Eagle ff/gps $150 ff/gps w/tides $200

Some idjut left my ff/gps at the ramp a week or so ago (me  )

So I've been shopping.

Bi-Mart has the Eagle Cuda 240 on sale for $150
That's basic ff and basic breadcrumb gps.

Sportsman Warehouse has the Cuda 250 s/map for $200
Same ff with a basic mapping program with all buoys and navigational markers and built in tide tables and currents. The tides are sweet as it has all of the primary stations and displays it as falling or rising as well as the height.  As I've said before, I have not found that feature (tides) on anything under $500.
On a cautionary note, I talked with WaterWolf and he said his just took a powder just out of warrantee. My worked great for almost two years until I left it.

Wait wait, hold everything!  The Eagle 250 shows tides?  Damn it, I knew I should have read that instruction manual before throwing it away!

I'd second the recommendation of the 250... mine is in its second year of service, works great.  The GPS is worth its weight in gold.

Wait wait, hold everything!  The Eagle 250 shows tides?  Damn it, I knew I should have read that instruction manual before throwing it away!

I'd second the recommendation of the 250... mine is in its second year of service, works great.  The GPS is worth its weight in gold.

LOL. I second that three, it has tides!! should have read the destructions.

I really like the 250, does everything you would ever need.

I think you can download the manual at:

http://www.eaglegps.com/Downloads/Manuals/Files/Cuda250SMAP_0152-101_113005.pdf

or

http://www.lowrance.com/upload/Lowrance/Documents/Manuals/m56_0152-021_102203.pdf

That's for the Lowrance M56, but its the same unit. The other thing is there is very little mention of that feature. The salesman showed it to me and I bought it on the spot. I have yet to find another who knew about it.

To find tides, go to a river mouth or bay in the mapping mode, then zoom to a level that shows aids to navigation. Look for a "T" in a box, then move the cursor over it. Ding! Rising, falling, height, and time till the top or bottom. There is also a boxed "C" the will give you current speed and direction.

The closest to PDX is just upriver from Astoria so you have to correct for it, but I've found tide boxes in the tiniest coastal creeks in FL. Go figure.

Also note there is an emulator for the m56

http://www.lowrance.com/upload/Lowrance/Emulators/M56M_demo.exe

It lets you play with a virtual ff/gps on your computer so you can fiddle with it less when your fishing. Nifty stuff.

Thanks for the recon guys! 

Given that my FF is 15+ years old and I run it in pretty harsh conditions, I'm sure I'll be buying a new on within the year or so.  I'd never even considered tides.  That's worth an extra $100 right there.

-Mark-

Hey Wali,
I just read through the Cuda 250 manual and I didn't see any reference to the tide and current tables. Has this changed recently?

http://www.eaglenav.com/upload/Eagle/Documents/Manuals/Cuda250SMAP_0152-101_113005.pdf

Jay

One other note on the Cuda 168/240/250 family... they all use the same transducer.  If you have two yaks you want to outfit, you can occastionally find a Cuda 168 on sale for less than the cost of a new transducer by itself.  Nice to have a backup fish finder.

That current info is worth its weight in gold....very helpful in timing the bite for salmonids, as well as letting you know when it's too tough to paddle against.