Fish Finder

[brownloveshark]

...so I was inspired by the "early father's day present" post: http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=18889
I was wondering how many of you have a fish finder on your tube? I recently came across humminbird's fishin buddy and how anyone felt about it:
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_97454?cmCat=CROSSSELL&cmid=PP_P1_1
It seems kind of expensive in comparison with some of the cool rigs I've seen out there (bakobassin and Socal Bassman.) I am intrigued in the fishing buddy because you can use
AA batteries which gives me more room for my gear. What do ya'll think?

[sr98acr]

what do you mean more room for your gear? Is it because of the battery the lowrance needs? Sorry to barge but I'm lookin for a fish finder as well, heck I need some type of setup but don't wanna rush it just yet.

[Socal Bassman]

Even though I haven't had any experience with them, I think it looks pretty good. Maybe Ronira will chime in on his thoughts about the fishin buddy. I think he has one of the earlier models though.

I would've went that route, but the shallows at the lake I fish at the most (Perris) can be weed choked. If the weeds get tangled around the shaft, it creates more drag. My transducer is about 5" below the surface and it still snags up some weeds here and there.

The battery I use really doesn't take up that much space. Actually, it only takes up the first 2.5" of space in one of my cargo pockets. Since we're on the subject of batteries, rechargeables would probably be the best option. But if I remember correctly, it costs $30-$40 for 4AA batteries with a charger. You'd need to buy another 2 or 4 pack of rechargeables to power the unit. Then, you'd have to recharge two sets of batteries at two different times since the charger only charges four at a time, unless you buy a separate charger. It only cost me $24.99 for my SLA battery plus $9.99 for the charger and I only have to recharge one battery at one time as compared to 6-8 batteries. Cabelas also sells one for $29.99 and it comes with a charger. Their battery has the same dimensions as the battery I'm using too. So that's another thing to think about there.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036388018049a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=12v+sla+battery&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=12v+sla+battery&noImage=0

Feel free to ask anymore questions anytime.

[Ronira]

Go with a setup like SoCal has. I've got a fishing buddy and don't really like it. Mine is one of the old models and it's not well built. It works okay but the mount broke and the little handle you turn it with also broke with no abuse. I've heard the Hummingbird models are a lot better but I've not seen one. Thing is the transducer on a post thing is cumbersome and would hang pretty far down into the weeds.