Pacemaker Fishing Forum

NOVAhunter · Jan-11-12 5:34AM

I am thinking about breaking down and getting a fish finder for my kayak. I've noticed over the years that many of you already have them. What do you recommend? What features are a must have on one? What kind of battery life do you get out of yours?

T. · Jan-11-12 7:00PM

I really like my Eagle Cuda 350 S/map. I think it's the cheapest one with GPS. I power it with a motorcycle battery and it will run for days with it. However I'm consider getting a lithium ion type battery which should work just fine and really cut down on the weight. The one thing I wish I could do with it is upload/download waypoints.

GregF · Jan-12-12 5:44AM

That is the same one Tyler has (I have the earlier 250 S/Map version). Works great and not very expensive. I have the transducer mounted on the inside of the hull. It works great up to 30 feet and then starts to lose the bottom. Not sure why. Both Tyler and my fishfinders do the same thing. The transducers are installed the same way. I have another transducer and plan to experiment with the setup this spring to figure out what is wrong.

All that being said, the fishfinder is great. I just need to figure out the installation issues. But that is true no matter what fishfinder you use.

Any ideas/suggestions T.?

T. · Jan-12-12 12:55PM

I had my transducer inside the hull for over a year, but early this year the epoxy gave up. Probably from the flexing of the hull going over rocks in Goose Creek. I've since rigged it to the bottom half of an old fishing old and other stuff in my garage and I stick it out in front of the yak. Eventually I may improve on this mounting solution.

I've never had any problems reading the bottom at any depth. I've seen as deep as 60+ in the Potomac near Fletcher's.

Curly · Jan-12-12 2:25PM

T. wrote:
I've never had any problems reading the bottom at any depth. I've seen as deep as 60+ in the Potomac near Fletcher's.

There's a 90 foot hole by 3 Sisters Islands!

NOVAhunter · Jan-13-12 4:33AM

Thanks for the input. I just checked cabelas. They are sold out of the 350...

GregF · Jan-13-12 5:44AM

looks like it might have been discontinued. But, the eagle website doesn't even show it in either their current product OR their legacy/discontinued products. Too bad, it fit a great niche. If you can find a leftover one, I would grab it.

GregF · Jan-13-12 5:48AM

This is the portable unit including battery. Looks like Cabelas still has a couple. A little more expensive, but all put together and has a suction cup. Might be an easy good solution.

http://www.cabelas.com/portable-sonars- … adType=pla

Curly · Jan-13-12 6:17AM

That Hummingbird 570 on the same page looks pretty sweet for a few dollars more.

Ernie · Jan-13-12 7:31AM

You guys should ask Curly about his antique fish finder.......which finds fish!

Curly · Jan-13-12 8:30AM

Pacemaker wrote:
You guys should ask Curly about his antique fish finder.......which finds fish!

I have two first-generation Hummingbird LED units. They are a LCR 4000 on the console and a LCR 3004 off the trolling motor. Both turn 26 yrs old this spring with my bass boat. I can read/intrepret them as well as the newer graph-type models.

My dream is to get a Himmingbird graph with side-scan for the console one day , but $900-1000 is pretty steep .

Osprey · Jan-13-12 1:01PM

I picked up a Bass Pro Shop salt water catalog yesterday that has a choice of kayak sized Lowrance units. The X-4 is B/W for $80, Elite 4X is a color down scan unit for $200, the Elite-4x is the color fish finder for $170.00 and finally the Elite 4 is the combo fishfinder/ chart plotter for $300. All of the units have a 4" screen, the color units are digital. The Elite 4 accepts Navionics chips. Those are usually only good on costlier units.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store … te+4/Rpp-2
They have similar sized Humminbirds (385 ci) with 3.5" screens for $100 + more than the Lowrance

Last edited by Osprey (Jan-13-12 1:02PM)

mudkart · Jan-13-12 3:25PM

Getting off topic, but I really recommend any SI unit over a non-SI. Schools of bait (and larger fish underneath the bait, second pic) found the first day with one of the Hbird SI units.

Last edited by mudkart (Jan-13-12 3:27PM)

Osprey · Jan-13-12 4:01PM

Before you choose a down or side scan you might want to check on some kayak forums to see how they work thru hull. I have one on my boat, and the scan transducer had extra requirements over the depth transducer (the lowrance hds has 2). If you're hanging it over the side it should be OK.

mudkart · Jan-13-12 4:25PM

The need for 2 ducers and an extra box (and extra $) for the the HDS (lowrance) units was a big reason I opted for the Hbird which uses only 1 ducer. IDK how well these would function on a yak, you should check the specific forums as suggested. My pics above are from a single ducer, mounted on the transom like a typical skimmer. My understanding is the need for a thru hull ducer is only for 2D sonar readings when on plane, which really is not a concern for me or for people in a yak (SI does not work very well at on plane speeds). Many use a single ducer on the TM and have similar results as what I posted above. So, I see no obvious reason you could not use one of the Hbird SI units on a yak.

Redfish12 · Jan-13-12 4:34PM

I have a cheap humminbird unit on mine. I rarely catch a fish I mark, but I catch fish around ledges I mark. So if I think I want to be between 25-33 feet at PLO for instance, I can line up with the shore points I know and then check on the screen to make sure I'm in the right spot. On my trident I have a scupper transducer and it works a lot better but I think bc it was meant for the nicer units. I can regularly mark croaker on that one. Every now and then I'll hit some big schools, but most of the fish I catch are on structure of some sort so I'm really just looking for the structure if that makes sense.

So unless you really want to go all the way, check out the cheaper units. GPS would be a nice feature, contour maps as well. Ask John Foley about his setup, it's pretty incredible for a kayak!

IL_DUCE · Jan-21-12 12:02PM

novahunter- i believe we may have a 350 at the dicks i work at in dulles town center. i work tonight, i will check for you and get back to you. roughly $150.

T. · Apr-18-12 2:51PM

I just bought the 350 s/map at Dick's. It was discounted 25%, so only $127. Too good to pass up.

Dominion Dan · Apr-18-12 5:13PM

Keep your receipt

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 Jan-11-12 5:34AM

fish finder

#2 Jan-11-12 7:00PM

Re: fish finder

#3 Jan-12-12 5:44AM

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#4 Jan-12-12 12:55PM

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#5 Jan-12-12 2:25PM

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T. wrote:

#6 Jan-13-12 4:33AM

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#7 Jan-13-12 5:44AM

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#8 Jan-13-12 5:48AM

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#9 Jan-13-12 6:17AM

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#10 Jan-13-12 7:31AM

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#11 Jan-13-12 8:30AM

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Pacemaker wrote:

#12 Jan-13-12 1:01PM

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#13 Jan-13-12 3:25PM

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#14 Jan-13-12 4:01PM

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#15 Jan-13-12 4:25PM

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#16 Jan-13-12 4:34PM

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#17 Jan-21-12 12:02PM

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#18 Apr-18-12 2:51PM

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#19 Apr-18-12 5:13PM

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