If you’re looking to give someone the perfect fishing present and they’ve already got enough rods, they will always appreciate some new tech and the Garmin Fishfinder and Chartplotter combos are an ideal gift for your fishing companion.
Echomap PLUS 75sv
With clear sonar imaging, you’ll be able to see structures, submerged objects and fish below your boat. It has a powerful GPS allowing for accurate mapping. The Sonar support can also be utilised to make quick draw contour maps and also allows you to save waypoints with label information like fishing spots, debris, hazard, etc.
Another useful feature of the echoMAP system is fish symbols, A-scope, Fish Alarm, Depth Alarm, Bottom Lock, etc. and also the Sonar Recording function. This allows to record and rewinds the sonar log in case you want to have a second look at a particular spot which means you won’t need to turn around and re-scan the location.
The CHIRP technology has a better focus on less cluttered images and more emphasis on targets. This makes it easier when the transducer beam catches a group of fish that are close together, you will be able to see them individually a lot better.
| Best Features | Worst |
| Excellent SONAR imaging and features | Expensive |
| Large screen to help differentiate images |
Striker Plus 4cv
The GPS receiver in the device will also allow you to save waypoints for your favoured fishing spots or places to avoid.
| Best Features | Worst |
| Reasonable price for included benefits and features | Small screen |
| ClearVü and transducer included | Not the most affordable option out there |
| Small, so it doesn’t take up to much space |
Quatix 5
The Quatix 5 will connect with any of your compatible Garmin chart plotters, other Garmin instruments and autopilots. This provides a unique ability to the watch to control the boat from anywhere. This is useful in particular for crews who may not have eyes on the instruments and can check their watch for quick information updates and even adjust heading without having to leave what they’re doing.
You’ve also got the ‘Tack Assist’ feature which allows calibrating the boat’s port, and starboard tack angles then get alerted when the boat is being lifted or headed and by how much.
| Best Features | Worst |
| Powerful Sailing features | Bluetooth Signal can drop sometimes |
| Almost all the functionality of the fenix 5 multisport features |
Deeper Smart Sonar
The Deeper units have made a huge impact on the world of Fishing Sonars with their castable Sonar fishfinder. You can use it on shore, oat, kayak or anywhere with a rod. It's most prominent advantage is its versatility you can take it anywhere and use it anytime, it has internal WiFi and just links up to your phone to display high clarity sonar images. There a bunch of mount options here besides casting it, you can even grab an arm mount to mount to your vessel. They also have a phone holder mount that can be attached to your ROD, this lets you easily look at the SONAR image without having to fish out your phone to check. The Deeper Pro and Deeper Pro+ are both compatible with smartphones and tablets running iOS 8.0 or later and Android 4.0 or later. This SONAR will give you a live feed to your mobile device sent from the sonar unit.
Both the Deeper Smart SONAR and the Deeper Smart Pro+ units are great units but the Pro+ comes with an additional feature bathymetric mapping which not only allows you to view lake maps to pull unit over the water to create your own accurate bathymetric maps of the bottom. In simpler terms, if you fish regularly in a couple of spots the Pro+ might be a better option for you as it will give you detailed contour mapping of that area which will help you narrow in on any fish hiding spots.
| Best Features | Worst |
| WiFi instead of Bluetooth for 100m connection | Bluetooth mode isn't very reliable |
| Cost effective SONAR | Can't use in really shallow conditions (5 feet) |
| Highly versatile for shore and vessel fishing |
RAM Accessories
If you're looking for some DIY solutions to kit out your boat, we've got some ideas on the best products to go with. RAM mounts are almost synonymous with car mounts, but they actually produce a large number of Marine Chartplotter Combo mounts along with Fishing rod holders and other accessories.
Fishing Rod Holders
RAM produce various fishing rod holders that allow you to manoeuvre the rod into the optimum position whether you have mounted the base vertically, horizontally or somewhere in between. The rod mounts are suitable for vessels as small as kayaks all the way up to larger tournament or charter boats.