This lake actually has very little structure. There are a few man made structures but that's it for the most part. I did find a shallower lagoon with good amounts of fish but I also found that a lot of the lake had few to no fish in it right now. I did however see a few fish where the man made structure is but many more were in deep water with no structure at all. Guess what I'm trying to say is knowing where the structure is, is a great start but if you can actully see fish too then you have the best of both worlds. I don't think it would require a real pricy finder to see fish and structure and still be fairly portable. However I do have to say if fishing from the bank being able to cast you transducer would be a real plus. I guess this time of year with that device you could find the deepest spots you can cast to and try them out even if you can't see the fish? Good luck, Terry Go bucks! PS, I'm originally from Ohio near Newark.

Appreciate the comment/question. My plan was to eventually get panoptix for my Echomap 74SV Chirp and I probably will but haven't yet. When I wrote this topic I had not yet used my 74 and since the 74 is meant for bigger water I wasn't actually sure how well it would work on local lakes. However I have since used it and it works great! I can see structure and most imporant to me I can see fish just fine with it. I can't of course tell exactly where the fish are but pretty close. It appears to me with panoptix I could probably see exactly where they are and if they move I could see that too so thats pretty awesome in my mind. I wouldn't mind seeing the price drop a bit on the transducers, if they do that would likely make me strike. Oh yea also, once I anchor I really can't see the fish with my CV51 transducer, but with Panoptix I could still see them and know what direction and how far they are from me and more!