I have an 18' Tracker that was bought used and has seen better days.  It came with two Bottom Line depth finders that don't work, or at least don't work right.  I have accumulated $200 in gift cards and would like to pick up something to help me locate structure.  The fact that depth finders show fish is only an aggravation as far as I'm concerned and I am much more interested in locating channel ledges and brush piles.  Question  for the $ I have to spend, would it be better to get two depth finders (one for the bow and one for the console) or spend it all on one for the bow?  Also, any suggestions as to what to get for the money?

Shadmaster,

If you only have a few hundred bucks to spend, then only buy one unit. When shopping for you new depth sounder you should look at pixel count with top priority and everything else secondly.

I know that bass pro shops had the Eagle Fishmark 480 on sale for 179.oo not long ago (may still be?) It is a grayscale sonar (not color) but sports an impressive 480x480 pixel resolution. This should suit you well.

I would go for the eagle 480. I have them on my boat and for the same reason you want, structure. Awesome resolution and detail. The 320 is nice but the 480 is much better.

I'll add my vote for the Eagle Fishmark 480 as well.  I bought one over the summer and installed it in my boat.  For the money, I'm amazed at its performance.

Hillbilly

What is wrong with the depthfinders that you have now? It might be that they are not set up right, x-ducer in wrong location etc. Might be very fixable.

Have someone check out your current ones first. I bought a used basstracker and the transducer was bad. If you decide to get a new unit I know that hummingbirds swivel so you can see them from the front deck. For most of this year I would just turn the screen around when I stopped to fish.

Allen

Thanks for the input guys - as to the problems with the ones I have now, that is a long story and has some to do with how I got the boat so cheap.  ;D