I will probably buy a new fish finder next fall when we again over-winter at our beach home.

During the cool/cold seasons, I spend a lot of my time fishing the backwaters along the Intracoastal Waterway for sea trout, red drum, Spanish mackerel, black drum, blue fish, striper bass, puffers, whiting, and a variety of other tasty fish, including putting out crab traps when the temperatures are right.

We aren't the Everglades or the Louisiana bayous, but where I fish, there are lots of great fishing places where I can easily get lost if I don't carefully pay attention. Everything looks the same.

I've got a simple GPS unit that helps -- but it only shows straight lines to waypoints, and has a limited number of waypoints. I go out with a VHF Coast Guard hand-held radio, and a cell phone. Having an Amateur Radio License, I carry a VHF/UHF amateur radio hand held transceiver which allows me to work through "repeaters" up to 40 miles away.

However, my next portable fish finder for use with my remaining canoe and my jon boat for use in this area, will probably be a Garmin fish finder that includes a GPS feature that includes a path showing how I got to where I might be at that time.

My saltwater fishing is seldom deeper than in 20 feet of water at high tide. I've read lots of reviews, and I've looked at them in places like Cabelas and BassPro. I'd sure like hear from anybody who has one of these newer GPS/Fish Finders.


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