Portable Fishfinders?

[keeper]

Hello All,

Has anyone used any of the portable fishfinders on their kayak? I saw one in the new Cabelas catalog that runs on AA batteries and has a floating transducer, so there's no hardware to mount on the hull. It's only $80.00 with the temperature option, so I'm wondering if it's a piece of junk.


Thanks,
Keeper

[JonS]

I have the Vexilar Boundary Waters LC-10 and I love it. Its not a toy though and retails in the mid plus 3s. It runs on 8 AA batteries and I'm thrilled with it. Very portable and reliable. I love having a FF on a kayak. I fished 3 years without one and its expanded what I can do.

[joev]

Portable But still have to secure to the yak.I will be using the non portable style with a 12 volt battery and a Johnny Morris quick detach mount.Hooking it up can be as easy or difficult as you make it.12 volt will last all weekend.

JoeV

[SamRiley]

Ditto on Joe's post. Get a 12v you can recharge... well worth it. A few folks on the board (including me) use Humminbirds. I've seen a ton of transducer mounting options out there, from ready made to custom. See how others have done it before you start drilling holes in your yak.

A friend uses one like this (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0012071013738a&navAction=push&navCount=2&indexId=cat470008&podId=0012071&catalogCode=ID&parentId=cat470008&parentType=index&rid=) out of his yak and likes it.

Good luck :)

[rockfisherman]

This pic shows the 1200 installed on my Pungo. That's a fly rod holder in front of it that obscures the finder a little.

The 1200 has a lot of features for the money, notably sidefinder, which I considered essential because of the shallow salt ponds I like to fish.

Downsides are: It is a standard unit, so it is bigger than the little portables you are probably looking at. And as a standard unit, you will have to custom rig the suction cup mount, and the battery setup.

[joev]

We hooked up a Vexliar Portable in about 20 minutes in my driveway one night.Used a ram mount attached with 4 well nuts .Then ran the transducer line into the front hatch.Hatch still sealed well.When then duct tape the transducer to the hull with a layer of vasoline inbetween it and the hull.Not a permanent solution just a idea on how easy it is.

Mine will be done similiar with a battery in a softsided cooler with quick disconnects.Transducer will be mounted in a custom mount.Piece of pvc pipe(Pipe will be sanded to match contour of hull then glued in with a good marine silicone) with a bungee on it .Using a piece of closed cell foam for inbetween.Just addd a handful of water and you are good to go.

JoeV

[keeper]

Back to the original question before we move on- is the Hawkeye a piece of junk that shouldn't be bothered with?

The 12V rechargeable units make sense.

Are there any transducers out there that will not require me to drill a hole in the bottom of my beloved Pungo?

Thanks,
Keeper

[ruge13]

Don't drill a hole below the waterline. Thats bad news. There are suction cup mounts. West Marine has them as well as other outfitters that sell boating electronics. From what I hear they are a good investment. I thi9nk you could also get away with a through the hull setup?

[Bob Parsons]

If you dirll holes below the waterline

besure to drill a hole in the bottom so the water has somewhere to go :D

[keeper]

Bob- Reminds me of an old Three Stooges skit!!:D

[keeper]

Just found the Vexilar Boundary waters LC-10 for $249.00 at this web site: http://www.fish307.com/fish/vexilar.htm

This does look like a nice unit- portable, no 12V battery to lug around & no holes to drill through the hull!!

[rockfisherman]

Keeper,

The 12V batteries we are talking about are not car batteries...they are lawn mower batteries, lantern batteries, and UPS batteries..and the like. Just so we are clear on that.

Yes, and please don't drill any holes in your Pungo below the waterline.

R'Man

[FLYRODER]

I wonder how 1 of these:
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview.jhtml?pid=44320600&pcatid=2&catid=203
would work from a kayak?

[joev]

The Transducer gets mounted inside the hull.It fires thru the hull.
Do not drill holes in the yak below the waterline ever.
As long as there is no air between the transducer and the hull you are all set .Thats why we used vasoline between the hull and transducer and taped it to the hull.It worked great.Mine will have water in it cause thats easy to get in a yak.I dont think I will run out.

The 12 volts are less than half the size of a car battery they have them in Cabelas with a charger for like $34 They should go all weekend hard on a charge unless you run a ton of other stuff on them.

JoeV

[notime]

I have the same unit as Rockfisherman. I bought it in October/November and have only used it twice, but so far so good. I also used it while ice fishing for fun. Its very easy to rig the transducer on the bottom of the yak. I did mine before I learned about the suction cups so those might be easier. My major concern was drilling holes and smashing it when launching or landing.

I attached the transducer to the nylon straps you use to strap down a kayak or canoe. I place the strap on at the beach but with the transducer on top of my kayak. Once in deep water I slide it to the bottom of the yak and tight the clasp. I have the straps marked with a felt tip so I know when the transducer is on the bottom. When I land I simply loosen the strap and slide the transducer off the bottom.

[JonS]

The Boundary Waters is being replaced soon by a color unit.