Noskunk, Since Spawnout said just about exactly what I would have said about downriggers I'll just give you a couple chartplotter/fishfinder thoughts, 1st the Garmin 188 mentioned above is a great combo unit and "probably" my first choice for a unit under a grand, that being said, check out the new Eagle products, specifically the SeaCharter 320DF. Until the new line of products came out I was not a fan of Lowrance/Eagle, they put out an ok product but they were over priced, well after a couple years of getting there butts kicked by Garmin, they seem to have learned a thing or 2. The new SeaCharter 320 has very similar specs to Garmin's 188 unit but it has better definition then the Garmin (320x320 pixels as opposed to 234x320 pixels) it is also 1/2 the price of the Garmin, the 188 price mentioned above is a boatshow/sportsmans show price, there now $875, only $499 for the Eagle. The biggest drawback (and its minor) is that it uses Navionic's cartography which I think is third best to Garmin Bluechip and C-Map, but for $500 saved I could deal with Navionics.
If I can answer any questions on downriggers or chartplotter/ff's stop by and see me at Boatersworld in Everett.