my dad and i split the cost on an Eagle Cuda 168 for our jonboat.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=45175&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults thats the one. its nothing special, pretty bottom line, but thats all we need to fish in the jon boat at the small lakes we fish. we are so excited to use it so we can go to deeper water and locate structure and target bigger fish instead of casting along shoreline and catching smaller fish!!!! its gonna be so cool! ;D

but im such a nooob. i cant really understand the display. i know what fish and baitfish and all looks like (arches/clouds of clutter) and i could probably identify cover (maybe) but im not so good at reading the bottom. could someone give me a tutorial on how exactly to read the screen and interpret it? thanks guys! i know youre gonna be a big help! ;D

Congrats on the fishfinder man! For sure it will only improve your fishing.

Here is a tutorial from Lowrance (same concept for all finders)

http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Tips-and-Tutorials/Sonar-Tutorial/

sweet thanks for taht link.

my only question, if my boat is sitting still, will the chart still be scrolling? will is scroll what it sees in the cone and then repeat that view over and over?

Yes.  The scroll speed is constant to what you set it.  It is independent of boat speed.  It dose take some imagination to interpret the scrolled picture better.

I think that would be a great addition to a depth plotter. Speed sensitive scrolling.  The faster the boat is moving the faster the scroll is moving.  It would keep the scroll picture more constant.