Bottomline fishfinders??

[GSPHunter]

Hi Guys,

I'm am lookin for some guidance on buying a new fishfinder??

I have always been intrigued by the large screen size and great overall picture of bottom structure seen on the Bottomline Tournament 5100. I was wondering if anybody could give me any pros or cons regarding this fishfinder. Does the graph have side finding capabilities??

I currently have a Hummingbird wide Paramount and like its performance but would like to upgrade.

I target a wide variety of fish from panfish to bass to salmon and trout. I fish mainly Lake St. Clair, but do make quite a few trips to the big water (Lake Huron).

I appreciate any info you guys can give!!

Jeremy Maranowski
MDNR Fisheries Division

[ESOX]

I have the Bottom Line Tournament 4300 (?) on my bow mount troller, It's a little brother of the one you are talking about. The sidefinder is a bar on the top of the screen that gives you a mark and range to the targets to the side, While the graph reads down. At least in the (older) 5100's and 4300's I have seen. They may have changed them, the newest one I have played with is 3 yrs old.
My next finder at the console will be that Bottom line with the sidefinder and gps built in. I really like Bottom Lines, easy to operate and they can really be tweaked to find what you want.

[Catch-N-Eat]

I have to agree with Esox. I have an older Bottom Line EZ6600 model. Absolutely love it. Very user friendly. I like it better than the NEW Humming Bird on my old boat. (The Bottom Line came with the boat I bought last fall.) Next upgrade will be the unit Esox mentioned.

[jigworm]

I have the Bottomline HR Tournement Master w/ GPS. I love that big wide screen and the resolution is great. Very easy to operate. It has the sidefinder on it, but I don't use it much. I feel you end up chasing around too much. Great unit and wouldn't trade it for anything.

[leapin lunker]

I have the 6500 Tournement with all the trimmings. It has GPS, and runs the downriggers. Has bottom track that automatically lifts downriggers when approaching bottom depth changes. Beautiful machine. Highly recommend it.

[fishmann]

I have the bottom line tournament HR and I also have no problems with it. I do use the sidefinder feature when trolling quite a bit. It will help you there. Good luck !!!