EAGLE CUDA 168 (Review)

[TubeDude]

[cool]I have been using the "low end" Eagle sonars on my flotation craft for several years. They are inexpensive (around $100), mount easily to a float tube or 'toon and provide all the features and information needed by our kind. True, they do not have enough power to show your lure being jigged directly below your tube. That takes a megapower model...usually three or four times more money, and a lot more battery consumption. I had been happy with the Eagle Fish Easy, but couldn't resist a good price I was offered on one of the new Cuda 168's. By the way, the 168 refers to the vertical pixels on the display screen. They also make a smaller and less expensive model...the 128. This is the unit, complete, right out of the bubble wrap package. It was harder getting it out of the plastic than setting it up. Note the simple mounting bracket to the left of the display screen. I love the design. You can snap the screen onto the bracket and adjust the angle by squeezing on the buttons at the top, on either side. Here's a pic, showing the back of the display unit, and how I mounted the "skimmer" transducer onto an 18" piece of 1/2" PVC pipe. I have more descriptive pics and instructions for anyone who might want to give it a go. Note that I did not cut out the excess transducer wire, as I have in the past. I just rolled it up into a small bundle and taped it together. It adds weight and bulk in a float tube, but leaves your options open for hooking it up to a boat too. The mounting bracket of the sonar display has been screwed onto a 5" piece of 2" PVC pipe. This allows me to just slip it into the front "drink" pockets at the front of my main tackle pocket...on my Fat Cat. For mounting on other types of craft, you could either run a strap through the 2" PVC, or screw the mounting bracket down to a wooden base...to be strapped or otherwise secured to the tube. The transducer cable runs up through the 1/2" PVC pipe. The connector end is small enough that it fits easily and pulls up through before bolting the transducer to the pipe. Display on the front, battery in the pocket (along with the extra wire for the transducer), and the transducer pipe clipped into a couple of broom clips on the rod rack. This allows easy setup and takedown...when launching and beaching...to protect the transducer from being cracked by a rock or landing on the pavement in a parking lot. The simple adjustment on the mounting bracket allows for tilting the display for easiest vision. Fisherman's eye view, when mounted. I actually keep the battery in a small filing card box in my tube pocket...to minimize potential for knocking one of the terminals loose during fishing. My Fat Cat has big pockets, which allow me to stuff the display and the transducer shaft inside for transporting back and forth to the vehicle. OPINION: I still need to play with the settings more, but I am impressed with the ease of use and the quality of the output. I could easily discern the small shad...individually and in schools...and fish on or near the bottom were easily identified. The problem (as always) is that I saw a lot more fish than I caught. With the adjustable sensitivity, the new transducer will view up to a 60 degree cone angle. That is great for shallow water fishing, as is common in tubing. There are also manual adjustments for "gray line" (bottom composition)...Zoom feature...fish alarm (not recommended)...etc. There are actually more features than I will use. The good news is that the auto settings work fine for those who might be intimidated by electronics. If you are the kind of person whose two year old VCR is still flashing 12:00, you will like the Cudas. All you have to do is push the power button and the auto settings will keep you up on what is going on below. There is also an easy to set "backlighting" feature, for fishing at night or in low light conditions. After keeping a swimming pool thermometer hanging off my craft for years, I really enjoyed being able to maintain a constant readout on the water temps, right on my sonar screen.. I was surprised to note the differences in surface temps from the shallows out to the deeper water...and especially when the wind blew in cooler water from the open lake. During transitional periods, when waters are warming or cooling, fish will often react noticeably to changes of only a couple of degrees. So..easy on the budget, easy to install and easy to operate...with a good picture of the bottom and structure below. Can't ask for much more for a "thrifty" (cheap) float tuber. My new Cuda 168 will be welcome on my craft until something better comes along...and Tube Babe approves the scorch marks on the plastic (credit cards). [signature]
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[dh_tubinaaron]

Hey Tube Dude,

How did you mount your Rod Holders onto your Tube??

Also what happens if something happens and that battery falls in the water?!

