For the most part, I fish from a kickboat, which I have a sonar (Eagle 168) with transducer mounted under the frame. But I have owned a Caddis Nav II for a long time and have a fishing buddy with it. I have owned my fishin buddy for more then 5 years and have had no problems. Even had it in the salt a couple of times down in Santa Barbara. I think it takes 3 "C" size batteries, but I know they have lasted me multiple 8 hour days on the water. Ofcourse you get what you pay for, and with the fishin buddy, it is worth it for an entry level portable sonar. I think it is the best option if you are in a tube. I made a custom holder for it with PVC. One of these days I need to set it up with the custom PVC rod holder and take some pictures to post on here.

Hope this helps, if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Bryan Vogt