Anyone has fish finder on boat?

[carball]

I want know the price of a fish finder......
Can you give me some ideas about the one below from Ebay?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Boat-Fish-Finder...ht_3633wt_1392

[PAR]

Fish finders are like girlfriends, it all depends on what you want or need. These devices have several common features, then a host of assorted options and other features, so you'll have to be more specific about what you want.

[pistnbroke]

Just like a prostitute ..$100 for a basic job and £250 for all the bells and whistles ..get a reputable brand ....not unbranded from china ...though oriental girls are very good if you pay enough ..

Now look what you started PAR

This is the model Prince William got ..UK built and tested in both horizontal and vertical modes

[whitepointer23]

5 dollar, loooove you long time

[PAR]

Please take my sister's photo down, she not like that any more . . .

[Quatsino Boater]

Yes!
Seriously though, if you are looking at a salt water version some things to keep in mind:
1) If you have an open boat or center console, keep in mind daylight viewing in strong sunlight. I have this problem with my small boat I use for prawning. have a model with strong backlighting.
2) what type of fishing are you doing and where are they located in the water colum? If you are fishing close to shore like salmon and they feed on baitfish then the fish are located withing 100 feet of water depth so again pretty much any sounder will do. If you are looking at a bottom type fish or any speicies below 100 feet a dual frequency sounder is your best choice for penetrating down deep.
3) much of your reolution will come from a good set up not the hardware. Keep your tranducer level to the water surface and away from strakes or chines where water turbulence affects them.
4) fish finders won't really tell you haow big a fish is, they way the echo turns is really depended on how the fish is swimming at the time of being pinged. And they won't tell you if there hungry or if they like a lure or bait.

The rest is pretty much bells and whistles. Zoom is nice if it can capture zones. like between 30 and 90 feet in 150 feet of water. many zooms only capture top or bottom and are unselectable. With sonders at sea, Seaweed, bull kelp, rock and debris leave a cluttered bottom and even the best sounders will have trouble giving a picture of the bottom. if it looks bad, it probably is and you will loose jig, lures or hooks. Tides, currents ect. are involved and you ain't going to put a lure within 3 feet of where you want unlike lake fishin.

So some bells and whistles are nice , others well probably not needed by good fisherman. Bottom line for me, prawning in 300 feet of water , no frills deep penetrating unit that can tell a mud/gravel botton from rock. Sport fishing model, dual frequency, with some zone zoom capability. Both must have good installations and you will be pleased.

[Quatsino Boater]

I am not brand fixed. I have a basic color Garmin for my prawn boat and I use a Lowrance sounder/plotter for my offshore boat. I have used Eagles and Humming birds in the past. All were good during thier time. They are still functionable in my shop in a box. I too am plagued with the need for the latest trends. . Last word honestly, any sounder is pretty good now. Enjoy fishing not micro-managing electronics. our fathers caught fish without them, why can't we? Half of the enjoyment of fishing is just being there.

[carball]

Thanks everyone, especially Boater. I am a green hand and start learning about fishing with a fish finder. I think a single sounder will work or a mini one.

[whitepointer23]

Originally Posted by carball

Thanks everyone, especially Boater. I am a green hand and start learning about fishing with a fish finder. I think a single sounder will work or a mini one.

you can get eagle fish finders in the price range you are looking at. i have owned lowrance and eagle sounders and navman. 5 eagle , 2 lowrance, 1 navman. the eagle were the only ones that never played up. the cuda 300 is good value and has a lot more pixels than the dot matrix which gives a better detailed picture.