Humminbird Fishin Buddy Fish Finders?

[briansnat]

Originally Posted by RyanMac14

Great info. Any disadvantages to it conpared to a traditionally mounted fish fnder?

A friend has one . I;d say the biggest disadvantage is that you need to take it off if you are running a gas motor at anything above trolling speed. Also, if the boat is somewat largish it's
tough to mount where its convenient to see,

But for kayaks, canoes and smaller boats its a pretty good unit

[jimmythegreek]

If your budget is 300 go get yourself the new humminbird HELIX model, you can get a GPS chartplotter/sonar for under 300, and they are NICE. The other thing you could do is search ebay like catfish suggested, and get a portable setup, this way you can easily suction the ducer to the boat, and also use it for ice fishing. You can also make a bag/base for ANY fishfinder and buy a transducer for ice, they are not expensive. I made mine for under 100 bucks via ebay and includes the ice transducer

[RyanMac14]

Thanks for the advice all. I own a small jon boat that gets transported upside down in the bed of my pickup so anything permanent is pretty much a no go. These units with the suction cup transducer seem interesting but seem a bit awkward. I cant help but picture myself popping it off in the summer when weeds get high or roughing it up upon coming back in onto shore. Any more specfic info on how well they work and specific models?

[CMJeepster]

For me, the best option (simplicity, etc.) was the Fishin' Buddy. it's not for everyone or every appication.

[Eskimo]

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Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

I HIGHLY recommend the Humminbird 345c Portable. It's a self-contained unit in a carrying case that has a rechargeable battery and a transducer with a suction cup.

Very interesting option. My kayak is a sit-on-top. I can't for the life of me see how I could mount one of those self-contained fish-finders with the bow clamp, but it appears I can just stick this portable unit between my legs.