gps or fish hawk

[Side JOB]

I have been considering getting a fish hawk. I think i have got the wife talked into it. The question i have is do i get the fh or do i upgrade the fishfinder to something with gps. Any advice would be nice. Thanks Nick

[GLF]

I have been considering getting a fish hawk. I think i have got the wife talked into it. The question i have is do i get the fh or do i upgrade the fishfinder to something with gps. Any advice would be nice. Thanks Nick

A GPS is a must! Having the ability to get safely back to port in the fog is a must. A GPS will also help you with your surface trolling speed.

Having said that.....a hand held gps will work. Now get the FH!

[Hoosier_Steelheader]

Mike is right, A GPS is a necessity.

It will keep you on the fish once you find them, and help with your speed. Then if a fog or darkness sets in you can navigate back to port by your GPS.

Word of caution about navigating on GPS in fog or darkness; slow down. (Seems like every year there are more and more reports of boaters hitting piers at speed because they set a waypoint inside the pier heads.)

[Adam Bomb]

Do you already have a GPS unit seperate from your sonar or are you wanting to upgrade to a Sonar/GPS combo unit? If you dont have a GPS at all, then by all means go that route and get the GPS. Will get you back safely and with the cardography available now a days itll show you hazards, breaks and other structure etc. Thats a great tool to have on board for safety and will help you catch allot of fish. If youve already got sonar and gps and your thinking of upgrading for just the sake of upgrading then i would consider the probe....Thats my take on that. Good luck to you.

[zollerj]

A Fish Hawk won't help you get home in the fog... However, Since I bought my S-N-T I have easily doubled my strike rate...

[1mainiac]

I consider my S-N-T probe the best single piece of fishing equip I ever bought in terms of fish returns. That said I could not afford both a Fish Hawk and a GPS fish finder 4 years ago so I bought a handheld Marine GPS and a Depth Raider I still have and use both. I have since bought a much nicer GPS fishfinder and some day may upgrade the Depth Raider as well. The Depth Raider is about to start it's 5th season on the second boat and the handheld GPS gets used for many things. Because it is a marine unit it has a basic map with most of the harbor and port info.

[Side JOB]

Whats SNT

[zollerj]

S-N-T = Speed-And-Temperature Probe... Think Cannon/Fish Hawk/ Depth Raider/Sub-troll...

[killerbe20]

if you do not have a gps, it is a must in my book. the fishhawk would be what i consider a "luxury" item. many people, including myself, learned and fished many many years without any such a unit. although there are days i believe the SNT unit has saved the day, i can and have easily fish without it. (did anyone bring the spare batteries?....)

[1mainiac]

got you there Josh Depth Raider first battery lasted 2 full seasons and left with the probe still working LOL. 2nd battery and new probe going into 3rd season will see when it dies and yep I can fish without it and have many times last year most of the time. But the min I am unsure of what is going on under me it is in the water and has many times had me on fish and kicking butt while others sometimes within sight are haveing a tuff day. Being able to find and fish temp breaks and pockets of water can be the difference between a full cooler and a rough day of fishing.

[SUPERTRAMP]

GPS IS A MUST, It will give you a constant speed reading to adjust too and get you back to a position. A lot of charter boat captains only use the GPS.

Good Luck

Mike (Supertramp)

So Haven Mi.

Boat Name MC2

[GUN]

As for the FOG I would not rely on the GPS solely unless it has radar overlay!!!!!! It will tell you where u are but not the others out there. GPS with Radar is my vote then SNT....SAFETY FIRST

[Just Hook'n]

I pretty much agree with the others here. GPS is number one. The other thing you have to remember is MANY people on the web site are on the water and you can radio or phone them for the information they have on their SNT probe. Also, I rarely use the SNT after we know what is going on (like spring or when the run is on in the fall, etc, etc). SNT is very helpful to figure out temp and current breaks when fishing 50-300 fow.

However, I use my GPS every time out.