Bob Sandeen’s Rigged W300 Fishing Kayak, Arizona
Rigging the kayak with a transducer:
This is the plumber’s putty I used for fixing the transducer in the hull. It cost $1.99
First I made a ring of putty in the bottom of the hull. The ring is big enough to put my transducer in.
Then I put the transducer in and added a little water for good contact with the hull.
I then covered the transducer with more putty and sealed it up.
The putty sealed really well with the kayak’s hull. There was no water leakage.
I got a good signal through the hull, and it was cheap and fast to do. I can also peel it off real fast with no residue left behind.
And this is how I improved comfort:
I picked up a yoga mat from my local Good Will store for $2.00.
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I used double faced carpet tape on the bench.
I cut the mat to fit the bench seat and laid it down.
It made for a nice soft seat and it’s not slippery.
Here’s my “W” at the lake ready to go:
I live in one of those houses that are on the hillside in the background.
The “W” is a great boat to sneak up on wildlife.
This is a beautiful lake just to be on. (Willow Lake Prescott Arizona.)
Bob
Tags: Arizona, fish finder, fishfinder, kayak seat, rigged fishing kayak, rigging fishing kayaks, seat, transducer, Willow lake
October 8th, 2009 at
Always a pleasure to visit Arizona!
Great pics!
Marco
October 8th, 2009 at
Looks easy, and effective. This fish finder seems to be conveniently mounted on a wooden mount that you can stick into one of the depressions in the saddle top, and remove easily.
Nice pictures –
Mike
October 8th, 2009 at
AZ has some great fishing. Those modifications look real nice. That depth sounder should help a bunch out there. I remember some of those lakes being hundreds of feet deep.
October 8th, 2009 at
foam all around the cockpit and on top of the seat -that’s what i call comfort
October 8th, 2009 at
Nice job making a Great yak even better.
I Like the use of the plumbers putty to hold the transducer, sweet deal!
Tight Lines
Rox
October 9th, 2009 at
Smart way of fixing the transducer.
This is a good tip. Epoxy is very hard to remove.
The only con fact of setting the transducer inside is a decrease in range of sonar. Can you estimate that decrease in percentages?
Regards,
Petru
October 10th, 2009 at
I am using an “Eagle Cuda 300″ fish finding sonar. With 200 kHz frequency.
800 watts peak-peak power; 100 watts RMS power. I’m not sure what all that means but I have plenty of power, actually I have to much power because I have to turn down the sensitivity. The unit has a depth capability of 600 feet. And this is a low end model, only $80.00 at Bass Pro Shop. I would say the decrease in range by going through the hull is minimal.
Keep your hooks sharp,
Bob S
October 10th, 2009 at
Thank you Bob.
February 5th, 2010 at
How’s the plumber’s putty mounting for the transducer working out? Any problem with the water evaporating? If it’s working, it’s a great idea; I’m in the process of rigging a ‘yak now and firmly believe simpler is better, IF it works!
February 6th, 2010 at
The plumber’s putty is working just fine. I had to add water once but no big deal. The transducer works much better with the water added. I am in Florida on vacation this month so I haven’t been fishing for a couple of months. I plan on using new plumber’s putty for the coming season. One thing I’m going to work on is a different setup for holding the rods. With the rods sticking up I have had problems with hitting them in my back cast. Also I found that when I reach back (turn my body) to change rods it gets a little tippy. If I come up with a solution I will take pictures and post them.
Bob