By Gord Ellis

Don't Be Blindsided

Evaluate your fishing style before making a purchase. Consider several basic things when buying marine electronics. Here are a few to remember: • If you portage into lakes or have a small boat, you might want a portable unit, as opposed to fixed mount. • Screen resolution is important, so look for a unit with as many vertical and horizontal pixels as you can afford. Colour screens are a popular option these days, but some people prefer the more traditional grey screen with black targets. • Some units offer transducers with varying beam angles and frequency. A wide beam and lower frequency (i.e. 50 kHz) is better for covering deep, open water, while a narrow beam with a higher frequency (200 kHz) is preferred when pinpointing fish and structure. • The option of GPS is popular, with some units featuring internal antennas that are good for small boats. Other options to consider include temperature, speed, and Navionics compatibility.

 

There was a time when all anglers fished without electronics. Rare is the fishing boat these days that doesn’t have some form of electronics on board.

Walk through any sporting goods store or marine dealership in 2008 and you will see depth-recording products termed fish finders. Today, the average angler is remarkably savvy about electronics, but is still generally looking for a moderately priced unit featuring the most options. A high vertical pixel count – while still desirable – is no longer the main consideration for most buyers. This informed demand has resulted in an incredible number of high-tech units at excellent prices.

Johnson Outdoors (Humminbird) regional sales manager Dave Duffin says the consumer is demanding and expecting a lot. “Rapidly changing feature improvements provide not only for steady growth in the marketplace, but purchasers will trade up to feature-packed values for the price,” he said.

Duffin notes that high-end high-tech features like side imaging and multi-beam transducers were once only available on units that cost thousands of dollars. Today, these options are available on units well within an average family budget.

The Advent of GPS
Another huge growth area in marine electronics has been GPS products aimed at the angler/boater. GPS marine electronics were limited initially to the highest-end units. These days, even entry-level fish finders offer GPS.

Ted Gartner, with Garmin, a leading manufacturer of marine GPS units, says an ever more knowledgeable consumer has been driving the expansion of GPS products for anglers and boaters. “We’ve responded by making a wide range of units that fit our customers’ needs,” said Gartner. “We’ve got value-priced entry-level units, but they still have many of the same features like built-in maps, simple user interfaces, and bright displays that our top-of-the-line tournament-angler units have.”

Gartner says the intimidation factor is history. “GPS is no longer some high-tech, geek-only technology,” he said. “People are realizing quickly that these electronics can help them find their hotel on a business trip or a brush pile on a fishing trip just as easily.”

With the use and understanding of GPS skyrocketing across the world, many new companies have appeared on the scene, seeking a piece of the massive commercial pie traditionally dominated by companies like Magellan and Garmin. Some of these companies started by marketing automotive devices, but are now looking to move into the marine business. The explosion of GPS technology for autos has led to a crossover bid by marine-electronics giant Lowrance.

“We’ve decided there are so many manufacturers in the GPS automotive market, that we’d take a different direction,” said Curtis Atwater, Canadian sales manager of Lowrance Canada. “Since we are more marine oriented, we’ve opted to go for a crossover unit that will appeal to boaters, anglers, and drivers.”

Atwater says the Lowrance XOG (pronounced zog) is transferable from boat to car, has all the North American road maps built right in, includes a slot for Navionics Premium and Great Lakes cards, and takes Lowrance Freedom Maps for all topographical features and logging roads.

In 2008, there’s also more colour, more power, and more options available in marine electronics. Engineers and marketers have been pulling out all the stops, trying to win over you and your disposable income. Never has so much quality been available for so little money.