Giving myself a headache, help me decide...

[mbartles]

Here is what I would suggest and what I have learned. My wife and I were just going through boat shopping last spring. We actually like the model you have, but fell in love with the larger 189 version. Anyway, we were in Kentucky fishing on Dale Hollow, and as always, we booked our favorite guide, Bobby Gentry. We employed his HDS 8s to find fish on big flats. The two HDS units were amazing and effective.
In doing some research I came to find the Lowrance HDS gen 2 and the Lowrance Elite TI units share a lot of the same abilities with several important differences.

The Elite TI is available in a 7-9 or 12 inch size, that used to be 7 or 9 inch only. These will give you chirp technology, regular 2d, down and side imaging and full mapping, much the same as the HDS series. They will also network between 2 units.

The HDS series can do a lot more like networking to today's modern outboards and display such things as engine rpm, water pressure speed, and more. It can control power poles and other really neat features that your boat will most likely not be able to use. I know mine can't.

A 9 inch Elite TI will cost around $1000 complete with the Insight map and the Structure scan transducer. This means all you would need to do is mount the multipurpose transducer on the rear of your boat. All of the graphs with side and down imaging will require an outside mounted transducer anyway.

A similar HDS Gen 2 could work, for a little more money, otherwise a Gen 3 would work good but cost almost double.

I chose not to upgrade boats, but did decide to put my 2 year old Elite 7 ( think Hook 7 now) upfront and install a Elite Ti 9 inch on the console ram mount Go spend some time on youtube looking at the Elite Ti touch screen units.
It might be exactly what you want to go with. Perhaps a 9 on the rear and a 7 upfront, that combo might work nicely.

Never think gps is not needed up front also. If you end up working any suspended bass on open flats then setting a grid on the screen and drifting through the zones is a very helpful addition. I used that several years ago on Dale Hollow smallies. They were chasing schools of shad on big open flats. The water was over 75 foot deep and the were suspended below these big school of shad. The shad were 15 foot down, the bass were 25 to 30 foot down and the bottom was over 75 foot down. We caught numerous smallies up to 7 pounds.
I recommend you spend some time reviewing the videos covering the Elite TIs and HDS units. For me it was not worth double the money to gain functions I can not use. I like my units enough if wee do upgrade boats in the next few years I will most likely move them over to the newer boat.

Now that is information I can use... and you may have just made up my mind. It's kindo of funny you reference the 189, since that is what started this whole adventure!
I had a Tracker PT185 and the wife wanted me to take her out for a ride on the river. We went and she stated that she would like to go more, but didn't care for the wind blast due to the 185 being a single console. Once I got a solid yes that meant dual consoles, which meant a new boat, I started shopping. I had settled in on a new 189 TRX the dealer had. REALLY nice boat by the way. The only hold up being the fact I had never operated, or even ridden in, a Triton. The one he had wasn't rigged so I couldn't take it out either. I decided that when he opened the following week, I would talk him into rigging it so I could take it for a spin on the lake.

Friday rolls around and we decide on a spur of the moment trip to North Arkansas just for the heck of it. Sitting in a small restaurant, we watch this gentleman across the street uncover his boat, wipe it down a little and put a sign on it. I didn't know what model it was, but I knew the stripe... Triton. We finished eating and decided to go look.

Long story short - an hour later we are putting it on a local lake. Two hours later, we are at their local branch of our bank transferring money from our account to his (it's real handy when both parties use the same bank)! They were happy and I got a screaming deal! We went to dinner with him and his wife, then headed home the proud owners of a TR-186 in excellent condition. It's an awesome boat, gives me experience with Triton and keeps me entertained until I get THE one I am after. My only complaint with the 186 is that is just lacking a little in the space department. I had actually been looking around at the 189s again when I encountered the Pro V Bass... And to be perfectly honest, I haven't completely ruled out the 189.


My neighbor has an Elite 7 I can get for next to nothing, and even if I buy a new Elite TI 9 for the console, I will still be money ahead if I sell the 186 for anything close to what it's worth. I care more about the in-boat features than I do the external stuff. In fact, my number one concern is using GPS to help keep my butt in the channel and out of the trees or mud that like to hide a foot under the water on Truman...

