Garmin Striker 5, Lowrance Hook 5, or Humminbird Helix 5 for first electronic

[letrbuck]

I'm looking at getting my first electronic set up and have narrowed it down to these three that can be had for about the same price in an electrofishing setup:

Garmin Striker 5
Lowrance Hook 5
Humminbird Helix 5

There are things I like about both the Garmin and Lowrance and recently saw reviews about the Humminbird so I added it to my list. Does anyone have any comparison experience between one and another of these? Would like to hear what stuck out to you that was good or bad.

Thanks for any input!

[PaddyO]

I also need input - I'm looking at the Hummingbird  Ice Helix 7 chirp GPS G2 -  my issue is lake charts near Canadian border and Canada map where I fish mostly



 

[lisalisa4747]

Following

[Stickhick86]

I have the striker 4 portable which is just the smaller version of the striker 5 and absolutely love it. I use it on my kayak as well.

[ErnieLearns]

Garmin echomaps have maps where Striker has gps but no maps and cannot be upgraded to have them.

[Drift Dodger]

Actually the new Garmin Striker Plus series https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fishandhunt/introducing-striker-plus-series/ includes Quickdraw Contours mapping software which "lets you create and store maps with 1’ contours for up to 2 million acres" ... but has no memory card slot or capability to share or utilize third-party mapping like the echoMAP series.

[PaddyO]

great - off to YouTube to research...    another 4 hours...  lol

[chilly-willy]

Garmin echomaps have maps where Striker has gps but no maps and cannot be upgraded to have them.

X2 that ware i suggest lowrance or humming bird  by the way humming birds made in usa.. but lowrance has a gps track back feature that's really nice if you boat fish.. cause you can mark possible ice spots in boat then hit them in winter??  But then again lowrance is made over seas like China ,milasia , etc.. but each have good points I my self like garmin and the panoptix flashers but  they are expensive at around 1500 to 2000 dollars .. but your going to want maps and I don't think you want to spend the 1500 to 2000 so I would sick with hummingbird or lowrance. .

[mvanhank222]

This is a real Ford, Chevy, Dodge question. I like lowrance but have had a helix 5 and it worked great just prefer the lowrance.

[Drift Dodger]

X2 that ware i suggest lowrance or humming bird  by the way humming birds made in usa.. but lowrance has a gps track back feature that's really nice if you boat fish.. cause you can mark possible ice spots in boat then hit them in winter??  But then again lowrance is made over seas like China ,milasia , etc.. but each have good points I my self like garmin and the panoptix flashers but  they are expensive at around 1500 to 2000 dollars .. but your going to want maps and I don't think you want to spend the 1500 to 2000 so I would sick with hummingbird or lowrance. .

The awesome (and very expensive) Panoptix transducer is just one of several Garmin options. Capable fully-featured packages are available for a fraction of the price.

Garmin echoMAP models (including skimmer transducer, GPS, charts, track-back, contour mapping software, etc.) start at $350 US MSRP https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/592804/pn/010-01886-01#. Ice transducers start at $120 US https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/530137.

[tyme2par4]

My dad, brother, and I all have our own Striker 4. They work great, and between the 3 of us, we've probably owned a couple dozen different Garmin devices and never had a problem with any of them.

[twd000]

can any/all of these be used on  both open water and ice?  Looking for one unit that I could take out in the canoe in summer and on the ice in winter

[Figure ate]

can any/all of these be used on  both open water and ice?  Looking for one unit that I could take out in the canoe in summer and on the ice in winter

Yes. I just took my helix off of the boat and used it ice fishing this past weekend. Works great for both

[tyme2par4]

can any/all of these be used on  both open water and ice?  Looking for one unit that I could take out in the canoe in summer and on the ice in winter

I bought my Striker from a guy who had it mounted on a little jon boat.