I’ve had good luck with Rippin Raps on really cold days where hole hopping just really isn’t a good idea and you really need to try and get the fish to come to you. A lot of times when I’m working a lure like a rippin rap I’ll have fish hit the deadstick sitting next to me. I agree though these lures have to be worked right otherwise they do more harm than good.

I just went from an older fl-18 to the Garmin echomap 73cv and I love it. Being able to have traditional sonar and the flasher split on the same screen is amazing and having maps/GPS is a pretty slick feature that I find myself using more than I initially thought I would. If you don’t mind not having the touch screen and a slightly smaller screen, the 63cv is a good option for the price. Either way you go Humminbird or Garmin you won’t be disappointed and if you’ve got the boat and the hardware, they can be used during the open water season too. I’ve also heard from guys I know that the Marcum Lx-6 and 7 are dynamite units too especially with the lithium shuttle. Tough decision ahead of you for sure.