Portable Fish Finder - Recommendations

[hutch4113]

Hi Everyone,

 

Looking to purchase a portable fish finder for a smaller boat. It is the family boat, and as such, does not make sense for me to "wire" it for a more complex model.

 

I was thinking of the Eagle FishEasy 245 DS Portable.

 

Anyone had any experience with it, or recommendations for another product? It does not have to be very complex, as it won't be used on a regular basis...perhaps 2 or 3 times a year. Not needed for Ice Fishing either.

 

I would like depth, structure/weeds, water temperature, and fish finding capabilities (though if that last item is too annoying, not necessary).

 

Thanks in advance.

[redskullz]

I bought a marcum showdown ice troller and its a fabulous unit...its fish marking abilities are amazing, and it marks tiny 1/64th oz jigs. The coolest thing is with a tiny puddle of water around the transducer it will mark fish and depth right through the bottom of the canoe. I mostly bought it for the small portable feature and being able to run AA rechargeable batteries through it is great.(20 hours on 6 AA batteries) Its doesnt show much for weeds and has no temp though.

Probably not the unit you are after, but i thought i should mention it anyways.

[Dan668]

I bought a humminbird 343. Colour, dual beam, portable. Finder worked great for the canoe/ice fishing.

[yakpiker]

I bought a humminbird 343. Colour, dual beam, portable. Finder worked great for the canoe/ice fishing.

I've had one of these for a couple of years and it works great. It's hooked up to a 12 volt battery and last for days. The only challenge is the suction cup doesn't stick well to my plastic kayak rudder or on the back of painted boats.

[Dan668]

Its a great unit. I have the 12 volt, mine lasted a week trip @ obatanga p.p. Contemplating on selling mine soon though because I have an hds 8 and 7 coming on the new boat. I never had a problem with the suction cup on my ram x canoe. I paid the extra for this unit because of the colour, easy to read in sunlight also.

[Mike01]

I'm definitely a fan of Humminbird, I have a 757c and bought the portable kit so I could use it for ice fishing. I plan on using it in the canoe a few times this year as well.

[Colin Marshall]

Its a great unit. I have the 12 volt, mine lasted a week trip @ obatanga p.p. Contemplating on selling mine soon though because I have an hds 8 and 7 coming on the new boat. I never had a problem with the suction cup on my ram x canoe. I paid the extra for this unit because of the colour, easy to read in sunlight also.

 

Hi Danbob,

 

If your thinking of selling your unit I'm looking to buy a second hand one and would appreciate the heads up.

 

Cheers.

 

Colin.

[brw]

Hi Danbob,

 

If your thinking of selling your unit I'm looking to buy a second hand one and would appreciate the heads up.

 

Cheers.

 

Colin.

[brw]

Tupelo:

I have both an Eagle and a Hummingbird. I much prefer the Eagle. I've had it for over 12 years for my yearly trip up north to God's country and it has never failed me. The Hummingbird is a pain in the butt to put together--much more complicated than the Eagle. One tip for either: scrap the suction cup and buy a transducer bracket mount. Cabelas sells them and they are well worth the price (about $40). You won't regret it. I learned my lesson the hard way after taking my Eagle to Georgian Bay, only to discover that the suction cup wouldn't work on the camp boat I was using...

[solopaddler]

Adam this is the unit I used on our trip last week, I really like it: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Eagle174-FishEasy-350c-Color-Portable-Sonar-Unit-Soft-Pack/701278.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dportable%2Bfish%2Bfinder%26x%3D19%26y%3D10%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=portable+fish+finder&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

 

Comes in a soft pack and has a large rechargable 12V battery. Great little unit.

 

As far as the suction cups I never use one. Take off the suction cup and screw the transducer to small piece of strapping cut to fit the height of the transom. Clamp it on with 2 small C clamps and you're good to go.

[Homer Is King]

Tupelo, I have one of those units and it does everything you are asking for fairly well. The fish finding is a little weak but everything else is good.

 

Last year I bought a little tinny and it came with a Eagle Fisheasy 350C. It has better resolution and it is the colour version. It is much easier to read and is more sensitive than the 245. If your budget will allow I would recommend going with the 350C.

[TDunn]

I love my portable humminbird but I also use garmin and eagle graphs all the time.

All 3 have never let me down.....

If you aren't partial to one brand look for the best deal and I do use the suction cup sometimes...Other times I use a similiar setup to what Solo explained with the clamps.

 

 

TDunn

Edited June 3, 2011 by TDunn

[Homer Is King]

Oh ya...Before I bought my tinny I always rented. I never had a problem with the suction cup sticking to an aluminum hull. Even at full throttle it never came off.