portable fish finders LOL

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Parts-accessories/Fish-finders/auction-190126041.htm

Anyone used one ? they look a bit tacky

Hi there Softbaiter... yeah I have been looking, but have to admit that I agree with the 'tacky' look... however not much can be expected from a $90 product.

I am still looking for one at the moment as well.... a Christmas present to my self I think!

i think i want something that will definately work at speed also.. damn sandbars out here lol

Do it once, do it right Softbaiter! You didn't degrade to a Chinese ski, so finish it off with a nice quality finder that functions properly

yeah I will keep my eyes peeled for the new year deals, theres bound to be some good ones.

I just couldnt own one of those chinese skis, It would be like having a VW with a porsche kit on it from the 80's and saying you had a porsche, lol

Do NOT buy a portable fishifinder unless Humminbird or Garmin. Even then the transducers supplied are attached to the ski with a suction cup which I reckon I would have ripped off within the first 5 mins on the ski.
I am gathering from peoples talk you are all on a budget like myself, so I will advise what I have found works good for me. However if you have a larger budget the Raymarine A60 unit that Andrew is running is in a league of its own and definately a desireable unit to purchase should you have the budget.

I am now on my second Lowrance X51. Reason for this is on my Seadoo I wanted a unit that sits perfectly inside the glove compartment with the battery and still allows me to put keys, phone and bits and pieces in their along with it. My finders have always been completley seperate from the ski and can be removed at any time. I drill hole is required for the transducer cable into the glove box. Benefits of it in the glove box are that when viewing the sun is sheilded by the lid etc and no holes are required to be drilled to fit the sounder. Yamahas proivide more options due to the drink holders. If you did not want to have the finder in the glove box several can be flush mounted into the top of the lid providing a great finish also.

I use a dry cell sealed battery which is a 12V rechargeable available from Super Cheap Autos for $35.00 The batteries dimensions are only approx 10cm long by 5cm wide and 6cm tall and can be easily charged of a standard car battery trickle charger. I get around 6 hours constant running out of each charge. Alternately you can connect straight to the main battery. I decided not to so all charge in main was there for starting etc.

My transducer will one day be mounted on a bracket that JETSKIFISHING will make for Seadoos, but in the mean time it is cable tied to the boarding ladder bracket and runs perfectly. I get an perfect reading up to around 30mph then it starts fuzzing out.

My picks off trademe are below for those with a budget:

This one is a bargain and is identical unit to mine. Retail on these right now is $450.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Parts-accessories/Fish-finders/auction-190917984.htm

The Piranha Max by Humminbird is ok but best buy is above.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Parts-accessories/Fish-finders/auction-191451073.htm

Also the Navman 4430 is a good unit for flush mounting on Seadoos. However if you want to drill holls and mount externally or if you are on a Yamaha with cup holders you can fit Andrew's bracket and basically the fishfinder world is your oyster.

I also use this website for all my research on performance of a finder. You can veiw new and all old finders that are no longer around to determine what the best second hand buy would be. US prices so don't be fooled.

http://www.fishfinder-store.com/

Hope this helps someone.

Cheers