Fish Finder On A Kayak, Which One Would You Do?

[moguy1973]

I have an Ocean Kayak Prowler 11T heading to my house as I type. I have mostly all the equipment needed so far (life vest, paddle, car rack, still need an anchor system), but I really want to put a fish finder on it to help me in the local lakes identify structure, depth, and water temp (and of course fish).

I've narrowed down my choices to a few that are under $200 or so, and each is from one of the three major manufacturers. I know I want a color screen since they are more easily read in the sun, and I want it to be fairly small to stay out of the way while fishing. The three I've really been looking at are the Lowrance Elite-4x (possibly the DSI version too), the Garmin echo 300c, and the Humminbird 190c. Each one seems to have it's benefits and drawbacks.

The Humminbird is about $161 shipped from Amazon and it has a transducer available to exchange for no charge that is made to work with the scupper hole in the Ocean Kayak so it doesn't hang out the bottom of the hull. Only problem with this finder I'm seeing is that it is only a single beam unit that has a pretty narrow 20 degree cone. Not that I'm going to be in really deep water or anything but the narrow cone might not be preferable.

The Lowrance is $169 ($199 for the DSI) and looks pretty slick, especially the DSI version with its DownScan Imaging. They both have dual beam transducers so that's a plus too. The only thing is it's transducer might not fit in the scupper hole that is specially made for my kayak, although I've seen people make it work. Is the DSI version really that much better of a thing to have? I've also heard that Lowrance has had some reliability/quality issues lately, but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

That leaves the Garmin which is the best deal at $138 ($219 from BPS with a $30 rebate and I have a $50 gift card), which I've heard is a really nice finder that has a dual beam transducer and a really nice screen with easy to use menus. Again, the fitting of the transducer in the scupper hole is an issue, but that's really the only problem I've seen with it.

Anyone use any of these fish finders and have any advice on them to sway me towards one or another?

[Mitch f]

Definitely don't do the 20 degree cone, get the widest cone angle possible.

[Haris122]

I've been thinking of getting me something like that too now that I rigged my regular kayak with some rod holders and started fishing out of it. It would be nice to get all the perks out of it, but primarily I'd like to know what the structure/layout of the bottom and the depth beneath and immediately around me, is. What are some of the things to consider with this? I don't suppose there's any of these fish finders/sonars that run on something smaller than a regular boat battery, seeing how I sure don't see where I would fit an actual battery in the kayak.

[moguy1973]

I use a small 12v sealed battery that Cabelas sells for like $30 with a charger. Is your kayak a sit in or sit on? I have a sit on and the transducer is mounted down one of my scupper holes. If you have a sit in you have to figure a way of mounting it inside as a shoot through hull or figur a way to hang it over the side. There's a ton of YouTube vids on how to do both.

[fishinwrench]

Wal-mart, Ace hardware, ect. carry 12 or 12.4v and 12.7v cordless drill battery's and chargers (Skil, or B&D is fine...and cheap enough) that with a little creative configuring will power up a LCR just fine without adding weight or taking up much space in a yak or canoe.

You can maximize charge life by keeping the screen backlight and digital depth display turned OFF.

It's easy enough to determine depths using the screen scale. Having the Digital depth display ON constantly will eat up a lot of power so choose a unit that allows you to switch those options off. Most Lowrance units do.

[Haris122]

Cool, I guess it's time for some trips to Cabelas, Bass Pro, and such, and look at some electronics, and possible mounting systems (mine is a sit-in).

[moguy1973]

YouTube is definitely a great resource on how people have rigged their fishing kayaks.

[Ham]

I'm a big fan of using my paddle to see how deep it is.

[Fish24/7]

I use a Lowrance x4 pro it's inexpensive,simple to operate.

8 or 10 AA rechargeable batteries in a battery holder works great for powering small units.

I get a few days of fishing out of a full charge,

here's one example

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=42348

[Plastic_worm]

My opinion. It's a kayak, get the cheapest available...especially if your hard on gear. You'll really only use it for depth and temp...remember you'll be limited my winds, power boat activity, etc. I use a atv/lawn battery fits in a milk crate, with the transducer attached...all 1 single piece if gear.

Like Ham siad, 9 out of 10 times I use my paddle or drop the line and pick it up to see how far it fell.