I've never felt older

[Scott McKee]

Like an idiot I left my old Lowrance Elite 7 hdi in the boat during a brutal Nipissing rain deluge.  The unit worked fine for a bit, but then the menu  and enter buttons failed.  After drying the unit with a fan for about twelve hours use of the enter button returned.  Without use of the menu button the unit is stuck on a useless screen and is now basically a paper weight.

Since I need a sonar to fish I decided it might be time to purchase a new unit.  I first perused the  Lowrance website and then Hummingbird's.  I literally have no idea what any of the acronyms or  feature names mean.  I felt lost.  I felt inept.  I felt old.

All I really need is a regular fish finder that shows the depth and little clouds of bait and stuff and hooks that might be fish or whatever coupled with a GPS chart plotter that has maps of the Niagara River, Lake Erie and Lake Nipissing.

Does anyone have any suggestions?  If the new units with all of their whistles and bells are the latest and greatest cell phones, I'm looking for a reliable flip phone.

Price is definitely an object.  Let's say my budget is under a grand.

I'll be eagerly awaiting replies while I watch reruns of Matlock and Murder She Wrote.  I wonder if we have any pudding left...

[John Pensyl]

Scott look for a garmin 93sv with a gt54 transducer. The new transducer is the gt56 and is better for deep deep water but the gt54 is still amazing. Those units are being cleared out and the sale price is a steal. For $699 you'll get a 9" unit with full maps, si, di, live mapping, amazingly smooth sonar and livescope compatibility should u decide to add it down the line. I have 2 of the 10" version of this unit on my boat and they make my helix 12s look like old minivans next to Lamborghinis... Ive installed these 9s for 2 friends and the only downside from the 10 is the cradle seems a bit more fragile. Still an amazing unit with a cool cradle design for popping off to remove it and the 10s are $2100 now. If u can find those with a gt54 they cleared them out for 1k.
https://www.westmarine.com/garmin-echomap-uhd-93sv-chartplotter-fis...

[Scott McKee]

You are a lifesaver, John. Thanks.

[John Jarosz]

Scott...you still looking for an "inexpensive" (aka cheap) fish finder. I have one & it's yours for the low, low price of zero. I'll even deliver.

[John Jarosz]

why are my pics coming out sideways?

[Scott McKee]

John, are you laying down when you take them?

Your new fangled fishing finding gizmo looks far too complicated for me. Thanks, though.

[Scott McKee]

Do you remember the Color C Lector? You dropped a probe into the water and the machine told you exactly which lure color your should use. A lot of tackle companies jumped on the Color C Lector bandwagon marketing dozens of lures in Color C Lector patterns. I made something similar once. I called it the Shade Selector. With my contraption you looked at the water and the machine read "black". It was bulletproof. Selecting a black lure is never wrong. If you you checked the Shade Selector when it was really sunny out it said, "fish at night, dummy." That's all it did. I'm not sure why it needed 24 C batteries, though.

[John Jarosz]

I definitely remember the Color-C-Lector and its popularity! Everyone had to have one. They were the rage. Years ago I inherited the beast. A co-worker's in-law passed away, it was brand new, never used & I ended up selling it for a couple of bucks at a garage sale, still brand new, never used.
"Fire-tiger wasn't a selection so I was never interested

Scott McKee said:

Do you remember the Color C Lector? You dropped a probe into the water and the machine told you exactly which lure color your should use. A lot of tackle companies jumped on the Color C Lector bandwagon marketing dozens of lures in Color C Lector patterns. I made something similar once. I called it the Shade Selector. With my contraption you looked at the water and the machine read "black". It was bulletproof. Selecting a black lure is never wrong. If you you checked the Shade Selector when it was really sunny out it said, "fish at night, dummy." That's all it did. I'm not sure why it needed 24 C batteries, though.

[Stephen Glassic]

Didn't it end up in the same place on the effectiveness scale as the famous pocket fisherman?

Scott McKee said:

Do you remember the Color C Lector? You dropped a probe into the water and the machine told you exactly which lure color your should use. A lot of tackle companies jumped on the Color C Lector bandwagon marketing dozens of lures in Color C Lector patterns. I made something similar once. I called it the Shade Selector. With my contraption you looked at the water and the machine read "black". It was bulletproof. Selecting a black lure is never wrong. If you you checked the Shade Selector when it was really sunny out it said, "fish at night, dummy." That's all it did. I'm not sure why it needed 24 C batteries, though.

[John Jarosz]

Scott....you want to feel old? How many Mickey mantle cards did you have when you were a kid?

Trade in the one that you've had in a coffee can in your closet & not only will you be able to afford a new sonar/fish finder you'll also be able to buy a brand new boat to hold it.

https://www.aol.com/sports/mickey-mantle-card-breaks-record-1152046...

[Scott McKee]

No Mickey Mantle cards for me, but I did destroy my fair share of retirement baseball cards in my youth. Not to mention comic books and other assorted collectables.

[Scott McKee]

My new Garmin never shipped from the West Marine warehouse in South Carolina. At their local outlet a very nice gentleman fixed the problem with what they had in stock. What West Marine's inventory employees lack in customer care and service, their in-house employees have in spades.

[John Pensyl]

Scott does that mean you got the gt56 transducer for the price of the gt54?