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ERRABIT I decided on a Raymarine unit with down scan and a 77/200 ducer. I like the simplicity of the unit and the auto functions, I talked to a rep. and he promised all I need to do is mount it and go fishing, they have the fluid type gps where every time your boat moves it will show on the screen, my hummingbird I can be going the other way before it spins the triangle around. The down scan is so photo looking its unreal and he also told me if it doesn't auto your functions he will send me the next step up in units for free!!! Every question I asked he answered to the T it also can be set up manually so like if you want the gps function the biggest you can move the sonar and down scan around to make this possible. The only reason I wanted down scan is because I do a lot of walleye fishing and it would be nice to see the structure I'm fishing, the rep. mentioned when I told him why I wanted dsi. he said you will see the fish on the breaks, you will see the fish on the sonar also then look on the dsi to verify it's a fish not a false reading of the sonar. He also said that if I can keep my weights in the cone you will actually see fish streak towards your bait, which I herd of people saying but I had my doubts about it. The first time I ever saw this was on a charter I took the first time I went to western lake Erie, I was amazed and thought that only a TV. size screen mega $$$ finder was the only way to see this. I have a Hummingbird 727 now at the time it was the only unit with 4000 watts of power and 500rms, the gps. was a add on with the outside device mounted with an antenna type mount. Its about 10 years old so much has happened in 10 years, I can't wait to get it. Only down fall is it has a 5.7" screen, the bigger screens are out of my budget, If I ordered the unit while talking to the rep. he said he would take $100.00 off the price and then the unit I really wanted was doable so I ordered the unit. Come on mister post man!!!

HA ha ha I knew when I titled the thread I knew I was going to get a mixed bag of comments. Those that answered my question "thanks" I know what finder I'm going with and I'm going to use the rigger weights we made with a mold they are 13#s with the tail for tracking, had it made by a machine shop,(mold) should cut through the water to reduce blow back, they are round like the pancake type, but the front edge is very thin kind of like a wedge, while being able to bend the tail to track of to the sides for a open area for a chute rod. If they don't work good enough I'll be getting the torpedo weights. Thanks for the replies both funny and to the subject. PAP.

We came up with a system for making a platform up front of a small boat, we measured up what it takes for the batteries and fuel cell which I think we went 16" from the floor, then welded tabs around at the 16" mark then cut a piece of 3/4 marine plywood, then screwed it to the tabs and made supports out of 2x2 at the edge towards the seats. you could stand up on the platform, and had storage underneath. we actually put a flush mount seat base or either a seat or a planner mast. worked good, lay the anchor up there or whatever, takes a little finessing to fit the boat shape but we got it.

The group 29 battery is actually a group 31 in size used in over the road trucks and heavy equipment the size is bigger in the length I don't know about the width, they claim they have a little more reserve but not enough to off set price and not fitting in the battery boxes. 2 group 27 deep cycle batteries hooked in parallel series should be more than sufficient. My uncle has this set up and can troll a long time, as he has a solar system incorporated in to the system which is charging all the time IF the suns out. Here is the size difference group 27 L12" W 67/8" H 85/8 group 31 L 13" W 63/4 H 93/8 being in the starter & alt business I had these numbers memorized as they are the most common in the heavy duty industry and the marine sizes are the same.

Thanks a lot guys, Yea I cut way back on my beer drinking so that's a start!! mean while back to the point, I think I have the older mag 10's with factory 4ft booms. How can I tell what I have and what is the heaviest I can go with them, (they lift 12.5# with no problems, they don't even grunt or act like there is to heavy of a weight) pancake type with a aluminum fin I can bend so they track to the sides, If I went with 13# torpedo diver weights, are they a type that actually digs in the water to keep the depth instead of just being pulled along? One thing I noticed with different finders is they have different degrees of cone angle example Garmin which is near the top of my choice is 77/200, Lowrance is 83/200 or 50/200, the Furuno is 50/200 also I'm guessing the 83/200 and the 77/200 are the type I'll be looking into. The Hummingbird seems to give the best bang for your buck and Garmin isn't far behind, I'm not that tech. inclined so from what I heard the Lowrance products seem complicated from what I read, but there are a lot of them out there so how difficult can it be, especially if you used fish finders before, I know it's a chevy-ford-dodge debate. I'd like to stay in the high $600-mid $700 that's my budget as of now, and will spring for the torpedo diver weight. Thanks everyone for your help, I really appreciate your input!! PAP.

Excellent video and love the clean fast releases. Thanks for sharing!!

the p60 is popular one but I know there are different degree angles on them so they shoot strait down. A friend of mine installed his own and I was there to witness him drilling a hole in the bottom of his new to him boat, must say it was a little nerve racking watching him perform and it wasn't even my boat!!!

I'm in need of a good fish finder, chart plotter, I would like to hear what some of you guys that can track your rigger weights lets say from 50 feet plus, what type of unit your using and why you think you can track them at that depth. Meaning is it that the unit works to that extent or is it because of the weights your using. If I could track my weights I think I would be able to keep them in the right temp. I know a 4xd would solve all of this but I can't swing both this year, so I definitely need a new finder so that's top of the list. The info I gather here will be the deciding factor, so please help me out!!! Thanks PAP.

Absolutely Beautiful country scenes and river!!! great job man.

How about Dunkirk, we had everything set up for there this year, but I guess we are going to Canada, I wanted to try Dunkirk for years, we always went to the western basin, lots of fish but you think Ontario is bad for unpredicted weather the western part of Erie is worse I guess with the shallow waters, a good days blow and yer done for a few days as it turns to chocolate milk and the walleyes wont bite unless you find clear water and fish the clean/dirty water line, I was out 5 miles one time and couldn't find a break, to much time lost if you only have a week, so set a week up in Dunkirk but didn't put any $$ down. they won't take reservations till after the new year. But like I mentioned we going to Canada this year in July which is when we were going to do the Dunkirk trip.