Portable fish finders...

[Mike Redmond]

Hi, Im chequing out PORTABLE fish finders...Theres some Hummingbird 535 portable fish finders on sale at $149.00 at my local canadian tire store.Dont know much about them my buddy has a eagle fish finder and doesnt have any problems with it...I am hesitating ,would like some info,looking for something portable and VERY simple to use,,,cause im not exactly the best in electronics and computer uses....Thanks for any info Mike

[ks8]

When you say portable, do you mean something you can easily remove from the boat when she is not in the water or under command? If so, almost all Fish Finders I know of have a disconnect right on the back, so you can remove it from the power and the wire to the transducer. Just wrap that cable end in a plastic bag when the finder is not connected. The transducer would stay attached to the boat.

If that scenario is acceptable to you, then you have just about every fish finder out there as an option for your boat, depending on the features you are looking for. That being said, we can narrow down some points with a couple questions:

1- Do you also want a GPS/Chartplotter?
2- Do you already have a GPS/Chartplotter? Which one?
3- Do you have a max budget for the FF and GPS/CP?
4- Do you have a maximum or minimum physical size of the display?

With those answers, we can suggest some combos, etc. For instance, if you are going to remove whatever electronic *stuff* you put on there anyway, I found the Garmin (or others) GPS Chartplotters very handy, if the model you go with supports a transducer feed and doubles as a split screen with FF on one side and CPlotter on the other, one display showing all you need. Some may require an external GPS antenna, while others will have a sufficient one built in, with an option for an external one. Then there are transducer options too, some calculating velocity and showing water temperature... some for deep water work, and others for shallower water... of course getting what you pay for. If you want one display for everything, then you need to define everything you hope for on the display, and mix and match components to give you what you are looking for, showing you the most, in an uncluttered way, easily visible, but not taking up your entire console space either. These things are much more affordable than they were even five years ago.

[Mike Redmond]

Just looking for the simplest portable fish finder.I will be moving it from boat to boat ....on some of the lakes where I go fishing, you have to rent the parcs boats; its their way to limit the amout of boats on the lakes...you supply the outboard motor,so Im looking for something thats very mobile and simple to use...wish they made a fish finder that you just have to turn off or on...just want to know if theres fish down there and how deep .....dont care much for the rest////dont need it, and probably would not be able to program it I am kind of like a dinosaur in a way....Mike

[tobolamr]

Most of the portable units that I've used have been pretty basic. About the only features they've had have been shallow depth alarm, fish alarm, and a backlight. I'm assuming you're looking at a model that clamps onto the transom or gunwhale/inwhale?

Fro $149, it doesn't sound too bad for what you're looking to do. Btw, it is discontinued from the running line, so it may not be bad to snatch up. It should fit your needs just fine!

[Cracker Larry]

I've never used a portable unit but Humminbird makes good fish finders.

[Mike Redmond]

Thanks for the replies,ended up buying the 535 portable hummingbird.Got it from a smaller shop rather than CTR.At least when you go back to the small shop they recognise you, and more often than not, they know what they are talking about compared to the big boxes....Had to buy it in a hurry, taking my boat down to the Prov. of Quebec its a 4 day drive in the summer might take longer in the snow...will leave a vehicle there for when I go back for fishing this summer....So have some very happy Christmass holidays Mike