Need ideas on the best fishfinder unit for the money for the boat i fish ponds and small lakes out of.... Just need a basic unti, nothing fancy. Are the fishing buddy's worth the money? any other ideas?

Most of the locations you're refering to are normally fairly shallow, less than 10 ft.  All you need is a cheap unit to track bottom contour and will show stumps etc.   I saw a post where I think it  was Cabela's that had a Lowrance X-87 (I think) with 320 pixel's for $150.  That would make you a great unit for your applicaction.  320 pixels will show excellent detail and with proper setup, the gray scale will help you seperate hard bottom from soft bottom.   Finding hard bottom is critical during spring spawn.  This unit would work great down to 30 ft or more.

I just bought the fishin buddy 1200. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet

IT LOOKS GOOD THOUGH hahahahahaha

I have heard that its PERFECT for smaller lakes because of the side looking sonar... soon as I get a chance to try it out I will be sure to post about it..

AL

i have a fishin buddy w/ the sidefinder. dont get too excited, it is ok. i dont think it has helped me much. i mainly fish shallow ( <20 ft). hope u do better

I use Eagle Cuda fish finders on my Jon Boat. The run 89 to 120 bucks at Wal-Mart. They have been great.

Hummingbird makes a neat,portable unit.Bought one when I had a j-boat rig.It showed bottom depths and breaks well.Also,it has a water temp feature,fish alarm,zoom,etc.I really liked it.Got it at Walmart for around $100.They have a comparable unit at Bassproshops.com for $119.99.

I have a similar delima, but will be fishing from a canoe, not a john boat. The Fishing Buddy 1200 series looks reasonable and eliminates the need for a seperate transducer bracket, but I still wonder if it's  the right choice. It is certainly a portable and unified solution.

Fly, I went to the local Walmart and picked up a Bottom Line unit for my little bass hunter boat. Cost me $68 and works fantastic in the small ponds around here. Comes with temp and grey line! Can't beat that for that price.

Good luck.