Portable fish finder suggestions...

[Beave]

I'm looking to pick up a portable fish finder soon, but I really don't have any idea what to get. The fishing buddies look appealing in some ways, but I also see there's a new product out where you actually have a portable transducer you can put on an extra rod and cast out. That'd be kind of cool too.

I guess what I'm looking for is a feedback from people here on what kind of portables they have, if they like them, and if they'd buy that model or not?

[islaysteelies]

Beave,

I got a Eagle FishEasy 2...Love it...Works great for ice fishing and you can stick it on just about any boat...

[Swamp Monster]

Beave, I have a Fishing buddy that works pretty well. I use it for ice fishing, on small boats and on my canoe. It's a pretty handy unit that works pretty well. It does not have the resolution that the Fish easy has but for convienance and portability it's hard to beat. I haven't really researched the unit you are talking about with the castable transducer. It does sound like it has some merit but I'm far from convinced. The first time I used it from shore I could see having my line snap during a cast and watching it sail to the great beyond.

[kroppe]

Beave I had what I considered a "portable" unit, in that it was not permanently fixed to my boat. I used it in my canoe and removed it for transport or when I wanted to canoe without fishing.

I mounted the xducer on a wood dowel (for depth control), then used 2 clamps to clamp the dowel to the gunwale. Then I made a carrying box for the display, wires and gel cell battery using a $5.00 plastic tool box from Meijer. Everything (except the wood dowel) was held inside the toolbox. I screwed the LCD display bracket to the lid of the toolbox, so that when in use, the LCD sat on top of the toolbox lid, with the battery and extra cabling inside teh box. It was a real nice, neat package and allowed me to use a "boat-type" sonar in a portable package. FYI I used the Raytheon L365 at the time. I now have a Eagle 320 and you could rig the 320 in the same fashion if you wanted to.

You could have used this for ice fishing but I never want to haul that much gear out on the ice with me. I'm a minimalist when it comes to ice fishing.

[dockdabber]

For ice fishing The best tool is a vexilar. I learn the hard way:bash:

[ih772]

I have an Eagle Fisheasy2 as well and it's great for going portable. I've used it on my sailboat and kayak in addition to my fishing boat and out on the ice. An LCD will work for ice fishing, you just have to use it the right way and learn how to interpret what you are looking at.