Looking for a fish finder, Need advice on purchase

I’m looking for a fish finder that would work as a portable on a tinny in the summer and also work for ice fishing for lakers and whitefish in the winter. It would be nice if it had a rechargeable battery as opposed to C or D cells(money pit)and a suction cup transducer. Just wondering what everyone’s experience has been. Thanks in advance,tight lines.

I was in similar situation. I went with the helix 5 with sonar and down imaging works well in deeper water lots of interference it seems with the sonar under 10ft water probably from the boat and motor. . I was worried about the suction cup would let go. currently using c clamps and a piece of wood. It will hold while on plane but makes a good spray and occasionally miss reads. Lately I have just been putting it in the water once I arrive to the fishing spot and troll until a suitable area.

hello, I would suggest the portable garmin 4 striker, its an awesome unit! I use it on my 12ft aluminum and it has a flasher on it also for winter. Comes with suction cup and can be screwed right in place also. Comes with a battery and cables for charging. All fits in a portable bag for easy transportation. Hope this helps.

If you are going to use the unit for both soft and hard water, you will most likely going to need 2 transducers anyways. Ice ducer for ice fishing and transom mount ducer for the boat. The suction mount transducer may be a pain to setup and use on hard water. Just about any fish fish finder now and days can be made portable with a 12V rechargeable battery. So don't get caught up on having to have the suction mount unless it is a unit you plan on using on different boats at any given time.

Friend only has the soft water transducer, he has mounted it in a piece of Styrofoam for winter use works well.

I went for a Helix 7 for the boat and then bought the portable ice kit, bag, ice ducer, battery for $300. Works incredible for both applications, insanely sensitive. You can legit watch lakers chase a jig in nearly 100ft of water.

Night fishing I have to turn down the brightness as its sooooo bright. Super happy with it so far.

Hope this helps

Blake

I have done that too but the Xducer for my Elite 4 is too much of a tight fit in a 6" hole. My prev one was smaller---there are lots of Red Green type rig-ups on the net. I used a zip-tie to keep the ducer level.

Helix 5 is what you want. I have one for the ice and for my sportspal canoe. It works great!

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. I posted this request and then went to the cottage for a two week holiday and just got back tonight. Great info on rigging a transducer. Tight lines.

I use a Helix ten with down and side imaging.....transducer is a high speed and I atttach it to the boat on a aluminum bar......in the winter I put it on my ATV to use the GPS and Navionics to locate where I want to fish......then remove it from the ATV and use it in the hut.....I add a aluminum crossbar to the other aluminum bar and hang it in a hole.....works great for me.

Echo the portable Garmin 4 Striker. Has been excellent for me. Clear, accurate and easy to use. Battery lasts all day easily. Seems solid up to 120 FOW in my experience.

Garmin Striker 4 I have used it two winters now it works very well, I mounted the soft water transducer on a wooden cross to hold it straight in the ice hole and it works fine. Found the suction didn’t work on my boat so i will be mounting it directly