The Best Fishing Equipment
Fishing is an activity that bridges both the leisure and sports markets, with a broad target audience which captures consumers of all ages, from all walks of life, and crucially with all levels of technical know-how and ability. Read on to find out more about our fishing equipment recommendations. Regardless of lifestyle and other external factors however, there are some tools and pieces of fishing equipment that undoubtedly make the experience more enjoyable and more successful. This guide is designed to introduce you to some of the modern fisherman’s must-haves (even if you have been fishing for years without them!)The benefits of adding a fishfinder to your fishing equipment list
If there’s one thing that every modern fisherman (or woman) needs, it’s a fishfinder. Designed to attach to your boat, a fishfinder is an extension of both your knowledge of the water around you and the map you are using to navigate – providing a live feed view of the water and features which lie beneath the boat as you move through the water. Aside from being able to identify and isolate different schools of fish as they approach and pass by, thus helping you to throw your line with a specific target in mind, these fishfinders are also beneficial in providing a live map of the waterbed, including any unexpected dips, drops, or rocks in your path. Here at Hudson Marine, we stock a large range of GPS fishfinder chart plotters for the UK market, with some of our top brands and products outlined below. But first a little more about these devices and how they enhance your on-water experience.
Why you need a GPS fishfinder in your fishing equipment list
GPS fishfinders in particular are beneficial in that they provide you with all the information you need while you’re on the water, while also allowing you to save your route and location for future use and measure the water temperature to give you greater control as you angle your boat and route according to your target species of fish. Models like the Raymarine Element 7 offer a comprehensive and clear-cut view of the water beneath you, tracking surrounding features and allowing you to identify everything from underwater structures to vegetation and of course the elusive fish you’re looking for. What this does, in the most basic sense, is provide you with far greater clarity as to the water you are fishing in, making even blind fishing in a whole new body of water more targeted and more successful. Without further ado, here are some of the leading fishfinders on the UK market right now.
Our pick of the top GPS fishfinders to add to your fishing list
When it comes to selecting the best GPS fishfinders and chart plotters on the market, we always gravitate towards Raymarine Element as the leading range. Not only is the Raymarine Element range broad in terms of the options available, but it also combines speed of results with ease of use, making it accessible to fishermen from all walks of life and with all levels of experience. Two of the leading products in the Element range include the aforementioned Raymarine Element 7 HV and the Raymarine Element 9 HV. The Raymarine Element 9 has a larger screen than the 7 model, with the number referring to the size of the screen in inches. Beyond this, both models from the Element HyperVision range are designed to give users a wide-ranging and clear view of the water both beneath and around them – with side vision and 3D real vision for optimum precision imaging and fish identification. Outside of the Raymarine Element range, we stock a selection of Garmin GPS fishfinders and Lowrance models. The Garmin fishfinders are popular and are slightly more affordable, however typically they do not offer the same quality of map, nor do they include the same amount of route choices programmed in compared with the Raymarine range. The Lowrance fishfinders are also popular and actually offer more options in the way of devices which are compatible with different boats – however they are not as user friendly as the Raymarine models and so are not as well suited to new users.
Other fishing gear worth adding to your fishing equipment list
Aside from the GPS fishfinder, we offer a selection of other fishing accessories and tools which enhance the experience in terms of success rate, safety, and basic enjoyment. Some of these include:- VHF Radios
- Radar navigation systems
- Thermal cameras
- Audio units and amplifiers
