I know Kerr is a Large body of water, we've been out a few times, but for the sake of being smart, could anyone suggest a good gps to keep with them when fishing such a large body of water?
Lowrance I-Finder H2O, has a nice screen for a handheld and will take Navionics and Hotmaps SD cards.
Better to get a decent chartplotter for the boat if you can swing it, will have a bigger screen and more features. A 5" screen is a nice size for most boats that aren't running offshore a lot, and color helps a little (not that the charts themselves have a lot of color, but the contrast and brightness seem better than gray scale).
I just recently went through this process of deciding what handheld GPS to buy myself and after researching it and talking with a lot of diffent retailers and fishermen I was lead to the Lowrance H2O series. Garmin models also were recommended but everyone I talked to who owned a H2O was completely happy with it. Prices range from $169-369 depending on model and you can buy them new from EBay even cheaper. Hot Maps will cost you an additional $90 or so.
Mine is being shipped as I write so I don't have any first hand knowledge to post.
There were several good threads on this message board you might want to go back and read. I got a lot of info from them.
I have a lowrance chartplotter/fish finder on my 21' which I love. The navionics chips for saltwater are excellent. I use that in the Chesapeake and the ocean. It's nice to find offshore humps or drop offs without the use of reading a chart. The nice thing is you can scout out a certain spot from your driveway and enter your "new" spot as a waypoint. The fish it the next time out. If you are worried about getting lost or turned around in the fog. My duckboat has the cheapest lowrance chartplotter/ fish finder that money can buy. I think it cost around $300. It only shows shorelines it isn't too accurate but for those 4:00 am foggy mornings duck hunting, it will get you from point a to point b. Eagle chartplotter are the same thing as lowrance without all the bells and whistles but alot cheaper. They do accept the map chips also.
If you're just trying to keep from getting lost, the hand-helds will do great. The screen size is a little too small for me for serious fishing. Zoom it in for accuracy/detail and you loose field of view. Zoom it out for a wider view and you loose detail. I've tried it both ways and ended up with a SONAR/GPS unit. My opinion.
I've been a couple times, only caught a few Bass drop-shotting shiners, no Walleye. The only Walleye I've seen for over a month was either on TV or in a magazine. Most of February I was in the process of re-decking my boat. I replaced the carpeting with a marine vinyl flooring plus added a little storage area. Now when I spill a dozen crawlers (and dirt) on the floor it won't be so hard to clean up!
You been wearing them out? I don't know what species you're fishing for but I'll bet you've been putting something in the boat.