Im in Vegas for the weekend and won $100 on slots. I decided to go to Bass Pro to treat the bait monkey. I decided to buy a Fishfinder.What I purchased was an Eagle Cuda 168,for a grand total of $86. One of the sales people there also advised me to mount the transducer on the Trolling motor,and sold me on purchasing an adapter/mount for the trolling motor. I have a few questions though.

1. How good of a Fishfinder is the one I purchased?

2. Anyone have any luck/issues with mounting the transducer to the trolling motor?

3.Can anyone give me a run down on the essential settings I need to be aware of? Im reading the manual and the settings are making my head spin  and im overwhelmed at how to operate this gizmo.What are some of the essential things I need to learn when I get out to operating this thing?

Is there a Fishfinder 101 basics article either here on BR or can anyone give me link to a crash course on operating this thing?

4. One last question or three: Is a fishfinder really THAT necessary in order to catch decent fish? The way im fishing now is,I get out about 20-30 feet from the bank and cast into the shallow water. Im catching mostly dinks. I figure it like this,I could purchase all the baits in the world,those wont help unless I know where im throwing and what is under the water. Right now Im just guessing(fishing blindly) with my casts.,Im casting and just "hoping" there are fish in the areas im casting.Would fishing using a fishfinder be considered more of a precision technique?

Im really trying to learn how to fish deeper water and produce bigger fish. Will a fishfinder give me an edge on finding structure and fish that are relating to it?

Anyone here successful consistently WITHOUT the aid of a fishfinder?

Im in Vegas for the weekend and won $100 on slots. I decided to go to Bass Pro to treat the bait monkey. I decided to buy a Fishfinder.What I purchased was an Eagle Cuda 168,for a grand total of $86. One of the sales people there also advised me to mount the transducer on the Trolling motor,and sold me on purchasing an adapter/mount for the trolling motor. I have a few questions though.

1. How good of a Fishfinder is the one I purchased?

2. Anyone have any luck/issues with mounting the transducer to the trolling motor?

3.Can anyone give me a run down on the essential settings I need to be aware of? Im reading the manual and the settings are making my head spin and im overwhelmed at how to operate this gizmo.What are some of the essential things I need to learn when I get out to operating this thing?

Is there a Fishfinder 101 basics article either here on BR or can anyone give me link to a crash course on operating this thing?

4. One last question or three: Is a fishfinder really THAT necessary in order to catch decent fish? The way im fishing now is,I get out about 20-30 feet from the bank and cast into the shallow water. Im catching mostly dinks. I figure it like this,I could purchase all the baits in the world,those wont help unless I know where im throwing and what is under the water. Right now Im just guessing(fishing blindly) with my casts.,Im casting and just "hoping" there are fish in the areas im casting.Would fishing using a fishfinder be considered more of a precision technique?

Im really trying to learn how to fish deeper water and produce bigger fish. Will a fishfinder give me an edge on finding structure and fish that are relating to it?

Anyone here successful consistently WITHOUT the aid of a fishfinder?

I hate my Eagle Cuda. As far as I am concerned...it is not a fish finder..justs a depth finder...and that is only when it works and is not flashing...680ft, 680ft, 680ft...which it does quite often for no apparent reason. I took the first one back and exchanged it...the new one does the same thing.

I have one finder on the console and one up front with the transducer on the TM. I use the one on the TM more than the other but I spend most of my time up front fishing so... The only issue I have is to be careful not to bang the tranducer into a bunch of stuff...like the bottom.

The Eagle Cuda is pretty basic...as far as settings...it is a personal prefernece thing.

Is a fish finder essential? essential...no...helpful...yes. I know a few of the old timers who do not really use them and out fish the heck out of guys with $2000 worth of electronics on their boats.

I use mine for farily basic puprposes...water temp...water depth...bottom details...to find humps, edges, drops etc. I do not rely on them as "fishfinders" so much as I do just information devices. I have caught fish when it marked absolutley nothing as often as I have caught diddly squat when it marked fish by the hundreds...but as a source of general information...I think they are invaluable. I think they are wonderful as far as educating yourself about a particular body of water and what/where to fish under certian conditions. I really think they should be called "where fish might be finders".

Not that you have the fishy finder...download the fishing log from here. The fishfinder in conjunction with the fishing log will go a long way to helping you find patterns and consistancies over time in your home waters. What depth you were fishing under these conditions...yadda yadda yadda...

One must first understand there is no such thing as a Fish Finder; a fish finder is tied to the end of your rod.  

I have a Cuda 168EX which has a wide screen; it's several years old and haven't had a single problem. Mounting it to your trolling motor is difficult all that is required is the after market bracket, a few zip ties and a large hose clamp.

Most LCD depthfinders will turn on and go into an automatic mode without doing anything to them.

You can operate it like that till you get comfortable with messing with the menu.

The first thing I do with any of those LCD's regardless of make is turn that useless fish ID feature off, the one that supposedly indicates fish on the screen.

Useless, even the manuals will instruct you that the LCD can't really tell the difference between a fish or a branch or air bubble.

Learn how to set the greyline on it.

Learn how to use the zoom feature.

It's all in the manual.  Take your time and devote some time each trip to learning what the graph can do.

I will say you've picked a fairly easy one to learn on. Those Cuda's are about as basic a depthfinder as you can get.

You really don't need a special bracket. Until I bought a TM with a built in transducer I ran my depth sounder secureed to the TM with radiator clamps.

I just bought one on Ebay as a result of fishing with my brother who also uses the Cuda 168.  It performed well.

I agree with Catt.  Turn the fish finder option off and then use the depth finder to find structure and cover.  That's where the fish will be.

I agree with Catt. Turn the fish finder option off and then use the depth finder to find structure and cover. That's where the fish will be.

I 3rd that

I would use it to learn the lay out.