[MacIntosh]

Here's my $0.02: Get a pair of newer used sonars. BUT, you said you don’t care about maps for the bow. My advice would be that if you get a side-imaging sonar at the helm, to make sure you get a pair of sonars that you network, and have maps on the bow. The networking and bow GPS will set you back a touch more, but regardless of whether you fish deep or shallow, the ability to mark something off to the side of the boat on the side-imaging from the helm, then turn around and fish that waypoint from the bow, is exactly what SI is for, and if you don’t have this you’re not taking full advantage of what SI has to offer. If cost is an issue I'd gladly give up the side-imaging on the bow in trade for networked sonars with SI only at the helm.

[wentbroketryingtogopro]

Keep what you have and update ur Electronics ..

I am with you.unless you just want to go to a larger boat to have more room keep what you have especially if your engine is dependable.thanks,good luck and good fishing

[StarcraftSS]

Keep what you have and update ur Electronics ..

This!

[fishnkamp]

If you want to upgrade your electronics I say update them both. I have an Elite 7 (equal to a Hook 7 now). The Elite TI is so much like the HDS units that you will have to learn two different units. You are best learning one. I would go with a 7 TI up front and a 9TI ( or 12 TI) at your console. If in a couple of years you trade the boat move them over to the new boat.

As for new boats the 189 is not just a little newer model a little longer than yours. It is truly a modern wide bodied boat. You will feel like it is a mile wide compared to yours. Another boat I really can not suggest strongly enough to check out is a Phoenix 618. It is basically the same dimensions as the 189. Last April my wife and I spent ten days of vacation travelling into Tennessee and Kentucky. Our home is in MD and we very few bass boat dealers in this state. So we spent a week on Dale Hollow Lake in Kentucky. We planned the trip right so we knew the inventory at a bunch of dealers. We stopped a t a couple of Triton dealers, one of those has Ranfer as well. We stopped at a Phoenix dealer and a Bass Cat dealer.
What we came a way with was a definite love for the Tritons and Phoenix boats. e test drove a Phoenix 618 and were impressed by the wide body, great use of every inch of space and the overall feel of the boat. Right now if the money were in my had I would still be choosing between those two boats and it is a toss up which one I would take home. Either way I doubt I would be disappointed.

[mbartles]

I'm leaning towards going with either a Elite TI 9" / 7" combination or Garmin 93 / 73 combo... I need to make another trip to Bass Pro to play with their demo units again.

In the new boat department, I have two more boats to check out.
I live about 45 minutes from both Pro's Choice Marine and Angler's Port. Pro's choice has both a Ranger vs1882 and Triton 189 that I want to check out. Especially the Ranger. Angler's Port has a 618 Pro that I wouldn't mind seeing, but being perfectly honest, they have done a pretty good job of raising my blood pressure in the past.

[Hickory Legend]

Keep your old stuff and put it back on the boat when you go to sell it.

[Triton150]

I have the same boat as you (07 TR186 - 150hp Optimax). I've pretty much got it loaded to my liking. Over the years, I replaced the MG 70lb motor with a 80lb Minn Kota Fortrex. I replaced the X135 and the 520C with a Lowrance HDS 8 Gen 2's (bow and console). I added a NEMA 2000 network to the boat. I put a Lowrance Structure Scan box in the starboard rod locker and ran ethernet cables to both units so I have structure scan on both (even through the transducer is on the rear of the boat, so when I see something on side/down scan on the bow, I've already passed it). I added two 8' power poles and put the pumps in the battery compartment.
If and when the time comes, I'll probably repower it with a 175hp and keep the hull. I like it that much. The only other item I would prefer is a 36V trolling motor, but I have no room left for a 3rd battery due to the power pole pumps. I fish a tidal river, so a 36V would be handy. Good luck!

[dcnick]

I agree with dryhorn2... choose electronics that think the way you do.. I prefer garmin or lowrance. I tried hummingbird but it wasn't intuitive to me. Try them at the store and go with the one that makes sense to you without the instruction book.