New to electronics, need fish finder with budget

[TopGun]

Never fished with a fish finder before, it'll be my first purchase. I would ilke to stay within $100-$150 range for a entry level fish finder/temp etc... Anything I should be looking for? Any recommendations?

THANKS!!!!!!!!

[Jarrid Houston]

U could try a used one at a pawn shop or classifieds or hsolist... But there will be risk involved...

[SpecialK]

My only experience with them has been with Eagle and the one I had stopped working after 2 years. I am pretty sure the transducer went bad and the head stopped working shortly after that. The low end finders are almost throw aways because if something happens to them it's cheaper to go buy another one than to fix it.

You get what you pay for.

My advice would be if that is all the money you can spare on one, take very good care of the head unit. Don't leave it on the boat when trailering, bring it in the house and so forth. If you can afford to go to the next level do it.

[amateurfishing]

maybe look at eagle brand @ FF, something basic that shows depth, temp, fish, & maybe structure. But if you could spend a bit more i would certainly investigate anything that takes lake chips. can change the way and how u fish forever. personally i have learned exponentially over the last 2 1/2 years, i bought a $100 fish finder online and was basically worthless, it will tell u there are fish in the area, but will not indicate size or depth of fish to help u determine what kind. i begged my wife for $ last fall when HB 597 went on sale, been one of best decisions i have ever made. cost $400 but awesome unit to learn & grow with and by using lake chips, u find your spots faster and can hug contour lines easier. can also be used on ice (which helps alot when explaining all that $). & gps features can help a lot

[GrizzlyAdams]

I have an eagle fishmark 480?? and have had it for about 7 years and it has worked awesome for me. Got an HB 858 for christmas and will be installing that when i get my boat home.

The eagle is a simple depth finder but worked awesome for exactly what you described. When I bought mine it was around $400 but I believe now they are $150 - $200. Have not had 1 issue with it and have had it on 2 different boats. I also found a suction cup transducer so I can easily use it on other boats as well. Which has come in handy when fishing with others that don't have depth finders or when we fished on rainy and borrowed my dads bigger boat.

[delmuts]

I bought a Eagle Cuda some years back for the same purpose. ( i think it is in your price range) Little bigger screen.Works for me.