No, I'm not swimming in cash but starting to learn as much as I can about fish finders.

I've done a search on FNN and read through over a dozen threads on fish finders. I'm looking for one that will work for both tubes and inflatable kayaks.

I figure I'll do a 'cost no object' search and then, after that, get what I can based on my final budget. I don't have a final budget because I'm not sure how much I should spend for what features. Always willing to wait a bit more to save up if there are killer features that is helpful.

On the top end, I see the 360 degree design by Hummingbird. But these are not viable for float tubes and small inflatable kayaks due to their battery requirements (high power consumption) and size. These are amazing but more for regular boats with permanent mounts.

So for tubes and kayaks, and if you can afford any fish finder....

1. What features would you look for? What is absolutely necessary? What is a nice luxury?

2. In particular how important is it to have side mount sonar so that you can look outward from your craft and not just downward? It seems to me that this will make a difference.

3. What units have lower battery consumption so that we can have

4. Any specific brands/models you can recommend? All things being equal (and they are usually not) the lighter the weight the better as we may sometimes hike a couple of miles to get to water.

5. Anyone use one of these cast and reel in type fish finders? This one's seem to be the latest with five sonars and countour mapping plus casting direction. They claim to do a whole lot....

http://www.fishhunter.com/directiona...ional3DFeature

Thanks in advance or any help.

UL