I just finished reading the article that Tom Redington posted about drop shotting and he was talking about watching the fish work their way to the bait on the sonar screen. What kind of sonar/fishfinder has this capability and where do I get it? I am looking at upgading this winter to a front mounted system on the trolling motor. I don't want this to start into a which is better sonar war, just a few suggestion on what may have this capability. I am willing to spend a little extra to get this performance.

Most sonars are capable of this, just make sure you get the most power and resolution.  The higher rms power will make sure you can watch fish take your bait.

The higher rms power will make sure you can watch fish take your bait.

I'm not sure what rms stands for. :-[ I have alot to learn by the sound of it. I know how to read the screen and operate the unit, but not really sure about how many khz is better and what not.

Yeh you don't need a super nice Depth Finder for this, but you do need to be fairly good at using the one you have and good at knowing what your looking at.  That being said, I have an eagle 320 which only runs around $180, and I haven't taken the time to figure that out yet...but my father has the same depth finder and claims he can. *shrug*

The higher rms power will make sure you can watch fish take your bait.

I'm not sure what rms stands for. :-[ I have alot to learn by the sound of it. I know how to read the screen and operate the unit, but not really sure about how many khz is better and what not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_mean_square

I'm real confused now Burley. :-/

It doesn't really matter that you know what RMS means or not just get the highest you can afford.  The RMS is measured in watts, the higher the number the better.

IMHO, one of the most important factors in being able to see fish on your sonar is actually understanding what your looking at on your screen, no matter what unit you have.

I do think that higher end units have better resolution etc.....but alot of middle of the road units and some lower end units will do a nice job if you just take the time to learn your unit and how to set it so it's working at peak given the water conditions you are using it in.

I have a Garmin 160 on the bow of my boat. It's by no means a high end unit but I spent hours and hours learning how to read it and how to set it properly. I frequently fish deeper water for smallmouth, I can attest that I've been drop shotting in the cone of my transducer and have seen a fish appear, then bite. I have also had many times that I was slowly trolling around a piece of structure, saw an arch appear on the screen, drop the bait down to it, then had it bite. I can actually see my line in many situations.

JMHO......

Whichever unit you buy PLEASE take it off of automatic and run it in the manuel mode. Without it you are not getting anywhere near what the unit can do for you. Read your manuel several times, get out on the water and run across several places that you are familiar with. If you happen to buy a hummingbird I can send you some information that will explain what you are seeing on your screen. Good luck.