So I want to mention,  I've never used electronics much. I also want to say I'm in search for a new bass boat.  But have been struggling to find anything. So I've sort of given up looking for the year and figured I'd try and find one in the off season. 

 

Therefore. I'm trying to pick out a decent sonar unit that will get me comfortable reading, structure and fish. (Until I get my new boat and than I'll have a better setup) Normally i fish a smaller lake by me and basically have the place memorized,  so I don't feel GPS is needed for now. 

I'm looking at getting a hummingbird helix 5, can pick up a new one for $150 right now.  Any thoughts or suggestions on a unit to check out is much appreciated! 

Thanks guys 

I have a Helix 5 GPS/DI that I use on rental Jon boats as well as a Jon boat on a lake at my parents house. I check out the DI from time to time and it is a nice feature, but to be honest, I use the sonar most of the time. I've even gotten away from splitting the screen lately and just keep sonar up. The 5 is a good size for portability and the price is right. I looked at the 7 for the bigger screen but then decided if I was doing the 7, might as well do the 9 which had several upgrades. Then I told myself I was being ridiculous and got the 5 like a normal, non-obsessed human being. 

To make it easy to use on different boats, I have a fishfindermounts.com mount, battery, and magnetic transducer mount. It takes me roughly a minute or two to mount everything up.  The battery is the base of the mount and last for several days without a charge.  The transducer mount is simply a very strong magnet.  Works very well, however 1. It is not the cheapest option, and 2. There are other ways to make you own DIY mount.  With that said, to me, it's worth the money and very well made.  

I map my day and upload everything to Naviconics so that I can help out other folks by building charts for some of the lakes and ponds I fish which until this point, were blue blobs on a map. A nice reason to spend a few extra dollars on GPS. 

Pretty slick setup! That would work out pretty sweet for my kayak! 

9 hours ago, Onvacation said:

I have a Helix 5 GPS/DI that I use on rental Jon boats as well as a Jon boat on a lake at my parents house. I check out the DI from time to time and it is a nice feature, but to be honest, I use the sonar most of the time. I've even gotten away from splitting the screen lately and just keep sonar up. The 5 is a good size for portability and the price is right. I looked at the 7 for the bigger screen but then decided if I was doing the 7, might as well do the 9 which had several upgrades. Then I told myself I was being ridiculous and got the 5 like a normal, non-obsessed human being. 

To make it easy to use on different boats, I have a fishfindermounts.com mount, battery, and magnetic transducer mount. It takes me roughly a minute or two to mount everything up.  The battery is the base of the mount and last for several days without a charge.  The transducer mount is simply a very strong magnet.  Works very well, however 1. It is not the cheapest option, and 2. There are other ways to make you own DIY mount.  With that said, to me, it's worth the money and very well made.  

I map my day and upload everything to Naviconics so that I can help out other folks by building charts for some of the lakes and ponds I fish which until this point, were blue blobs on a map. A nice reason to spend a few extra dollars on GPS. 

I'm corn-fuzed about the transducer mount.  I've not yet met a magnet that sticks to aluminum.  Do you put an iron plate on the "dry" side of the boat?

The part in the picture that has the company name on it is the magnet.  The exceptionally strong set of magnets actually.  It is inside the boat.  The arm the holds the transducer is on the outside of the boat.  It is such a good grip that you have to slide the magnet away to remove it.  Not sure you could just pull it apart.  

I took some pictures for you of the magnets apart, the interior magnet mounted at a 90 degree angle, and the clamp that mounts the battery and Helix to the boat. Hope that helps.