using fishfinders

[Shrimpboy]

Growing up I was always told that fishfinders were "expensive pieces of worthless crap" by my father and grandfather. Of course they also told me that anything that wasn't a trout was a garbage fish and that powerbait is a gift from the fishing gods. Luckily I've been blessed enough to have by horizons expanded in regards to methods of fishing and the great fun to be found with warm water species. However, I have yet to get really involved in using fish finders. I'm thinking that my next toy will be a little unit that I can mount on my float tube and canoe. I'd also like to have the option of using it for ice fishing. What kind of money will I need to spend for a decent unit? I've tried using the Fishing Buddy deals that run on "D" batteries once or twice for ice fishing, but I didn't really like it all that much. Maybe it was because I had no clue how to use them? Are they known to be very good at all? Can they be used effectively on a float tube?

I know that this is kind of shooting off of the question and topic at hand, but I was getting really curious as I read this post.

-Jack
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