Thread: Discussion on Lowrance Elite 5 DSI/Chartplotter ....

If your max depth is 30ft and you're in a Jon boat, this unit is overkill for you. Get the unit that is black and white and structure scan only.

For that matter, get a Lowrance X65(I think). Its a standard sonar and not structure scan but I have one on my trolling motor and love it. I use the Elite unit for GPS mainly and for a higher definition view vs standard sonar. Its not going to give you amazing structure images as advertised though. My screenshots look good but I expected more from it. Just my opinion. I wouldn't spend that much money on a sonar if its only for 30ft max. My lake gets up to 180ft with 50-80ft average and 20-30ft is shallow to me. At 10-20, I'm almost on the bank unless I'm on a shallow flat.

Originally Posted by crappiepappy

I have all of them checked on my unit. But, I'd have to check and see if I increased the Baud Rate.
... cp

So after I Googled what "baud rate" is... LOL!

It's the communication speed between GPS satalites and your location only correct?

Originally Posted by wackyman

I haven't bought one yet but I plan to soon. I fish out of a Jon boat in a small lake that is electric only. The max depth of this lake is 30 ft. Can anyone tell me if the mount that comes with the unit will tilt so the unit is at 90 deg with the mount. I need to mount it on the side of the bench that the front seat is mounted to because of space. I have to lay my poles across that bench and cannot mount the unit on top of the bench. Hope that makes sense. I also plan to mount the transducer on a portable transom mount that cabelas sells so I don't have to drill holes in transom. This thread has the best information that I've read anywhere on the internet and it has convinced me to upgrade from the old portable HB that I have been using. I can even take the good battery from the portable and use it with this unit instead of the trolling battery.

Wacky .... the mount has a 360deg turn radius, so you should be able to put the mount on the side of the bench and turn the head unit to whatever position is needed.

You can mount the transducer on the portable mount thing ... OR ... mount it on the trolling motor ... but, if you do mount it on the trolling motor, I suggest purchasing the trolling motor mount/sleeve. It will keep the transducer tight against the bottom of the trolling motor housing & not sticking out. You can get them for ~$25 and they'll look like this :



... cp

Originally Posted by OzarkAngler

So after I Googled what "baud rate" is... LOL!

It's the communication speed between GPS satalites and your location only correct?

No, it has nothing to do with the GPS. It is the communication speed between 2 pieces of equipment.

Thank you CP I think I'm going to get one, I like being able to put in waypoints and I'll make a decision on TM mount or portable mount before I buy plus I'll try to get one on sale somewhere too. It seems that I should be able to get it up and running pretty fast after reading the good information on here and that alone will be worth a lot of money in aggravation.

Originally Posted by OzarkAngler

If your max depth is 30ft and you're in a Jon boat, this unit is overkill for you. Get the unit that is black and white and structure scan only.

For that matter, get a Lowrance X65(I think). Its a standard sonar and not structure scan but I have one on my trolling motor and love it. I use the Elite unit for GPS mainly and for a higher definition view vs standard sonar. Its not going to give you amazing structure images as advertised though. My screenshots look good but I expected more from it. Just my opinion. I wouldn't spend that much money on a sonar if its only for 30ft max. My lake gets up to 180ft with 50-80ft average and 20-30ft is shallow to me. At 10-20, I'm almost on the bank unless I'm on a shallow flat.

I don't know, OA .... I paid over $475 for mine and think I got a good deal. You can find them cheaper, now, if you look hard enough.
I've got a lake that has 200ft depths in it, and 80-100ft depths not a boat's length from shore ... but never have had to fish it deeper than 30ft. And most of the rest of the lakes I fish will have a thermocline develop @ the 15-20ft depth, in the heat of Summer. So I just keep the range set at 40ft & pay no attention to the bottom disappearing ... my baits are not going to be any deeper than ~20ft, anyway. I'm looking for the tops of cover sticking above the thermocline layer, or bait balls or schools of fish to come on screen .... regardless of bottom depth.

Even in 30ft of water ... the sonar beam is ~25ft wide on 800kHz .... and ~45ft wide on 455kHz

In the "more likely" category of the small lake "wackyman" is fishing, he'll probably be finding fish around the 15-20ft depth range. The sonar beam would be over 16ft wide at 800kHz & over 30ft wide at 455kHz ... in just 20ft depths. He shouldn't have any trouble getting images like this:



(and that's not zoomed in, either)

... cp

Very true. I keep mine on "auto" for depth but I'm using it at the helm and not the trolling motor.

I drop shot up to 30ft at times becasue I'm on a highland reservoir with clear water so sometimes, 15-25ft is the depth the fish relate to becasue the water is clear. If I go up near the dam, they may be 30-35ft deep simply because you can see down 20ft easily the water is so clear.

If he wants GPS and a quality sonar, this is a good unit. I jus tdon't want someone thinking (as I did) that it's the newer super hi-def structure scan units like the HDS units. I now know that they have the external modules and the technology that supercedes the Elite 5 units.

I got mine for $299 at this year's Bassmaster Classic and I think I paid about what the unit is worth. I wouldn't pay over $350 at this point after I have used the unit more. I like it, don't misunderstand. But after using an HDS 8 on the same lake in someone else's boat....there's just no comparison however...........the PRICE difference between the Elite and HDS is WAY different and not an apples to apples comparison by far.

So......all in all it's a good unit if you can get a good deal one.

Oh....and mine came with the trolling motor mount. So check to see if the unit comes with this before buying the accessory.

I think I'm going with the trolling motor mount. I think this would be a good unit for me certainly better than the HB Piranha 150 I've been using it's good for water temp and depth and maybe the contour of the bottom but that's about it. I don't think the price is extremely bad considering a good bass pole and reel costs more than this FF does.