Portable Fish Finder

For $35, Harbor Freight has a portable fish finder that has caught my eye and I'm wondering if any of you have first hand experience with the unit or one similar???

Not for Seaweed mind you -- I've got a $100 Uniden that works fine.
I saw this unit and thought it would be far easier than taking a lead line to check if there's water in a cove as I've done in the past.

That said, a friend had a fancy hand held unit and it wasn't the cat's meow even with it's higher cost. Each time you wanted a reading you had to pull the trigger. I want something that gives continuous readings as I meander around.

Would this work? I'm guessing it's battery powered but since Algae has a 12-volt battery in her... well, I'd like the fish finder to work off that.

Any opinions welcome. (and thanks!)
Northern Tools most likely has something similar. The price appeals to me. What say the experts?

Janice, this is has a "floating transducer" which you would have to tow (or somehow rig up in front of the boat) and no, it will not work directly off of your 12 volt battery as it is only 6 volt. It would be cool to just toss it off the side of your boat to see what fish are around but a pain to use as you intend, as a depth sounder. IMO

dimer2 said:

Janice, this is has a "floating transducer" which you would have to tow (or somehow rig up in front of the boat) and no, it will not work directly off of your 12 volt battery as it is only 6 volt. It would be cool to just toss it off the side of your boat to see what fish are around but a pain to use as you intend, as a depth sounder. IMO

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I wonder dimer2 if it would shoot through my fiberglass dink? It's not cored, so perhaps...

Still, I remember when we cut a piece of Plexiglas for my old dink (eons ago) -- I wanted a glass bottom boat so I could watch for fish. Alas, bubbles got in the way of a perfectly great idea. At anchor though I could watch the grunts suck my bait into their mouth and then spit out a perfectly clean hook.

6 volts eh? I'll bet the 12-volt battery could supply that with a resistor. This is probably getting too complicated. Sometimes I tend to do that and have to rethink.

Back to the thinking for me. Thanks for your reply.

janice142 said:

I wonder dimer2 if it would shoot through my fiberglass dink? It's not cored, so perhaps...

Still, I remember when we cut a piece of Plexiglas for my old dink (eons ago) -- I wanted a glass bottom boat so I could watch for fish. Alas, bubbles got in the way of a perfectly great idea. At anchor though I could watch the grunts suck my bait into their mouth and then spit out a perfectly clean hook.

6 volts eh? I'll bet the 12-volt battery could supply that with a resistor. This is probably getting too complicated. Sometimes I tend to do that and have to rethink.

Back to the thinking for me. Thanks for your reply.

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Power is key to shooting through a hull...also to a degree the transducer....probably for the price it's not top grade.

Anyway...I had an Apelco 300 watt that shot through the hull of my 23 ODay sailboat years ago...the beauty of it is...you can always try it inside first. Several methods...you have probable seen them already to find a good spot in the dink for location (even a temp location if you don't want it in there permanently).

You could always just use those disposable 6V batteries for floating lanterns or upgrade to the small sealed lead acid type for security systems that are rechargeable...get 2 and charge them in series as 12V and you'll always have a spare.

I have this one. It mounts to a fishing rod and you can cast it out. My kid is obsessed with it to find fish. I can cast it over 100ft with my 8ft bass rod.

Might have to try that smartcast...I see it usefull in anchoring situations too....