Hello all. I really don't know how to broach the subject. I've never used a fish finder before and wanted to dabble around with one.

How is a fish finder looked upon in the BWCA lifestyle? Is the 12 V battery, finder itself and the transducer more of a pain bringing in than what It could give back?

Hey Moonfire... welcome to the board! Nice to see your first post. There are quite a few people who take fish finders on their trips to the BW or Q. Good luck!

If you find a small fish finder that doesn't draw much power, like a Garmin Striker 4, or an older B&W unit that some people run off of 8-10 AA battery packs, there's not much burden at all. Getting the transducer setup dialed in is probably the biggest pain. I didn't get mine to shoot through the hull properly, so I went with a clamp-on transducer mount which works pretty well.

Some of those old units can get up to 100 hours of runtime, reportedly, as they draw ~0.1A. My Striker 4 draws around 0.3A or so. I have a 10Ah lithium ion battery from Nocqua that gives ~25 hours of runtime with the Striker 4, which I think is enough for me on an 8-day trip. Assuming you run it 4 hours a day, every day except the entry and exit days, that's 24 hours. You may run it more on some days, and not at all on others. The main downside of the Nocqua battery is the price, running around $130 for the kit (battery, charger, and wiring), but it's lightweight at ~1.5lbs, and comes in a water-resistant case.

Depending on what you want to fish for, you may not need a fish finder at all. If you're trying to locate walleye or lake trout on offshore structure for jigging, then they can be useful, but if you are mostly going to be trolling, the only benefit is really knowing which depth the fish are at so you know if you need to add weights to your crankbaits/spoons to get deeper. I would say it's not worth the trouble as you can apply trial and error for the trolling depth, of course using some knowledge of the lake and weather (est. water temps and sunny/cloudy and any recent fronts).

Now, if you get a fancier fish finder, like one with down imaging, or if you go super fancy and get side imaging, you will be able to see structure much more clearly, and know soft bottom from hard bottom, see deep weed structure if it's there, and with side imaging you can see fish off to the sides of your canoe. This is valuable for ALL fishing scenarios, including fishing the bank for shallow fish (usually bass but can be all fish in the spring). Of course these features will draw MUCH more power (between 1A and 2A depending on the unit you get) so you'll need a much larger battery (around 30-50Ah depending on how much you plan to use it) which adds a lot more weight, and don't forget the added cost for all of it. A 7" Garmin echoMAP Plus 73sv will run you around $500-700 depending on sales/used units, and then a 30Ah LiFePO4 battery (lightest/densest option) from Amped Outdoors is another $200, and then add on another $100 to buy an enclosure for the battery (even if you make one it'll run you at least $50 for the case and electronics). That's a $800-1000 setup.

Or, you can get a 10Ah Nocqua for $130, Garmin Striker 4 for $100, and be good to go for ~$250 total. Of course it gets even cheaper if you get an older B&W unit and make a AA battery pack, but those older units are hard to find and not much cheaper than a Striker 4.

Oh and to address one other question, about how they're looked upon in the BWCA lifestyle... some people think they're too much work, others REALLY value the intelligence they get, but I don't see much elitism/anti-electronics attitude. You either think they're worth it or not but most people seem to be laissez-faire about it and that's cool with me! Even if they help you find the fish, you still gotta catch 'em!

I hope this helps!

jdoutdoors said it all !

Excellent summary regarding the merits of using a Fishfinder.

I am a serious fisherman and I feel a Fishfinder is worth bringing on canoe trips. It definitely helps me find fish. But like jdoutdoors says “ you still have to catch em.”

Thanks, jdoutdoors. That'd be fun to tinker around with a fish finder and I have been eyeing the Garmin Striker 4. We'll see. Thanks for the advice.

Totally. Still need to haul them into the canoe. Thanks, all.

I picked up a Lowrance Hook 3x at the end of last year (is discontinued but found some on Ebay) and made a 10xAA battery pack in a mini Pelican case like many people on this site have posted about. I picked this unit because it had the lowest power consumption I could find without buying a used B&W unit.

It draws about .075A so is much lower than any of the current models like the Striker 4 or Hook 4x. Using IKEA Ladda 2450 batteries I am able to get 30-35 hours on 1 set of batteries. So by bringing a 2nd set I have more than enough juice for a week trip or longer and don't have to carry in a 12V battery. The depth finder and DIY battery pack also cost me less than $100 together.

