Newbie crappie fisherman electronics question

Hey guys, I'm new the forum and have a few questions for the experts out there. I have a Tracker Grizzly 1648 aluminum boat with a 25 horse tiller motor. I bought the boat a few years ago just for duck hunting. Last spring I bought a trolling motor for the boat and started crappie fishing quite a bit and had really good luck fishing structure visible with the eye for pre-spawn/spawning crappie. This year, I want to take it to the next level and buy a fish finder to locate structure/crappie. I do not want to spend over $400 on a fish finder. I have been doing a lot of research and have pretty much decided on the Humminbird Helix 5 CHIRP GPS G2. My main style off fishing is vertical jigging and casting.

What is everyone's opinion, good or bad on this fish finder for my current setup? Any other advise would be greatly appreciate!

Thank you in advance for your input!

IMHO - A 5" screen is kinda small for any more than one image on it at a time. I'm referring, of course, to using the split screen function of 2d/DI - 2d/map - DI/map. You can get a 7" screen and still stay around your budget.

You might want to watch for sales at the big box stores, and contact Brian@BBGMarine (member ID) for some price comparisons. Brian is also known for his knowledge base and getting our members the electronics that best serve their needs/wants. You can find his posts on the Member Sponsor Classifieds Forum, and his contact info is in his signature line.

:welcome Welcome aboard from east central Mississippi. :hesaid

Yep, call Brian.

You might want to look at Garmin. No personal knowledge but looks like a lot of bang for the buck.

I have a Garmin Striker 7sv. Works good for me and was on sale for around $400.00 when I bought it. This was my first fish finder so I am still learning but think it is a good unit for the price and it has side view which I use the most to locate fish and structure.

I got a Garmin Echomap 53dv. Only thing I wish I would have gotten was side-scan. However, it works good for me. Just need to read up on how to adjust the gain for clearer down view. It should be within your budget.

Look on facebook on the humminbird forum. Lots of images from different units and different environments. Also, the technologial angler has lots of videos on youtube that are full of info. Doug Vahrenberg on facebook is a bass pro who works for Humminbird and demos equipment and has instructional videos on youtube. I have an old Helix5 DI. It works, but on a basic level. I also have a Helix 9 G2 SI Mega. The DI is good for knowing you are over fish, and to some extent, determining what species. The SI and the GPS are really useful for finding structure, schools of fish or bait, and mapping the bottom. Do your homework before you buy, the caveat is you will want more.