# Question about gps/finder combos



## mstaaf (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm planning on buying a new fish finder for my kayak
and now i'm hooked on the idea of having one with some gps
capabilities built in so i can ditch my handheld.

I've read about the additional map cards that are available for
the models and they contain detailed maps of very few (if any)
of the small waters i'll be fishing. Ladue, Mogadore, New Lyme, etc.

Does the gps function work at all without the map packs?
Is there any visual data built in like shorelines at least?

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Michael


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## Shaggy (Oct 24, 2008)

Go to the Humminbird web site and send them an email. They are very good about getting back to potential customers with answers to questions like that.


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## OldSchool (Oct 18, 2006)

My answer is "yes" the HB units would cover lakes like Nimi and Ladue. (But it might depend on which model/map that you get... I am no expert on this.)
I put a new HB 798 on my boat and the base maps are all there... nowhere near as detailed at the Lakemaster cards but it does have level contours at the 5/10ft intervals. Two things to note... 1. the GPS function will work anywhere (even on land). This is good for tracking where you have been (trails) and dropping markers (waypoints) on spots that you want to save.
2. The base maps are not strickly accurate from a geographic location perspective. The map depicted on the unit may be off by a good bit (ie 100ft or more) from reality... you can use it to know that there is a high spot in the lake but and it will get you close to the spot but you will have to factor in the inaccuracy... for example, in some places when you are running a shoreline the trail that you make on the GPS unit will appear as though you are running your boat on land.


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## OldSchool (Oct 18, 2006)

As I thought more about this... your best bet is to visit a local BPS/Gander/Cabelas and play with there demo units. All the HB models have a Demo mode and you can use that to view the chart/map display... zoom out unitl you can see Ohio... then move the cursor to somewhere in NE Ohio and begin to zoom in... as the lake you want to check on comes into view, again move the cursor to that spot and zoom in a little more. You will be able to confirm that the base maps in that unit have the lakes you care about and see what level of contour lines are supplied for that lake.


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## silverbullet (Apr 14, 2004)

I upgraded my unit to a ff/gps this year. I had used an old eagle magna vue and my hand held gps for 3 years prior. I went with the lowrance mark 4 unit. It does work just fine out of the box. I have only used it on erie and on willard res. The contour lines are a great benefit that even the resevoir contour lines were in the unit. This is a great feature I wish i had years ago. Theres allot of good units out there today, good luck


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## raora (Sep 19, 2013)

Check out fishfinders on BoatingInstruments.com. Free shipping on orders over $100. No sales tax outside NY!


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## privateer (Apr 26, 2012)

The standard maps may be sufficient for your needs. I run the Navonics maps on my Lake Erie units mostly for the "other" interesting features - wrecks and such. However, they do have a finer resolution than the base maps and more built in points-of-interest. Beware though, my charts expected 20' of water off Madison park and with the new (couple years ago) rock piles placed to create beach there, it was more like 10' of water... Things can change daily (hourly) near shore on Erie.

For small water, I would strongly consider the sidescan feature. I run SIMRAD equipment on my Baha, perhaps a little overkill on a kayak, but you should be able to get an "all-in-one" unit from Lowrance (SIMRAD partner company).


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## rod bender bob (May 19, 2004)

privateer said:


> The standard maps may be sufficient for your needs. I run the Navonics maps on my Lake Erie units mostly for the "other" interesting features - wrecks and such. However, they do have a finer resolution than the base maps and more built in points-of-interest. Beware though, my charts expected 20' of water off Madison park and with the new (couple years ago) rock piles placed to create beach there, it was more like 10' of water... Things can change daily (hourly) near shore on Erie.
> 
> For small water, I would strongly consider the sidescan feature. I run SIMRAD equipment on my Baha, perhaps a little overkill on a kayak, but you should be able to get an "all-in-one" unit from Lowrance (SIMRAD partner company).


Could you explain the daily (hourly) changes?


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