Will bass boaters succumb to “bigger screen itus” in the race to visualize every fish in the lake?
Not surprisingly as the race to spot every minnow, crawfish and crab in the waters of America, more big screens are showing up on more boats.
Furuno has just made a pre-emptive strike in “big screen itus” with introduction of a 55” charting screen, the PS-100, which the company says is aimed at giving a paper chart feel to precise long range electronic navigation. That giant—which, yes, would be about the right size on which to watch the Super Bowl while onboard—does not have sonar.
Yet.
Furuno has not yet listed the price. My guess is, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Clearly, this giant is aimed at ships and large yachts, but it’s a symptom of the new strategy in marine electronics—apparently, no screen is too big for serious mariners and anglers.
Largest full function sonar/gps MFD at present is the Garmin GPSMAP 27, at $17,000 less transducer or other connections.
Raymarine’s Axiom 2 comes in sizes to 24” diagonal. With the right transducer (also very pricey) this $16,000 giant can reach out up to 750’ on each side of the boat, a nice advantage in scanning for open water pelagics as well as scoping bottom for reefs, wrecks and other structure.
The largest screen I’ve personally seen on a bass boat thus far is the 16” Garmin on the front of Alabama pro basser Hayden Marbut’s fishing machine. He also has a 12” screen up there and two more on the console, and catches a lot of fish as a result.
Not many other pro bass anglers are using 16-inchers at this point, but some combination of 10- and 12-inch models, at least three and usually four, are common in both the Bassmaster Elites and the Major League Fishing BPT.
Saltwater anglers also love big screens, allowing them to see minute details including baitfish and even individual lures.
The arrival of forward scanning sonar, driven in large part by tournament fishing, has been a huge shot in the arm for the marine electronics companies, with Garmin, Humminbird and Lowrance all benefiting in fresh water, Raymarine and Furuno in salt water.
The obvious advantage of the bigger screen is the same as you get with a bigger flat-screen TV at home—you can see a lot more detail. In fact, experienced users can not only tell a bass from a crappie from a catfish, they can pretty much tell the size of a bass from what they see on-screen. It’s a huge advantage when fish are suspended in open water.
While you can get into the forward scanning game for about $2500 with a 7” Garmin plus transducer and black box at present, most anglers invest $5,000 or more for a 10” or larger screen. The minimum is one of these up front, and another head unit linked in on the console to allow rapidly scouting a new lake.
Add another $5,000 for a trolling motor that will hold your boat exactly where you want it by talking to your GPS systems, $3,000 or more for a set of lithium batteries to power everything and the sticker price on that new boat goes up fast.
Furuno’s new 55” dedicated electronic charting machine is aimed at ships and large yachts—is it the max for marine electronics or just another stepping stone in the race?
Furuno’s Omni 360, which we’ve reviewed here before, can scan a circle a half-mile in diameter for marlin, tuna and other big pelagics, and has had a remarkable effect on catch rates of these giant fish—at a cost of over $100,000 per unit, plus installation of 25 to 30 grand. (You have to have a hole put in the bottom of the boat.)
These are primarily being sold to charter skippers, who have to have them to compete with those who have made the investment, and to those who captain private sportfishers competing in the million dollar billfish tournaments around the southeastern U.S. and throughout the Caribbean.
