Im thinkin about getting a fish finder for my boat. Ive never used one but I want to do some serious fishing this summer since it might be my last before I start grad school. I dont want to do anymore "I guess this spot looks good" fishing in the lakes. It would be nice to see depth and where the fish are. Particularly want to target trout and yellow perch in deeper water and maybe use for pike when they move out deeper. Any suggestions for a fish finder that is easy to use and relatively cheap?

You betcha. I just bought a Humminbird Piranha Max 170. They run $99 anywhere. PMax 170

The 170 has two beams, giving you a precise look at what's right below and a pretty good picture of what's a bit to either side (total 90° coverage) plus surface temperature. It has an eight-shade B&W display and come with a transom-mount transducer.

There's a 160 model for $10 less, with only a four-shade display and a single beam, and a three-beam model that's about $50 more. The best for the buck is the 170.

Plus, Humminbird will exchange the transducer for almost any other kind, straight across, if the transom mount won't work for you. I exchanged for a through-hull flush-mount 'ducer for my new kayak, no questions asked and a two-day turnaround.

Battery is not included. I'm going to run mine at first on an eight AA box (Radio Shack, $3) and rechargeable batts which should give me at least five hours of run time. You can get sealed gel or Li-ion batteries from 3 amp hours and up for $20 or so. The fishfinder only draws 250 mA, so you need not worry about running out of juice.

Has it worked well for you? I was just looking at them on the cabela's website and the reviews werent that great for it. But I jsut need something simple that will show me simple things.

If it's not "Eagle" or Lawrance it don't come in my boat.....

Been a while since I owned a Hummingbird but there's a reason I don't look at them anymore.

I had a "TBL" (Bottom line) years ago and it was a fair doodad....but Eagle is my brand today....and it's made by Lowrance which is a pretty good outfit.

FWIW all I want in a "fish finder" anymore is a honest depth reading and some indication of weeds if there.....more information hasn't resulted in more fish...

Things like speed and miles covered are nice but not too helpful IMO and in all honesty surface temp hasn't done a lot for me either.

The main quibble a lot of folks have with Lowrance/Eagle is that the power and transducer cable is all in one. Get some corrosion in the power plug (which is common) and you have to replace the entire transducer unit - because you can't cut and splice that cable.

You can find good and bad reviews for just about any product made. Any problem at all with one item and the internet experts dub an entire company line a POS. Humminbird and Lowrance/Eagle are the runaway best selling brands. I'd bet either will suit most folks just fine.

Deertracker: "Just bought" means it's still sitting here in the box until the replacement transducer gets here and I can install it all.

If you want REAL cheap and super basic, get one of those $50 Norcross fishfinders at Harbor Freight. I used one on a float tube, and it showed the depth plus big and small fish. But you won't be satisfied with it for long.

Hummingbird PMax 160 in the self contained case is what I use. It was the first one I had ever purchased. It is simple to use and after a little tinkering with settings is doing every thing I want it to.