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tcoeguy
distinguished member (107)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/01/2019 08:06AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I know there are a number of threads about fish finders in these forums, but I am looking for specific suggestions for my needs.

I am looking for a fish finder that can be used for all 3 of these applications:

1) Boundary waters with a rented canoe. So obviously I can't drill into a rented canoe. I have used the little battery powered fish finders with the foam float and that works pretty good when you're still. But as soon as you're rowing, it turns sideways and doesn't work. I have only had moderate success shooting through the bottom of the canoe. Kind of hit or miss.

2) I go on a Canada trip once a year and use rented aluminum boats. These are just 16 foot aluminum boats with bench seats, but again, I can't do much in the way of a permanent mount.

3) My own small aluminum boat. I have a 14 foot aluminum boat that currently has a permanently mounted transducer with fish finder, but the fish finder is pretty old and low quality. The only thing I really get out of it is depth.

Would there be a solution where I can have one fish finder that I can easily use on all 3 of these applications? I am looking for lower end price. Would love suggestions. Thanks all.
 
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CRL
senior member (85)senior membersenior member
  
10/01/2019 09:24PM  
I'm a big fan of the Humminbird Helix 5 with a Nocaqua battery. Maybe not the cheapest, but I've been impressed. I use it on both my canoe and 16 foot Lund SSV. I made my own mounts based around a Tite-Lok clamp and aluminum flat stock for the canoe and aluminum angle for the Lund. Perhaps I can get some pictures.
 
10/02/2019 07:44AM  
You could use a suction cup for the 2 rental boats and buy a second transducer to permanently mount on your own boat. Or just take it off when you travel.
 
tcoeguy
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10/02/2019 07:47AM  
Yeah, I guess it is more of a question of mounting. Since I wrote the original question, I have seen transducer mounts online with clamps that can attach to the side of the canoe or boat, with a pole that goes into the water. Maybe that is a route I could go. The one I saw that I liked though is $70. I would be interested in seeing pictures of how others are doing it.
 
10/02/2019 08:15AM  
tcoeguy: "Yeah, I guess it is more of a question of mounting. Since I wrote the original question, I have seen transducer mounts online with clamps that can attach to the side of the canoe or boat, with a pole that goes into the water. Maybe that is a route I could go. The one I saw that I liked though is $70. I would be interested in seeing pictures of how others are doing it."
 
tcoeguy
distinguished member (107)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/02/2019 08:21AM  
That is a really cool setup you have! But with renting a canoe, how do you mount the transducer? That is the problem I am running into. It looks like you have a permanent mount on the side of you canoe, unless I am looking at the picture wrong.
 
10/02/2019 08:35AM  
That is a suction cup. On my trip last week I mounted a small metal strip off of my fishing thwart instead of the suction cup. Many options.
 
tcoeguy
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10/02/2019 08:38AM  
Oh, I see now. Interesting. Thanks.
 
Savage Voyageur
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10/02/2019 12:20PM  
Here’s what I made for all three applications. I have not worried about weight because we take a tow and base camp. the whole set up was about $275.00. In your case you will want to have a decent unit for when you are in your own boat and the Canada trips. I’m doing the exact same things as you are, canoe, my own 14 boat and rental boats in Canada. Do yourself a favor and get a color unit with down scan imaging with gps and no worries about battery life. As you can see I have two big batteries, you could get by with one on a canoe trip. We fish hard for many hours a day for a week and we need all that power of two batteries. I mounted the unit with 4 screws and nuts on top of the box. It removes fast for travel.
 
tcoeguy
distinguished member (107)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/03/2019 12:32PM  
Savage,

That is quite the impressive setup. Doesn't look overly difficult either. I am very interested to know more about that homemade transducer mount. What are those materials that you used to make that? Thank you.
 
tcoeguy
distinguished member (107)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/03/2019 02:49PM  
Savage,

Now that I am really looking, that transducer mount probably isn't homemade. I am finding similar looking portable transducer brackets online.
 
Savage Voyageur
distinguished member(14414)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
10/04/2019 06:01PM  
tcoeguy: "Savage,


Now that I am really looking, that transducer mount probably isn't homemade. I am finding similar looking portable transducer brackets online. "


The transducer bracket is from Cabellas. It is kind of expensive but it is a quality built bracket. It holds up to the high speeds of a fishing boat. I would recommend it to you.
 
10/06/2019 06:57AM  
I purchased a suction cup and rigged to the transducer on my Lawrance. Then bought a cheap ammo box that's big enough to hold the gear plus 2, 12 volt batteries. I need the 12 volt batteries because I have a gps on the depth finder and that takes a lot of juice. I can use it on any boat any time. The only down side is that you have to slide the suction cup up the side of the boat out of the water when you take off on a power boat or the suction cup will come loose.
 
10/07/2019 07:32AM  
Captn Tony: "I purchased a suction cup and rigged to the transducer on my Lawrance. Then bought a cheap ammo box that's big enough to hold the gear plus 2, 12 volt batteries. I need the 12 volt batteries because I have a gps on the depth finder and that takes a lot of juice. I can use it on any boat any time. The only down side is that you have to slide the suction cup up the side of the boat out of the water when you take off on a power boat or the suction cup will come loose."

Have you put the transducer on the transom?
 
thegildedgopher
distinguished member(1659)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/09/2019 09:00AM  
I have a similar setup to Savage Voyageur and Captn Tony. The majority of the time this stays on my own 14 ft fishing boat, but can easily be moved to a lodge boat or a canoe.

I wasn't worried about weight at all, so just used what I had -- an old metal ammo box. Has a single 12v inside, and I've also wired up a 12v lighter plug for USB charging and added a phone mount. I run a 5" Lowrance unit with GPS, chirp, and side & down imaging. I still haven't drained the battery enough to affect performance.

For my transducer bracket I used half of an older Minn Kota trolling motor mount. It allows you to adjust the depth and angle of the transducer on the fly which is really nice. I've ran it up to 17mph on my little tin boat and the mount is rock solid underway.

I'll try to post up some pictures later.

SV: Nifty work securing the batteries with zip ties. I will be stealing this as it's far better than my foam block method of stabilizing the battery!
 
Sconnie
member (9)member
  
10/23/2019 07:40PM  
I've posted this on the gear forum before, but below is a picture of my setup. I used a suction cup (buy a 4 pack on amazon for a french fry slicer) with a threaded stud. I used 1/4"x1" by 4' aluminum bar stock from the hardware store and a wood hand clamp. Because I had way more length of aluminum bar stock than I needed I created two bars, one for the canoe (14") and the other for my jon boat (20") and the left overs for a friend to build the setup for their canoe. Used a cheap Lowrance or Huminbird fish finder (under $70). Drill your holes to match your equipment, clamps, and suction cup. I used zip ties to hold the cable to the bar stock.

On to the battery setup. So I used the bare minimum on my system. I used an 8 battery pack (1.5Vx8=12V) but If I have the chance to do it again I would go with a 10 battery pack (15V). I get 5 solid days of fishing on the 8 battery pack using lithium batteries. Ued a Plano watertight container and drilled hold for the power leads and filled in with silicon caulk and zip ties to maintain a watertight setup.

I have used this setup multiple times in the BW and fly-in cabin trips with motor boats and lent it out to others for their trips. Nothing is permanently connected. The shorter length is great with the canoe because it just skims the water when unloaded so I don't worry about getting caught up in anything. If I'm doing a fly-in trip I just change the hardware to the other length bar I have. It's also great because it can be broken down for easy packing.

Sorry for any spelling errors, auto correct isn't working and I've had a few cocktails. PM me for any questions or dimensions.

 
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