Fish finder

Recently have bought a cobra f/d,I have had one epic fishing venture after another,all times out have been not only a adventure but true  fish on.I am Hooked>I want to customize my boat and have done the basic net search and discovery as well as many visits to the local wms. does anyone use color due to glare?I see Eagle,Garmin,Humm.fish finders, all 90.00-200.00 plus,I don't need a meter to find black cod but i want something that will tell me structure,bait and maybe if I read the Manuel a real fish bladder,And oneThat will stand up to the elements. Do I marine goop mount and if so where is the best spot in hull? I can figure myself but hope all your experience could save me a bit of trial and air?Batteries?A little bit more advice will help my weekend project.How about gps for revisiting those holes, hand held or fish/gps combo?Comments ,pictures,idea's greatly apprecited, thanks

I'd recommend using the advanced search feature on this board and you'll find tons of info on the in's and out's of fishfinders.

I'd recommend the Eagle Fisheasy 245DS... IMO by far the best bang for the buck (right around $100.).

I don't have enough of a problem with the black/white/gray display to justify the expense of a color screen.  Hasn't been a problem for me.

Marine goop is the go-to way to mount the transducer.  There are also other ways that have been described in past messages.  The best spot in the hull is anywhere that is relatively flat and out of the way of anything you might want to stow inside your hull. 

Lots of info on the board about batteries.  Read Sean's article on the new school power supply if you want to go with the most compact battery system http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=42
 
I just use a 12V 5Ah gel battery and store it in a waterproof box... plenty of power and not too big.

I use a handheld GPS, but many have installed the Humminbird Matrix fishfinder/gps combo units and seem to like it. 

Erik

I ended up with a eagle 245ds,with 10 aa batteries,nice and loight,mount transducer in piece of lobster float.made a bowl that I put a little h2o in and the set the ducer in,Seems to work fine,Have used 2 times up to 60 ft and seems to do the job,All this for less than 150.00,including all the extra's.Thanks to all the guys who posted info sure helped,Now where are those YT.

Awesome, glad it all worked out.