I struggled with my fishing in he BWCA for several years then decided to put some effort into getting better. One of the gems of advice I got here on this forum was basically "It makes no sense to fish where there are no fish - you have to find them first". Since I did not feel skilled in finding them, I reluctantly bought a Garmin Striker 4. I say reluctantly because I felt it seemed like cheating somehow. Well, it made a pretty big difference and I don't feel that way anymore. It's definitely helped me find them and start catching more regularly. Maybe someday I'll have better instinct for where they are and won't need it, but for now its essential gear for any trip where I feel fishing is at least somewhat important.

I'd suspect there are more serious fisher-folks who would rather bring their finder than their sleeping bags.

Besides a tent, I think it’s my most important piece of gear! I use a old X4 . No color screen. Basically I just use it to monitor depth. I don’t pay much attention to the fish symbols that show up on the screen. I’ve caught a ton of fish when it showed there were none, and caught none when it showed fish everywhere. But I do pay constant attention to depth. There have been times when the fish will be at a certain depth, and if your canoe didn’t stay in that range you won’t catch fish. Even a couple feet variance makes a huge difference sometimes. The depth finder enables me to stay in the zone at all times. Also easy to locate reefs that would be easily overlooked without a finder.

I lose far fewer lures when using a depth finder. If we are paddling, we are fishing, and the depth finder, along with the knowledge of how deep our lures run, allow us to run near, but not into the bottom.

Wables: " I lose far fewer lures when using a depth finder. If we are paddling, we are fishing, and the depth finder, along with the knowledge of how deep our lures run, allow us to run near, but not into the bottom. "

That’s a really good point. I definitely noticed as soon as I got mine that I was better able to avoid snags and lost fewer lures. At about $10 each, it doesn’t take many trips to pay for itself.

Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.

This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.


This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.
"

Sweet setup! Is that an EchoMAP Plus 73cv or sv? I snagged a 73cv from Fleet Farm on a clearance sale a few months ago and am looking forward to using it as the canoe setup. Mounting the transducer is the toughest part because of the curvature of the hull. I want it to point straight down (as it should) which is hard unless you put it in the center of the hull at the highest point, very similar to how you've got it. This isn't always viable with 2-3 person canoe depending on the design. I have a nice transducer bracket/clamp that I need to make an L bracket for, so the transducer points the correct direction. I think I might just want it on a small RAM ball or something though, so I can adjust it ideally for any clamp location on any design hull. I'd probably spend as much in RAM parts as the entire clamp costs though, lol.

iUse a b&w finder. Suction cup transducer mount, 8 AA batteries in the pictured case (from a home security camera website) and I mount the unit on a clamp like the one pictured. Very slick, one set of batteries lasts 4 or 5 days. Color units use a lot more juice.

jdoutdoors: "

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.



This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.
"

Sweet setup! Is that an EchoMAP Plus 73cv or sv? I snagged a 73cv from Fleet Farm on a clearance sale a few months ago and am looking forward to using it as the canoe setup. Mounting the transducer is the toughest part because of the curvature of the hull. I want it to point straight down (as it should) which is hard unless you put it in the center of the hull at the highest point, very similar to how you've got it. This isn't always viable with 2-3 person canoe depending on the design. I have a nice transducer bracket/clamp that I need to make an L bracket for, so the transducer points the correct direction. I think I might just want it on a small RAM ball or something though, so I can adjust it ideally for any clamp location on any design hull. I'd probably spend as much in RAM parts as the entire clamp costs though, lol."

I have the Echomap plus 93SV. It's probably excessively large but I use it primarily for my Livescope while I'm ice fishing and didn't want to spend extra money for a different unit on the canoe so I just took what I had and retrofitted it to the canoe.

Excited to try the side imaging on it.

I have an old Eagle sonar, but it works. I have never had anything capable of actually seeing fish, but knowing what depth you are at is critical in my opinion. I agree with someone above - sonar to me is just as critical as a tent. The effort it takes to transport the sonar (which isn't much) is paid back tenfold in the effort you save by eliminating unproductive water.

Garmin Striker 4 is perfect for the bwca. I bought mine last Summer and took it on a late September trip. At first I was planning on dangling the transducer over the side of the canoe on the surface of the water, but then I realized I could just dunk the transducer in the water and leave it at the bottom of the canoe. As long as it's wet, it will work. If you get it in the right spot, you can even see your jig dropping as you would ice fishing. If you're interested in getting a fish finder, get one, you'll never want to fish blind ever again..

I really like your setup!
What batteries are you using and what is the runtime like?

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.


This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.



"

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.


This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.



