Portable Fish Finder Question

[junkman]

i thought about buying a fish-finder to aid in fishing the many lakes here in Missouri but have no clue as to what to look for or what i would need. I just have a small boat and don't use it as often as I would like to so figured I might need one of those portable ones. my question for the experienced is, have you ever used one or had good luck with one? or should I just buy a boat mount one? Any suggestions on brand, model or features would be greatly appreciated for I am illiterate when it comes to these things. Mark

[Kelroy]

What I have done in the past is buy a decent 'boat-mount' unit (usually a Humminbird, as I am more familiar with them) and mount it on a milk crate, and power it with a small battery (motorcycle, lawnmower, etc) which sits in the crate for ballast. I mount the transducer on a 1x3 board and use a c-clamp to mount it on the transom. This setup retains all the portability of a 'portable' unit, but packs in all the big-unit features you care to pay for. When you buy a 'portable' unit, you trade features and performance for the portability. I prefer to spend the money on the features and performance, and build in my own 'portability.'

My current 'portable' unit is a Humminbird 998c SI side-looker. So far, I have used it on a 12' jon boat, a canoe, and a 26' Workskiff. Very happy with it.

Hope this gives you some food for thought.

[junkman]

Kelroy, thanks for the idea. I wondered about the feasibility of doing what you did but not knowing beans from apple butter about them I figured I better ask. thanks for the info.

[junkman]

Kelroy! you about gave me a heart attack. Looked at the price of your Hummingbird 998C and about fainted. It is more then my boat and motor combined. Is there such a thing as a economy model? LOL

[Kelroy]

Sorry about that! The 998 is a unit for my work boat- Uncle Sam bought it. I just don't have it mounted yet. I specifically wanted it for the down-imaging and external gps antenna. My personal unit will be in the 500 series, like a 587ci HD around $500. If you don't need gps, check out the 570 DI, which comes in a portable version, and is about $350. You get a gel-cell battery/charger and a nice carry case for a $50 difference- not bad. The 570 version (no down-imaging) is only around $250. A standard 560 is about $150, and is also a good candidate for the milk-crate treatment. Nice thing is, you can do it to about any of them..

http://store.humminbird.com/products/410764/570_DI_Portable

[jdmidwest]

I use an Eagle Cuda 242 for the last 3 years. It is compact and portable, runs for 2 full days of fishing on 8 AA batteries, suction cup transducer. It shows bottom, the temperature, and fish ID and depth. I can stick it in the yak or on the jon boat and it fills all of my needs. I have a handheld gps unit I can use if I need gps. And it was about $80.

[TroutRinger]

I use an Eagle Cuda 242 for the last 3 years. It is compact and portable, runs for 2 full days of fishing on 8 AA batteries, suction cup transducer. It shows bottom, the temperature, and fish ID and depth. I can stick it in the yak or on the jon boat and it fills all of my needs. I have a handheld gps unit I can use if I need gps. And it was about $80.

That's pretty cool. If I start fishing lakes in my yak that's something I may have to look into.

[junkman]

JD, thanks for the info. That sounds more like something I could use. It's not like it will be used every day or even every week. probably only 5 or 6 times a year for I live a little distance from the big lakes.

[jdmidwest]

The portable version I have is black and white with a high contrast display that is easy to read in daylight. Comes with its own little stand. There is an optional 12v powercord you can buy to plug into a boat system, just never needed it. I have seen a newer version of it that is color for a little more. I use it for depth and contour changes in the bottom for the most part. Water temp is handy to know.

Eagle Cuda 300

[Al Agnew]

You can use a lot of "non-portable" depth finders with two 6 volt lantern batteries. All you have to do is figure out a way to make the transducer portable. I made a portable transducer one time by taking a piece of aluminum pipe, flattening the ends with a hammer, drilling holes on one end and mounting the transducer on it, and mounting a spring clip to the other end to hang it from the gunwales. I suppose that the more features there are on the depth finder the quicker it uses up batteries, but I'd get several trips from a no-frills depth finder. Might be easier just to buy a portable one, though.