thoughts on a fishfinder

I was wondering if you guys to give me some thoughts on fish finders. Are they worth it and do they actually work? My buddy let me use his fishing buddy last week but it seem to be inaccurate because it kept reading the Depth at only eight feet when I know that it was a lot more. Also it would beep indicating fish but I had no bites whatsoever. Guess I just don't know how to use it. Anybody with some experience with fish finders want to shine some light on this subject? Thanks!!

One thing ... Even though your using a fish finder you are not always gonna get bit when a fish passes by . I have one but use it in unfamiliar waters to locate underwater structure that is all

I also use mine for structure and water depth and it works amazing for those purposes... Last time I was at Perris I saw a small school swim under me and I dropped my ds straight down and hooked up so I know it works for fish. It's more about preference if you feel like you need one or not

Yeah, they are worth using. Turn off the alarm sound because it gets you too excited and bothers others who hear the noise. It is good for structure. When a lot of fish show in an area, you may not catch them...but you know it's a good area to work for a while.

I use one and know its limitations. But I still like the information that it gives me.

My experience is that a fish finder is very good for identifying structure and water depth on lakes.

I (and a number of my fishing friends) use the Humminbird RF35 wrist mounted fish finder. It is compact - which is nice but reliability is not as good as it could be. Last week when one of our crowd was having troubles with the transducer we discussed options that could be mounted to a float tube. I'd be interested in approaches others are taking.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the advice. I also understand that fish will not always bite lol I guess I was just being too judgemental about it. I think I will get one though for depth and structure. The fish will just be a bonus. The watch unit looks neat too but I hate wearing watches :/ but cool concept though. Leaning towards the Lowarnce X-4 right now.

actually that looks too complicated. Maybe the fishin buddy since I can just make a mount of out pvc pipe and a nylon strap to hold it on place. What model do you use and how do you mount your unit? Just want to get some ideas. thanks again.

Lowrance X4 is a great unit for the pricing. Mounting higher end unit, costing just a tiny more, for down sonar imaging (DSI) will be a Godsent when it comes to clearly identifying structures and hidden jewels. You can find the similar ones from Humminbird. Suggestion would be searching through Craigslist first, or eBay.

I have a Garmin Echo 150 it's a good fishfinder with dual beam sonar that does a good job and didn't break the bank. I didn't want to get anything too expensive in case something happens to my tube on the water and I can't salvage it. My fishfinder came with a small battery pack and all the wiring so I attached the transducer and head unit to a piece of PVC to make it like the fishin buddy and then my battery is in a box in my side pocket.

I might just invest in the fishin buddy by hummingbird only because it runs on AA batteries and just seems more convenient. But, let me do more research. I really do like the x4 because the display looks more crisp and easier to read for me. But I don't really want to deal with the wiring so I'll have to do more research. Making the unit piece out of pvc isn't a bad idea. I would appreciate it if you can send me a photo of it just so I get an idea of how it looks desertstorm28

After having one on my tube I could not imagine fishing without it.  I had a Humminbird 170 mounted on a Float Tube Fanatics system.  I have yet to find a better mounting system. 

Another key feature of most bottom machines is water temp.  This is a must when conditions are changing.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I have been looking at the Garmin Echo 300C and Lowarance elite-4x. I am still unsure as  I want to make sure I got good sonar and or dual beam to help me find structure ... not sold on the Echo 150

Mounting seems to be a issue for me right now as i love the idea of the floatubefantics mount , but I hate the mess of the transducer cable as I want to keep my tube clean and clear .. Trying to find a Transducer cable that is not 20' seems difficult and I am unsure of the Fantics mount with the transducer placement and interferance ? any input is great if you use this mount

I might sell my garmin echo 150 rigged and ready for floatubing runs on 8 AA batteries pm me for more info

do a search here on the site. there are quite a few pix of different setups... one place to check out is the mods to ur tube section.. pretty awesome hookups..Actually called,"Foattube and Pontoon Mods"..