Fishfinders on kayaks

[The Image ™]

What are the best types to use on kayaks, the standard type, portable type or bank type? Where does the transducer go?

[donald]

The standard design still work very well if fitted to the inside on the hull (see manual for finder)- It's probably the best place to fit one on a canoe. As long as it finds - structure - it will be a gud one - they work on the air inside the swim bladder - so any fish not 'at depth' or without a bladder wont show up !!!! but bladderwrack does brilliantly - I have fished excidedly for that stuff for hours - till I was told how they worked LOL - You may need a 'sunshade' for it - to be able to read it (glare)
....

[johnlegg]

I wouldn't waste you time with a hand held.
I have a hummingbird portable that runs off two big torch batteries - it sits up front and the transducer has a sucker that attaches to the side of the kayak. It's very good, but old.
After selling the warrior I kept the new colour fish finder which I will fit soon with the transducer fixed inside the kayak with a glue of some type, araldite, and run it off a small motorbike battery fitted inside. I guess that a little job for the Christmas holidays.

Anglersafloat have some good demonstrations on how to do it.

[The Image ™]

Yes, I've had many fishfinders before on my angling boats so I know all about the bladderwrack as well as the other things that show up as fish such as the wake off other boats and anything else with air in it.

Aren't the ones with sucker transducers counted as portable? Do the suckers hold well to kayak polypropelene or whatever it's called?

I've been looking at the Humminbird Piranha1 amongst others.

If you begin using your other one John will you be selling your current one? I'd be interested.

I'm not as yet convinced that they're wholly necessary on kayaks. On my angling boats I mainly used them for keeping an eye on the sea bed level to avoid grounding but I don't suppose this is a worry when kayaking.

I found that their actual fishfinding capabilities lacking in comparison to their promises on the box but admit they were useful for finding submerged ravines and other fish holding contours.

The Humminbirds were certainly the most robust!

[zebra]

Hello guys
I use a garmin 120 it is fixed to the front of the yak and the battery pack is in the hull
With a full charge in the battery it lasts about 6 days of continues use the transducer is fitted inside the hull it is secured with silicone sealant don’t use araldite Glyn its not flexible enough and wont last more than a coupler of trips it is also very hard not to get air bubbles in the araldite its also very hard to get off the transducer when you have to re glue it .silicone works great its very important to roughen up the area inside the hull where the transducer will be fixed then squeeze out a great big lump of silicone then push the transducer in to it .when set it will last about a year then require re-doing when it comes off if your thinking of fitting one you can have a look at mine At the meet .the main use is so you can see the bottom it is very important to know what’s underneath you .a good example is treaddur bay where in places is only a foot or two at low water .and that’s almost right in line with the flagpole about 200 yds out .where most shore anglers are casting to they are fishing in very little water and don’t know it. but if you go out another 25/30 feet out you are in 40 ft of water so you just fish there and will catch a lot more its also the case at Mack rock where the sand meets the rocky bottom to the right most people cast out as far as they can and feather but if you drop a bait on the sandy bit there is all kinds of fish there so the point is that the main reason for the fish finder is to see the bottom structure .I have found the gamin 120 very good for this the display can differentiate between sand and rocky bottom the display is large and clear and even with the sun on it is no problem to see at all .

[Bazlightyear]

Check this link.

www.anglersafloat.co.uk/KayakProject_Fishfinder.html

I'm sure I've seen a link somewhere where you can fit a transducer into one of the scupper plugs.

Cheers,

Barry