What is a good cheap fish finder?

What is a good fish-finder and/or depth-finder for a 14 foot fishing boat?

• Just got a little 14 foot fishing boat and I am looking for a fish or depth-finder for a Father's day gift for my husband. I know next to nothing about this item, so please help. ...show more

• Answer:

  Tucker gave you a good suggestion if you're looking for a portable fish finder. I've never used a portable fish finder like that but I have heard a lot of good things about them. Your other option would be to get a fish finder, which mounts to the boat and stays there. If he keeps his boat in storage, you could take this route. This method would allow him to mount the fish finder and not have to worry about transporting it every trip. But for the smaller boats, most people just get a portable one. If he only fishes small lakes, I wouldn't reccomend considering the GPS capabilities. The GPS enabled fish finders are very expensive normally. The absolute cheapest that I have ran across is a Lowrance fish finder for 400 bucks on sale. The GPS is best suited for fishing large lakes. Instead, be sure that the fish finder you choose has depth readings on the fish, depth of the water, and water temperature. Those things will probably prove to be more useful than the GPS given his situation in my opinion. Depth finders and fish finders are generally the same thing and yes, a fish finder and/or depth finder will almost always function for both things. The 2 brands to really look into are Lowrance and Humminbird in my opinion. I have used both and have been very pleased with them.