Electronics for shallow Florida fishing.

[n2bassn]

I want to upgrade the electronics on my 87 Ranger and I am considering Garmin. I mainly fish the Winter Haven chain.
i would say that most of my fishing is vegetation in 2 to 6 feet of water. Is anyone using the panoptics or live scope while fishing the 2 to 6 feet depths? I like the technology but I would hate to spend the money if it is not compatible to shallow grass or deeper hydrilla.

[Hez]

Yes, I use my livescope all over Florida...Winter Haven chain included. They now offer the perspective mode for use in shallow water...which to me is beneficial in 4' or less...anything deeper than that and I prefer the forward looking mode.

[Poppin' Frog]

Having fished with both I prefer Mega 360. You don't have to point the trolling motor at what you want to see. I fished with it on my last trip to the Harris chain and it absolutely helped me catch fish. I was able to see an approaching clump of hydrilla and cast to it before I ran over it

[opaleski]

I think the Humminbird Mega 360 would be great, but, waiting all day to get the Humminbirds on and keeping them working is another story!!--Go with Garmin!!

[gambler1]

Can you expand on that statement? What do you mean by waiting and keeping them working? I have never used one but the Mega 360 has my interest.

I think the Humminbird Mega 360 would be great, but, waiting all day to get the Humminbirds on and keeping them working is another story!!--Go with Garmin!!

[Triton420]

Can you expand on that statement? What do you mean by waiting and keeping them working? I have never used one but the Mega 360 has my interest.

same, about to drop 4K on 2 mega 10's....

[DTS]

Mega 360 is awesome, especially on a helix 12 or solix. I’d highly recommend 12” screen or bigger. But depending upon your setup, the units will randomly shut off and turn back on. The less networking you do with mega 360 the less issues you’ll have.

[Casslaw]

Hez uses the Garmin much better than I do, and he does find fish with it! (Don’t tell him I said this)

Take a look at The Bass Tank, just listened to the guy on the BTL podcast and they deal with all products. They respond to emails well too.

[cjrich]

The difficulties with both Helix and Solix models are they need to be wired directly to a power source. If you run them through the ordinary channels they will stop / start with a mind of their own. This is what I was told by Humminbird technical support.

Going to Kissimmee in 2 weeks. We will see if the that fix works ....

[opaleski]

I have Hummibird's on one boat and Garmin's on the other. I like Garmin better. Comes right up when you turn it on. Never had any issues where I have to unplug them. Both set's are wired directly to the battery. If Garmin had something like the 360 in a live mode--well that would just be cheating!!

[JLeon77]

Yes, I use my livescope all over Florida...Winter Haven chain included. They now offer the perspective mode for use in shallow water...which to me is beneficial in 4' or less...anything deeper than that and I prefer the forward looking mode.

I too use the perspective mode all over Florida, but I find it useful down to 7-8 feet finding brushpiles and holes in grass.