Inquiry About a Fish Finder for a Kayak

8 Responses to Inquiry About a Fish Finder for a Kayak

1. admin says:

   July 28, 2009 at

   Jack,

   Here’s some info about an adhesive that seems to work a little better: http://wavewalk.com/blog/2008/04/22/3m-4693-scotch-grip-tm-h-plastic-adhesive-good-for-use-in-polyethylene-kayaks/

   Yoav
2. Jeff McGovern says:

   July 28, 2009 at

   First of all where I fish my fish finder is a paddle poked over the side or a quick look down, it’s pretty shallow. Since the W is mainly paddle powered I would think a rod lined up along the hull from top to bottom would be fine. Also the mini transducer units that look like a weird green bobber from Hummingbird actually work pretty well. I have one but only rarely use it.
3. Rox says:

   July 30, 2009 at

   I use the Eagle cuda 250 with GPS, love it.
   And worth the money, very affordable compared to many other models.

   I also have a Hummingbird 535, and love it also, just no GPS.

   I mounted the transducer on an alum. rod holder with an alum corner/angled bar that is cut to length, and attached and hangs down the side.

   No drag problems from this set up that I have noticed.

   Plus if I beach myself, all I do is lift the bar away from the hull and up
   to the side, Wing nut allows this movement, and never have to worry about damage.

   I did start off the the Portable Hummingbirds with the green floating
   transducer, but got tired of losing the signal while even paddling slow.

   I didn’t do the trough hull, for many reasons, I don’t want to risk
   damaging my W with adhesives, plus, I need the space for my gear,
   dry bags, ect…….

   This way, my unit is Portable, and I can use it in any of my yaks,
   or even when I go on my buddies jon boat.

   I will send Yoav a up close picture of the set up.

   Rox
4. pasojack says:

   July 31, 2009 at

   Rox,
   I take it from your mounting description you have the transom transducer. What type of battery system do you use? Please send pictures.
   Thanks for the info,
   Jack
5. Rox says:

   July 31, 2009 at

   pasojack,

   I use a UB1280 universal battery from cabelas, 12volt, 8Ah,
   non-spillable sealed lead acid battery.
   You can get the set up with the charger, I did just that.
   Battery has never run completely down, even after 6 days of use.
   I highly recommend it

   I use a small soft sided cooler to carry my sonar/wires, battery in.
   Then when I put my Fishfinder on the W, I just put the battery in the soft sided cooler, hook up the wires up, with a 1amp fuse, on the red wire, (very important) and put it down in the hulls to keep it dry and out of the way.

   Tight Lines All
   Rox
6. Jack Walker says:

   October 31, 2009 at

   Rox,
   I finally bought a GPS/fishfinder (Hummingbird 363). I bought it with a transom mount transducer. Do you have any pictures of your transducer mounting and W hookup? What kind of charger did you buy for it?
   Thanks again for your help!
   Jack
7. Rox says:

   October 31, 2009 at

   Hi Jack,

   If you look back on the outfitting part of the blog, you will see the set up
   I used.
   A piece of angled alum, attached to a rod holder, you can even use a c-clamp.
   Then just measure how long the angled aluminum piece needs to be, and cut it, add a flat piece of metal screw it on and mount your transducer to it.
   I’ll get some close up shots of the material I used.
   You want your transducer to be almost to the bottom of the pontoon.
   But just a hair higher, this way if you beach it and forget to lift the transducer arm out of the water, you won’t damage it.

   The battery kit I got came from Cabela’s came with it’s own charger.
   I think it’s $29.99, worth every penny!
   You charge it up for 15 hours.
   It will last almost the whole season before it needs to be recharged.

   Hope this helps
   Rox
8. Jack Walker says:

   November 3, 2009 at

   Rox,
   Thanks for all the info on the fishfinder hookup. I think some close up shots will help. The picture I saw in the outfitting section was from a distance and I couldn’t make it out. I did order the UB1280 battery and a Universal 12V 1000ma charger. I ordered them on the web from Powerhouse Battery. Can’t wait to get them and get all hooked up. I’ll be taking my W to Marathon Key for the month of January.
   Thanks again,
   Jack