Fish Buddy portable fish finder opinions

[jmay]

The wife and kids bought me a Fish Buddy fish finder that clamps to the transom, with the transducer and read out screen all one peice. It runs off of a bunch of AA batteries. Does anyone have one? I don't need a gps a color charting unit, but I wondering if the thing really is going to work. It claims to read depth, water temp and locate fish.

[Bodofish]

They've got good reviews in some of the mags. Most people use them on float tubes and pontoons. Just good basic info.
I've used their other one which has a wrist watch type display and you cast the wireless transducer where you want to look. For what it is, it works great. Shows depth and just about any fish swimming by..... OK anything in the water floating by. Same with the >$1000 units. It's all in how you use them.

[dfalcon]

I got one for father's day as well. I think it is the 2200. Works pretty well as far as I could tell, but I only used it for a couple of hours. You may get some motor interference if it is to close to the motor-- might depend on size of motor too.
Does yours have the "side" fish finding feature?
All in all it is a nice set up.

[littleriver]

Sold my big boat about 13 years ago and started fishing exclusively with canoes and smaller boats. Bought one of the first Fishin Buddy's they ever built and it's great if you do that kind of fishing.... If you have a trailered boat with a spot for a permanent battery and transducer installation the more conventional depth finders are a better way to go though...... Pulling the fish'n buddy unit in and out of the way every time to move is kind of a pain...... also, by necessity, this kind of unit doesn't have the raw power in it's ping that a good lowrance or eagle unit will have so if the bottom is very soft you won't get a reading... (i.e. I rowed all around Silver Lake in Cowlitz county a few years back with my fish'n buddy on full power and, for the most part, got no return ping at all.. every once in a while I'd go over a little gravelly spot and the bottom would show but on the rest of the lake it was nada),,

On the older units the batteries were in the handle and that was a real pain.. because if you grabbed it too hard to move it in or out of it's cradle the handle would pop off and battery would spread all over the floor of the canoe....

I've got one of the newer ones now though (think it's the 2200) and it has a much better battery configuration......

[jmay]

Finally got to go back out on the water last night and used the new fish finder. I was very pleasantly surprised how well it worked

[Mike Carey]

I've got an sidefinder version with batteries in the handle. I have to switch the batteries around or they will drain, but that's the only problem I've had with this unit. A prior unit had the screen burn out after several years. Overall I think they are a great choice for a small boat or tube. I use mine on my pontoon and I also use it on my 15 ft boat's bow when I'm using the trolling motor for bass.

[JT26]

i dont have one but that sounds good. I didnt think i could get a depth finder for my little raft. maybe i can persuade my dad to check one out.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

I bought one with side finder back in 2001 for trout fishing out of my pram. While it's not a $1K Lowrance I'm happy with it. $1K Lowrance's aren't made to use in less than 20' of water.

[Bodofish]

On the contrary, mine works just fine at any depth. You just have to set the range and upper and lower limits correctly.