Ive been thinking about getting some electronics for my tube ie: Fishfinder or depth/Temperature finder. But just trying to figure out how and where to mount the stuff to my tube so it is out of the way.

Thanks,

Aaron
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[JapanRon]

Hey there TubeDude,

Nice unit and even nicer the way you got it all set up and ready to go. And..... even nicer to have the pic to see how it all really goes together. My advice, get some advertising money from Eagle. Thanks goodness I saw at least a little PVC, I was honestly beginning to worry. Was the screen too sensitive to direct light (blackout)? I guess you didn't use it enough to drain our battery so that info will come later. I'm glad you mentioned the backlight thing as those of us who are older have lost a good deal of our night vision and it is frustrating not being able to use something right in front of your face.

Thanks for the usual great review and how to. Now on to Force Fin Farce! Uh Oh ha ha ha

JapanRon
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[fishboy2]

hey tubedude

What did the total packsgae cost?(sonar,batterry) Mabye that is the one I will pit on my tube.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Glad you guys liked the review. I'll attempt to answer the last three posts in one reply.

AARON: I was able to attach my diagram for making and installing a rod rack. The key to installing is to either run straps all the way around the tube, or to snap the top and bottom to D rings. I prefer to attach to D rings because the rack stays in place and will not slide around if your tube shrinks in cold water...or from a leak. If you use straps alone, be sure to make them slightly smaller than the circumference of the fully aired up tube, and then fasten them before topping off the air in your craft, so they will hold snug. On the battery, I used to have a little plastic box on top of my tube that the battery fit in. I had plastic cords over it to hold the battery in. I used that when I was still using the acid filled motorcycle batteries. With the sealed lead acid batteries (gel inside...no leaks) you can just tuck the battery back inside a pocket and it will be okay. No problem with spillage. If it falls over the side in deep water...you lose. In shallow water, you can retrieve it and hook it back up.

CHECK THE ATTACHMENT AT THE BOTTOM FOR THE DIAGRAM.

JAPANRON: What would we do without PVC? On the "black out", I have never had a problem with seeing the screen except because of glare. The quick adjustability mounting bracket allows a quick change of angle, or you can just make a couple of positional kicks with the fins. The backlighting feature is better than on previous "price" models for Eagle. On all my former units, the backlight was either ON or OFF. On the Cude, you can "uparrow" or "downarrow" to adjust the amount of backlighting you need for your eyes...and current light conditions. Battery Drain? I have never run a battery dry during a full day of fishing with the low wattage Eagle units. In basic physics terms, the units draw about 1/2 amp oer hour. In a 6 amp/hour battery, you theoretically get 12 hours of operation. I usually just turn my sonar on when I launch and then "watch TV" all day...keeping track of bottom contours, structure, depth, fish concentrations and depths, etc. I believe it probably requires less juice to leave it on than to keep turning it on and off.

FISHBOY2: Price is one of the things that help make the Cuda a good buy for flotation fishing. You can get a decent unit for less than some of the other stuff on the market that is far less effective. My Cuda 168 was $99 through Cabelas. They have the smaller (but essentially same) Cuda 128 for only about $80. I'd save another week or two and get the unit with more pixels...the 168. Cabelas also has a battery and trickle charger combo for under $30 in their latest Master Catalog. Theirs was the first SLA battery I had tried...going back about three years now. I went through a more costly motorcycle battery in about a year. I am still using one of the original SLA batteries I got from Cabelas 3 years ago. The battery pictured in the writeup is one of two I bought at a gold prospector's show. They use them for powering their little water pumps for cleaning gold concentrates out in the field. I have been using that one for about two years...with a lot of chargings. The total cast of sonar, battery and a short rod to attach the transducer shouldn't run you more than $150...including shipping. But, a sonar unit adds so much more to your subsurface fishing experience that you will never want to do without one again. It won't help you to match the hatch with your fly rod though.

Hope I answered the questions. Come on back if you need me to fill in any blanks.
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[dh_tubinaaron]

So it would cost like 150.00 in all?