"

Sweet setup!

fishEH: "I really like your setup!
What batteries are you using and what is the runtime like?

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.



This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.



"

"

I'm using two Amped Outdoors 12 amp lithium batteries. I haven't been in my canoe long enough to know what the run time is but I have to imagine its a long time since I can go all day running a Livescope without running out of batteries. I used two 12 amp lead acids on my last setup and I could use it for a 4 day trip in the BWCA and it never died. I have to believe I could go quite a few days on this setup.

We have used Vexilar's Sonarphone with built in T-pod transducer that you run with an app on your iPhone. Easy pack in. Charge lasts the 4-5 days we are usually in for. Just my two cents. Here's to hoping that they open up for overnight camping as we are scheduled for a May 22nd entry!

Thanks! I'm thinking of doing something similar. I run a Helix 5 DI/GPS on a Marcum Lithium shuttle for ice fishing. I'm testing out the battery run time in my office for the next three days. If it looks good I'll pilfer the battery from the shuttle and supplement with another of similar capacity, built into a case like yours.

lyontyl: "

fishEH: "I really like your setup!
What batteries are you using and what is the runtime like?

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.



This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.



"

"

I'm using two Amped Outdoors 12 amp lithium batteries. I haven't been in my canoe long enough to know what the run time is but I have to imagine its a long time since I can go all day running a Livescope without running out of batteries. I used two 12 amp lead acids on my last setup and I could use it for a 4 day trip in the BWCA and it never died. I have to believe I could go quite a few days on this setup."

Lyontyl -- that's a really nice transducer setup with the double suction cups. Well done. I'm quite jealous of that 9 inch screen and the lightweight Amped batteries!

Wrap duct seal around your transducer and stick it to the hull floor. Will shoot through the canoe as if it was in the water. Make sure you get all the air pockets out. How to videos on youtube.

The first time you are paddling across the lake in 50ft of water to get to your fishing spot, find a hump that’s ten feet deep and limit out in fifteen minutes you will know why people bring depth finders. My biggest walleye in the BWCA (31inches) was caught on a hump we found this way and that spot has been consistent for many years.

I have been going up there for 25 years and have taken a depth finder at least 23 years. I detasseled corn to get enough $ to buy the first one,that's how important I thought to was to have one!!

walllee: "Besides a tent, I think it’s my most important piece of gear! I use a old X4 . No color screen. Basically I just use it to monitor depth. I don’t pay much attention to the fish symbols that show up on the screen. I’ve caught a ton of fish when it showed there were none, and caught none when it showed fish everywhere. But I do pay constant attention to depth. There have been times when the fish will be at a certain depth, and if your canoe didn’t stay in that range you won’t catch fish. Even a couple feet variance makes a huge difference sometimes. The depth finder enables me to stay in the zone at all times. Also easy to locate reefs that would be easily overlooked without a finder."

Pretty much sums it up.

I have a Humminbird Pirahna. I got the thru hull transducer, epoxied it in the bow of my Prism, ran the cable underneath the seat, plug and play. Super simple and works great for years.

I,have the striker 4 set up using 10 eneloop rechargeable batteries and shoot through the hull, has anybody had luck shooting through the hull with a DI( down imaging) unit?

How do you feel about a fish finder in Quetico??!!

How about abso-frickin--lutely e-frickin'-ssential! ;)

I can't say enough about this Lucky fish finder we picked up before our 23-day trip last summer, and I can't imagine fishing in hot weather for deepwater walleyes or lakers without it. We found the structure, and then we found the fish.

The device is lightweight, rugged, waterproof, reliable. A single Anker 28,000 mAh power bank has more than enough juice to power this device for three weeks. It really doesn't use much power at all. You don't have to faff about with any external battery - just hook up your power bank to the fish finder and charge it up.

The transducer floats in the water, and it doesn't "click" like the old school Humminbirds. Operation is intuitive, and the screen is clear. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07H8FQ7QW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Like, sorry the link above doesn't work, eh? But if you copy and paste the url into your browser, you will find the fish finder on Amazon dot c, eh?

