portable fish finder

[redneck666]

hey people,

 

looking for a portable fish finder, any suggestions? just wanna know whats workin for you guys out there.... trying to invest in a good one im not to sure?

[camillj]

I love my humminbird 565 ... and thats all I got to say about that

[redneck666]

well, did you catch that nice laker or walleye with it?(i cant tell what that is in your pic)

[Syn]

I spent some time looking for a fish finder this year. I ended up with a eagle 245ds portable with dual beam. http://www.eaglenav.com/en/Products/Fishfi...ishEasy-245-DS/

It is not the greatest but for the money $180+tax its ok. It was on sale at Canadian Tire for $170+tax recently.

 

Anyhow, factors to consider:

-pixel resolution 240X160 is pretty good

-suction cup transducer or if you rather have the pole kind like on the fishin buddy (which also has side view sonar on the expensive ones). The suction cup does come off occasionally. But 245ds port unit fits nicely in its own little plastic box with 8aa batteries.

-side view sonar I would love to have but thats only on the more expensive units. I settled with a wider beam cone 200/83 on the 245 ds shooting down.

-don't really care about colour screen, I can get by on grey scale.

_if I had $200 more I would have wanted to get a built in GPS with the fishfinder. Makes navigation so much easier on big lakes with many islands.

 

Batteries you will go through a lot, so consider buying 8 eneloop AA from Real Canadian Super Store or white top Duracell rechargeable and a charger for under $40. That was save you big money in the long run.

 

The 245ds I have is a basic unit for a mid range price, I turned fish ID OFF because it will make you think you are surrounded by a million fish. It interprets weeds, sticks interference as fish symbol lol.

 

Side note: I only actually saw the fish arch a few times and that was in deep water 70ft. Not too may fish are going to love being pinged in 10-15 ft of water with out being spooked by the sonar and motor noise. I turn the sonar off when not needed (anchored). I'm using the fishfinder+map as a depth sounder rather than looking for fish because it can only show me fish directly under the boat, which is a very small area in 20ft of water. In 50ft+ I leave it on because it will help me locate baitfish and the beam angle can cover more area at that depth, especially using the 83hz beam.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Syn

[redneck666]

well thanks for the reply syn.

 

 

lol my uncles fishfinder used to mark weeds and stuff as fish too.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

i purchased a portable eagle cuda 300 this season. very small and very affordable...perfect for the tinner and canoe...

[redneck666]

im looking to spend at least $250 but i'll check out the cheaper ones too......