Feedback on Norcross or Bottom Line’s Fishin’ Buddy fish finders

Hello all,

I’m looking into purchasing a Fish Finder. Most of my fishing is done from a float tube or over the ice. Is anyone familiar with Bottom Line’s Fishin’ Buddy??? It looks like a nice compact unit and from what I’ve found it has received good reviews for the price ($100-$215). If anyone has one please let me know what you think of it.

Thanks!!!

Here’s a link if anyones interested in checking one out:

Bottom Line Fishing Buddy

Matt, I was on the phone with a guy who was looking for portable units. He said the Fishin’ Buddy has a “100% failure rate”. Obviously that’s not the case but it made me laugh a bit. That is just one guys’s opinion and I don’t know how valid it is but you’re wise to do your homework. Hopefully someone on here will offer a personal take on these units. Good luck!

Never used one but I have heard they don’t mark fish. But in a float tube you may not have many choices.

I own one and used it extensively before I bought my boat. I thought it was excellent for canoeing. It started to get a little goofy on me about the third year. I don’t use it anymore because I’m not sure it works correctly.
I think a better option would be that new Humminbird product that has a floating transducer and the monitor is on your wrist. A buddy of mine has one and really likes it.

A friend of mine has one that we have used for ice fishing from time to time. It seems to work okay, and we’ve never had any sort of problems with it that were related to malfunction of the unit. We primarily used it for ice fishing, and the only time I ever remember it lying to us was on a cold morning when hole jumping when ice froze up inside the downtube.

It did mark fish, resolution was limiting and fish near the bottom didn’t always show up. The best use we ever got was sitting over deep water near a rock reef where suspended crappies would meander through on their way to feed.

It does the job it was designed to do. If you don’t expect it to perform like a unit 4x its price, I expect you won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I’ll need to do a little more research before I make up my mind. For float tubing the fishing buddy or the smartcast sound like they may be my only options if I want to stay under $200. I’ll keep digging around for reviews online.

Thanks Again!

Matt – I am not a big fan of the Smartcast, and I say that even though we sell them at Jolly Ann Marine. I would take a look at the Norcross Portable Fishfinders . For about a hundred bucks, the Norcross Portable Fishfinder FF3300PX might make a perfect unit for float tubing. I don’t like the fact that with the smart cast you have to purchase a new sensor unit everytime the battery dies. The Norcross is VERY compact which might be helpful on the float tube. Just one more option for you to look at. Good luck!

not good!

Thanks Wade,

I like the price on the Norcross unit. I haven’t been able to find any good photo’s of the display on the Norcross. Have you used one before? I know for the price range I’m looking at I’m not going to get a crystal clear display but I’d like to know that I’ll be able to see the screen on a sunny day.

Thanks again,

Matt

Matt,

I have not seen one in action. I imagine it’s similar to the Humminbird Piranha Series. Like you said, none of these low-priced units are designed to have crystal clear images. Basically, they’ll give you an idea of your depth, temp., and will detect fish reasonably well. Let me know if you have other questions.

Thanks.