I just couldn't resist Academy's clearance sale on the Humminbird Pirahna Max20, so now I have a fishfinder with dual beam 60 deg coverage and a long life rechargeable 12V deer feeder battery. Many thanks to TKF for the great info on transducer mounting. I should be fully rigged and ready for my next trip, but I have no prior experience with fishfinders. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give some tips or a "testimonial" about how they have used their fish finder to put more fish in the boat.
My expectation is that I'll use the fish finder to mark significant structure and depth changes and scan the water column during open water lake crossings, but I don't expect this thing to find schools of fish for me. Should I be more optimistic? Any good articles on the web about using fish finders in freshwater?
Fish Finder Testimonials
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txdiamond17
- Posts: 177
- Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2006 8:43 pm
- Location: Stanton, TX
Fishfinder Battery
Has anyone tried Cabelas $19.99 rechargeable deer feeder battery?
I saw it on their website and it looks perfect a Kayak depthfinder.
I saw it on their website and it looks perfect a Kayak depthfinder.
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Fla-Fish
- TKF 8000 Club
- Posts: 8389
- Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:49 pm
- Location: N Houston. Waiting for the "Running of the Bulls"
fishr3 see all the fish and it even tells you their depth.
Does not guarantee you will catch them sometimes
they won't eat anything you are throwing but at least
you are sure they are there.
Good luck and tight lines
golfnfish try Sears or Radio Shack for Alarm Backup 12v batteries same thing and cheaper. Think I paid $12-15 for a 7amp per hr 12v
Does not guarantee you will catch them sometimes
they won't eat anything you are throwing but at least
you are sure they are there.
Good luck and tight lines
golfnfish try Sears or Radio Shack for Alarm Backup 12v batteries same thing and cheaper. Think I paid $12-15 for a 7amp per hr 12v
FlaFish wrote:fishr3 see all the fish and it even tells you their depth.
Does not guarantee you will catch them sometimes
they won't eat anything you are throwing but at least
you are sure they are there.
Sounds like a fishfinder could do more harm than good. It would be totally frustrating to see fish all over the display and not be able to get a bite. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I'm thinking a fishfinder will be very handy for crappie fishing on Lake Conroe.
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Soapeddler
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:50 pm
- Location: San Antonio
- Contact:
I just bought a Garmin GPSmap 178 Sounder on eBay. It comes with a single frequency transducer. I'm wondering if I can buy a dual and install it instead.
Can't wait to get it in and install it. It is a combo unit with GPS and fish finder. B/W screen, but oh well.
Geez, I'm gonna go broke outfiting these new boats!
Can't wait to get it in and install it. It is a combo unit with GPS and fish finder. B/W screen, but oh well.
Geez, I'm gonna go broke outfiting these new boats!
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jvickers5937
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:35 pm
- Location: cypress texas
Eagle Fish Easy
Buying and installing this model tomorrow. The portable kit which I will mount on my yak. Probably have updates on performance by Monday. 129$ for entire kit and suction cup transducer.
Eagle® FishEasy 245 DS Fishfinder
Eagle® FishEasy 245 DS Fishfinder
Well it really depends what type of fish you are targeting... Spring and early summer bass??? Well a lot of them will be shallow and tight on structure, so not sure how many you'll actually mark or be able to discern... However if you are fishing for sandbass/hybrids/striper or any other fish for that matter it should be very helpful. It can't put fish in the boat for you, but it can help you eliminate places not to fish... Sometimes you can mark fish and they might not bite or maybe they aren't the species you are looking for. Though with stripers and other schooling fish you can get a pretty good idea what they might be just from the way they stack up... Some fish just won't stack up like that...
I'd say another important thing is to change the fish symbols out so you can read the screen yourself. Once you've seen what a few schools look like you'll know what to look for in the future. The instruction manual will give you some tips, but in general arches are fish and blobs and areas suspended but not defined arches are probably baitfish.
Interesting fact - the depth of a fish on the depth finder is not necessarily the depth the fish is located, so keep that in mind. It might show 20' but in actuality it probably above that depth, or right at it...
I'd say another important thing is to change the fish symbols out so you can read the screen yourself. Once you've seen what a few schools look like you'll know what to look for in the future. The instruction manual will give you some tips, but in general arches are fish and blobs and areas suspended but not defined arches are probably baitfish.
Interesting fact - the depth of a fish on the depth finder is not necessarily the depth the fish is located, so keep that in mind. It might show 20' but in actuality it probably above that depth, or right at it...
Thanks for the advice. It's good to realize that the electronics are factory set and can't be 100% accurate all the time. I'm expecting to benefit most by use of the depth finder. It should help me identify more sections of water that typically hold fish.
I've got the transducer mount foam blocks glued in place on both a kayak and canoe and will be ready for field testing on my next trip.
I've got the transducer mount foam blocks glued in place on both a kayak and canoe and will be ready for field testing on my next trip.
Fishr3, it sounds like you'll have a similar installation as I did. I cut the end of a pool noodle and then cut out the shape of the transducer out of the noodle, so it looks kind of like a cookie cutter or a donut of foam. Glued it down with silicone, so it stays down never had problems with it coming up, but will be easy to remove if I so chose.
Now for the downside, make sure that you can hold a bit of water in the area or get the transducer pretty flat against the hull without any big air gaps. With air gaps it will not read right. What I'll do is throw a little hand full of water in the carved out area and then shove the transducer in. That usually does just fine even though the water will leak out eventually the transducer still continues to read fine. I like the set up but does have some drawbacks. I've heard of people filling the cutout area with vasoline but I have never tried that... Sounds like it could be a mess in the summer heat, but I don't know. Just a thought, maybe someone could give you some ideas on that...
Now for the downside, make sure that you can hold a bit of water in the area or get the transducer pretty flat against the hull without any big air gaps. With air gaps it will not read right. What I'll do is throw a little hand full of water in the carved out area and then shove the transducer in. That usually does just fine even though the water will leak out eventually the transducer still continues to read fine. I like the set up but does have some drawbacks. I've heard of people filling the cutout area with vasoline but I have never tried that... Sounds like it could be a mess in the summer heat, but I don't know. Just a thought, maybe someone could give you some ideas on that...
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Fla-Fish
- TKF 8000 Club
- Posts: 8389
- Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:49 pm
- Location: N Houston. Waiting for the "Running of the Bulls"
If you buy the big tub of thick Vasaline you should not have any problems.
I used a piece of old roof rack pads and have refined it a bit by using the
piece I cut out to plug the top of the hole.
I have used this type mount in 3-4 kayaks now and never had it run out in the summer.
I dont carry my yak top down and I guess I bought the good Vasaline to start with.
I would think pool noodle was not strong enough.
I have found 3"X12'X12" closed cell (thick) foam pad at REI for $20
I used a piece of old roof rack pads and have refined it a bit by using the
piece I cut out to plug the top of the hole.
I have used this type mount in 3-4 kayaks now and never had it run out in the summer.
I dont carry my yak top down and I guess I bought the good Vasaline to start with.
I would think pool noodle was not strong enough.
I have found 3"X12'X12" closed cell (thick) foam pad at REI for $20
I do not have a top... I cit a cross section, then cut the center out in the shape of the transducer. It fits snug inside the hole and does not move. Just pop it in & go... works well, and is very quick to set up. There are a lot of options. I haven't really used the vasoline because of convenience and concerns of leaking out in the heat...