Aaron
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[dhTubinChris]

[][size 4]same question i need to noe exactly so i start to save.. thanks[/size]

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[size 4]-chris[/size]
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[TubeDude]

[cool]$150 at the outside. If you can find it cheaper somewhere, you save more. For most of what you need, you can even get by with the Cuda 128. It has all the same features...just fewer vertical pixels (less picture). It is about $20 less.

I think you guys would get a lot of good use out of it in the bays, by being able to find the channels and the bumps that hold the fish, and then fishing them hard when you know the fish are there. You can't catch them where they ain't...but you got a better chance if you can find them easier.

I guarantee that once you get used to using a sonar on your tube, you will feel naked without it. It really helps to know what is going on down below, without having to guess...or just chuck and chance it.
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[dhTubinChris]

[][size 4]ahahah ya thats true.. thanks[/size]

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[size 4]-chris[/size]
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[dh_tubinaaron]

I dont know though. It might be better to do things by feel to get to know the area and gain Knowledge

Aaron
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Yeah, and it might be better to take slingshots into battle against machine guns.

Just pullin' your chain, Bro. Seriously, if you really want to get to know an area, having sonar is the biggest help there is. You can cast and bottom bounce and try to figure out what's down there...and after while, you get a pretty good feel for what it's like. But it is a lot like a blind person trying to guess what something or someone looks like by feel only. There's an awful lot you can't possibly know by feel alone.

Believe me, I fished some areas for years and thought I had a pretty good idea of what they were all about. When I first fished them with sonar, I was often amazed at how much different they were than I had imagined them. It's a lot like talking to somebody on the phone, and trying to imagine what they look like and then meeting them in person. Man, some people don't look anything like how they sound. And it's the same with fishing spots.

Fishing without sonar forces you to concentrate and to use all of your fishing skills. But, with sonar, it allows you to focus on the areas that have the most postential. And, it will teach you new things you can use that you would never have a chance to learn without knowing exactly what is below the water. In short, you will eliminate fishless water...which will put you in higher percentage water...a higher percentage of the time. If you have better odds, longer on each trip, you really should be able to catch more fish. Ain't that what it's all about?

As I've said before. Sonar will not make you a better fisherman all by itself. You still need to know how to get the fish to bite. A lot of times the sonar only tells you that there are a lot of fish down there that you can't catch. Sometimes it makes you wish that you DIDN'T know there were fish there. When you don't have sonar it makes it easier to come up with an excuse if you blank. Who wants to admit that there were a lot of fish on the screen but none on the line.? That's frustrating and embarassing.
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[dhTubinChris]

[] ahahha lol rolling on the floor laughing[laugh][laugh][laugh] ahah good analogy tubedude.

-chris
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[JapanRon]

Hi there TubeDude,

Thanks for answering my concerns and adding the lowdown of external battery power. My all-in-one has batteries in the handle so I don't think about a battery other than for my on-tube bait tank areator (Mr.Bubble).

My little baits are so happy to have their nice fresh ocean water and a super fine air flow through their abode. A net or bait tank sounds too much like a cell on death row or something.

The areator blocks (some are balsa wood) are very expensive with the very fine bubbles but worth it. Recommended by smelts everywhere!

JapanRon
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Did you just admit, in a public forum, that you actually use a Fishin Buddy? A fellow float tuber (who shall remain nameless) theorized that those things are only good as rectal thermometers...for the salesman who talked you into buying it.

Seriously, they are not a bad "self contained" sonar for flotation systems. Their only downside is that they are not as refined in identifying fish or bottom delineation. They just do not have the power to provide all the "gingerbread" found on the pricier and more powerful models. But, for the price and the convenience they get the job done.

I'd be interested in your opinions and maybe a review on the positives and negatives. And, have you ever used any other sonars on your craft?
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[JapanRon]

Hi there TubeDude,

Steal my wife (ain't got one), kick my dog (no don't! miss him more than the ex), just don't talk in an unflattering way about my BOTTOMLINE, sidefinder, Buddy III, fishfinder. Whew!

It, as you know, has a bottom contour, directional compass, water temprature and lots of fish locating functions. Big deal you say?! Read on.....