Here's the specs:

2-in-1 LUCKY Rechargeable Fishfinder Depth Wireless 147ft (45m) Transducer Depth 328ft (100m) Waterproof Fish Finder for Fisherman & Fishing Enthusiast

Price: CDN$ 206.99 [dang, that went up, was only $150 this summer IIRC]

DISPLAY: Colored Screen 2.8inch TFT LCD 240*320 (RGB) / BLUE, ORANGE or GRAY graph
Tranducer RANGE: Depth Capability 328ft (100m) @ 200Khz / Sonar Coverage 45 degrees beam angle
Wireless RANGE: Depth Capability 147ft (45m) @ 125Khz / Sonar Coverage 90 degrees beam angle
FEATURES: Anti-clutter system / Fish, Depth, Battery Alarm / Zoom In and Out / Waterproof and floats in water
POWER SUPPLY: 3.7V rechargeable lithium battery for main unit with approximately 20 hours running time

i use a Garmin GPS MAP 43dv. I run it off a 12v lithium ion battery and carry a second battery plus 2 small solar panels to keep them charged. One battery stays in camp charging, one goes in the canoe with the other solar panel to keep it mostly charged. I use the GPS as much as the depth finder as once I have hit a school of fish, they are likely to be close by the next time I go that way. The first pass is to see the depth, the rest are to follow the GPS. I troll a lot (back problems, can't sit in one spot). By minimizing the use and being sure to turn the depth finder off any time it isn't being used I can manage to have guidance for a 10 day trip.

^^ Is this a fish finder with a built-in GPS for marking where the fish are?

How heavy is the whole unit? How about the 12V battery.

The 12V 8000mAH (8 amp hours) weighs 5.1 ounces. The head of the depth finder weighs 6.3 ounces and the ice transducer I use weighs 7 ounces. To make it easy to carry and use I mounted the bracket to a piece of softwood cut to fit into a soft Vexilar ice fishing carrier and the entire case, depth finder, transducer, cables and one battery weigh just over 4 pounds. Add the second battery and the solar panels and it will be just over 4 1/2 pounds.

I can use both the GPS and the depth finder together as a split screen or use one or the other if I want full screen. One button press will set a mark on the GPS if you have a spot you want to come back to later that day, next week, next year unless you clear it.

RMinMN: ".... Garmin GPS MAP 43dv.... 12v lithium ion battery and carry a second battery plus 2 small solar panels..."

What batteries and solar panels do you use?

I'm in the market for a fish finder, and I had almost crossed that one off my list due to power consumption, though I really like the features it offers. I've searched and read through most of the previous discussions on fish finders and batteries. Lots of good info.

I use a battery like this one: 12Volt lithium 8000 mah

Bigger amp-hour battery would be better as my depth finder shuts off if the voltage falls below 9.6. The solar panels were rigid ones, about 10" square. Bigger would be better, especially if you want to fish lots of hours of the day. My rear gets sore sitting for more than a couple hours and I'm ready to take a break until later so the batteries get time to charge while I relax in camp.

I had to make up cable ends on the depth finder and on the solar cells to match what was on the batteries. This allowed me to have a solar cell charging the battery in the canoe while I was fishing so I got more time before the depth finder shut off.

Here is a write up I did on my method, in a kayak but would work in a canoe. Just a few mods to make it...less permanent.


https://milespaddled.com/2020/10/kayak-modifications-installing-a-depth-finder/

I would look for a unit with a flasher feature. I use a marcum showdown troller but it’s been discontinued. Hard to beat vertical jigging with a flasher out of a canoe. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a mark 4 feet off the bottom and brought my jig up to it. Those high cruisers bite 99% of the time.

I'm also interested in yous' guys ideas on lightweight transducer mounts.

Cheers, eh?

Hey, there, I absolutely LOVE your setup! Could you provide more info on where you got the items? Up until two weeks ago I was very anti-fish finder in the BWCA but after reading a bunch of posts on here, I've converted and I just picked up my first fish finder as it was too good of a deal to pass up (and I've been fishing since I could walk). Where did you get your transducer mount? Is that something you made or bought? I can't seem to find anything like it. Thank you VERY much!

lyontyl: "Here is my upgraded setup. I use a power box with two 12 volt lithium batteries for power. It also has a 3 amp USB port and an LED light. This will run my Garmin for a very long time.


This is an upgrade from my smaller Lowrance HDI 4 inch screen. The only downside with the Garmin is the bigger screen prevents me from transporting everything in the same storage container. I used to be able to put my Lowrance, transducer, and all rod holders in my ammo box for transport.



"

Here's what I did to mount my transducer on a Royalex canoe. I used a Ram suction cup and arm, and made a little walnut/aluminum piece to adapt it to the transducer. I've found that if I apply a little bit of petroleum jelly to the suction cup it will stay on all day, no problem.

It's infinitely adjustable, and it's easy to set the tension on the Ram arm such that the transducer will swing up should it hit something.