Budget Fishfinder

[Fishin Ky]

I'm currently working on my first 'project' boat, and I need some ideas for a good fishfinder to put on it. I'm on a small budget, but I don't want to buy junk either. I mostly want one to look for structure on the bottom, but it would be great if it showed fish that were really fish, not some trash that's just floating under me.

My fishing buddy has a Hummingbird that has recently gone crazy (it shows a water depth of 600' with about 100 fish under us all the time, even in 3 feet of water), but I've also heard from other people that Hummingbird makes a great product, so I don't want to exlude them based on one unit.

I mostly fish small lakes in Kentucky (nothing deeper that 50' or so) if that helps any.

[stinkies daddy]

Eagle 320

[Fessum]

I have a cuba 168... It's cheap and shows depth..structure...and water teperature...I got it on sale for about 60 bucks...Like I said, its cheap in price but does the job. well.....untill you can get a fancy one. I might add, I've had it for 2 years.

[eat,sleep,fish]

I have a hummingbird 525. Got it last year for christmas and absolutly love it. Shows depth, temp, fish, depth of fish, battery level, all kinds of stuff and I think its around $125. You can get it at walmart or bass pro.:D

[ad1974]

I have a Lowrance X-96 in the front of my boat and it's really nice.It cost $200.00,I think Eagle makes a very similar model that's alittle cheaper.I have a X-28(I think)that came with my boat and is mounted on the back that doesn't work near as good as the X-96.A buddy of mine has a Hummingbird(not sure of the model number)that he paid around $200.00 for and it's a nice unit also.

[boat49]

eagle 320 works great for me..under 150 most places

[sacawhat]

I've owned the eagle 320 and the cuda 168. Out of the two I like the eagle much better. There are more options, better pixels, larger screen, however it is a little more in price (150 vs. 60), but there's really no comparison.
Eagle is made by Lowrance (if you didn't already know).
There's also a thread here that tells you how to tune your finder. It will get you close then the rest is up to you, as far as pefecting it to your liking.
Good luck!

[pstone]

H-bird 565 is what I went with