I borrowed my father-in-laws 18ft. flat bottom boat and his sonar (fish finder) is broke.  It hasn't been working and last night, it died.  So I'll replace his ($80) sometime soon.  In the mean time, I want to go ahead and buy a decent sonar that I can transfer to my boat when I get one.  This unit will be mounted on the trolling motor in the future but on the flatbottom boat's steering console for now.

I'm thinking under $200 for now.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Eventually I want to get a nice Humingbird Sideview but that will be after I buy a boat.  For now, a decent small screen unit is fine.  I just need something for depth, water temp, and decent for finding fish.

Thanks!

Two nice units you might want to look into are the Eagle Fishmark 320 and 480.  Shop around and you can get the 320 for around $150, and the 480 for around $200.  Also, you can download (from the site below) a product emulator for your PC to see how they work.

http://www.eaglesonar.com/Downloads/Emulators/default.htm

After looking online, I realize that Eagle is the same thing as Lowrance but maybe with less features.  I was looking at the X96 but I don't have confidence in it's ability to track realtime.

The Humminbird 535 & 565 supposedly can track a jig up to 30ft deep in real time.  That's more of what I would like on the bow eventually.  For the price range, they are both within the budget but the 535 & 565 seem to be the same unit.  Any thoughts?

The 535 and 565 share similar features exexpt the 565 has higher resolution and dual beam sonar.  Nice unit, probably the best at $200.

Get an Eagle 320, great Depth Finder for the money.

Get an Eagle 320, great Depth Finder for the money.

Isn't the Lowrance X96 the same unit?  I'm pretty sure Lowrance makes Eagle units as well.  Looks like the Lowrance has a slightly better resolution and clarity for only $30 more.