The buddy III has an excellent feature that many earlier fishfinders did not have. SIDE SCANNING ability. I can locate a fish horizontally and vertically at the same time. I can scan for fish 360 degrees around my tube with a simple rotation of the unit.

With the refresh, I can see fish 120 feet away and to 180 feet in depth and then 100 feet away then 80...... thus I can plan on casting (possible to cast a number of times) to fish that would not even be in the cone of a conventional sonar device. For some fish, it's no good casting to them if they are fast and they are already under your tube. You can also follow fish that were on your finder but you'd have to move to keep the fish in the cone if you wanted to do the same with a conventional unit.

Did your (our) buddy have the model III and or did they learn how to use it's full functions? There's a lot there to tweak performance.

On the depth thing, I still love my finder because I rarely fish depths of more than 80 or 90 feet, fresh or saltwater, here in southern California and don't need that kind of punch nor do I wish to see if a fish is wearing a fresh coat of slime or not.

Some of the features of the newer, low and or mid-priced models have tons of features..... features I would use like the ones on my state of the art, leading edge VCR.

Did a baseball player say something like 'you scan the fish, you cast to the fish, you catch the fish'? ha ha

JapanRon
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Ruffled some feathers, did I. No offense intended. I suspected that you would have the latest model with all the bells and whistles. My reference was to one of the early "plain vanilla" models that were still being refined. In truth, I have heard good things about the upgraded newer systems. You provided a good report.

I actually have a friend, Gary Lindstrom, who is a professional fisherman and guides for steelhead and salmon...both in northern California and on the Kenai River in Alaska. He is known as "Big Dog". He is a rep for Bottomline and heavily promotes the Fishin'Buddies.

The "bottom line" is that there is no "one-size-fits-all" system. You experiment until you find something that is both affordable and functional, and gives you the performance you want for your style of fishing, then you go for it.

No offense intended. Sorry to rock your tube.
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[JapanRon]

Hey there TubeDude,

No feathers ruffled my very good friend. ha ha I just tend to establish a primise and support it with gusto! Some people think I'm or upset, far from it, I'm just in the heat of trying to convince you of how wonderful whatever it is and having fun doing it!

I taught university for the last 10 years I worked and tend to begin to preach which often leads to bluster. Hope others understand this puppy dog doesn't really growl seriously and never bites. ha ha Note bright eyes, wet nose and wagging tail.

My first fishfinder was a lowrance locator. State of the art in 1966. My next door neighbor still has it! Next was an Eagle in Japan and it was a very good machine which I never had any trouble. Truth is, I haven't used enough different machines to know the pros and cons.

The only real reason I like the Buddy III is the sidefinding ability. On a commercial fishing boat, the sidescanning sonar costs many fold what the stardard vertical cone configuration.

JapanRon
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Ain't modern technology wonderful? Us old guys remember when sonar was not an option. I recall some of the skippers on the boats in past times that earned their keep by being able to take a compass heading, look at their watch and run out to a spot in the middle of nowhere and put everyone on fish. Today, with GPS and "foo-foo" sonar systems, it would seem the fish don't have a chance.

But that brings up the old question "Art or Science?". Non fishermen, or those not experienced in using sonar, often voice the opinion that using electronics is unfair and should not be allowed. What they fail to realize is that finding the fish is only part of the equation. Getting them to open their mouths can be difficult, even when you know the fish are there and how deep they are, etc.

I have probably suffered more humiliation BECAUSE of sonar than I would have without it. It's downright embarrassing to see a school of fish under your tube and to fail to get them to hit any of your lures or baits. But that's why they call it fishing and not harvesting.

After having used sonar for about 15 years, and going through several different systems, I would really feel handicapped having to fish without it. And, again, it is not just being able to watch fishy cartoon characters swimming by on the screen, but knowing the depth of the water and the contour and composition of the bottom...as well as the location of underwater structure. In short, sonar is my window into the watery world below be. I would be fishing blind without it.

By the way, JR, I did enjoy and appreciate your review of the FB III. I recommended it to a guy in Utah who specifically asked for my input on them. I always say..."Ask the man who owns one."
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