Hey there!

Long time BWCA goer here, however I usually do not fish. This year I have gotten more into fishing, and I was wondering what people bring to the boundary waters in terms of Depth Finders/Fish Finders?

I would appreciate any pictures of setups, explanation of setups, and links to products.

I’m new to depth finders, so I’m not sure what is needed/not needed. I’d be sharing this with my father in law, and we want something portable but something that also is good quality and has a lot of functionality. We’d like to buy a new depth finder.

I want to fish for Lakers, and he would probably like fishing for walleye.

Some questions I have as I am looking at systems that maybe people could help me get ideas for:

1. How do people power their depth finders? How do you keep everything dry? I’d prefer to not carry around a large heavy marine battery.
2. What’s the best way to mount it to the canoe and then unmount it for a portage?
3. Do you even need a depth finder?
4. Any other considerations that we need to consider?

Any wisdom you can throw my way is appreciated!

Hi Howie, yes there is a boat load of information here for you to read. At the top of the page there is the search button of 20 plus years of wisdom on this topic. Example punch in depth finders and batteries and you will get plenty of ways to mount, power up a depth finder. We don’t usually take a depth finder for Bass, Pike or Walleye. A slip bobber with a leech, night crawler or minnow will catch these. Or you can use a jig and a minnow or leech. Just keep the bait in 10-20 feet of water. For lakers you will want a depth finder. Troll a Purpledescent Tail Dancer for lakers. Also a blue little Cleo for lakers. Tail dancer

The reason I suggested the color purple and blue is because purple is the last color in the light spectrum to disappear. So the fish can see this color at depth.

Garmin Striker 4
Ram Mounts
Nacqua Battery Pack

I see that the Nocqua battery pack comes in a 4.4 , 10, or 20 amp hour size. Think the 4.4 would be enough or would it be good to spring for more amp hours? That depends on how long you have the finder on for right?

I use a Garmin Striker 4.



1. How do people power their depth finders? How do you keep everything dry? I’d prefer to not carry around a large heavy marine battery.

I use an old trail camera with 8 AAs for power and its fairly waterproof. I do also use a small dry bag for the battery pack, extra batteries and the extra cord length.

2. What’s the best way to mount it to the canoe and then unmount it for a portage?

If I was starting over, I would purchase the RAM mounts based on what gunnel/thwart etc you are working with, but they are pricey. My Amazon mount/transducer arm knockoff has a screw on mounting plate, and I wasn't about to drill into my gunnels, so I fabricated a small frame with wood and a couple U-bolts to wrap around the thwart but admittedly, there are easier options out there. Blurry picture below.



3. Do you even need a depth finder?

I like to have it for lake trout fishing and to troll a consistent depth. Lake contours on maps are nice, but knowing you are also sitting right on that sunken island/reef is nice to. Need? Probably not, but it's a nice luxury.

4. Any other considerations that we need to consider?

A couple negatives to consider from my experience. One is the added gear weight and space need. Second, it's easy to find yourself glued to the screen while fishing rather than enjoying the views around you.

I just bought a Garmin Striker 4cv and paired it with a Nocqua 10ah battery pack. Awesome setup. Just used it on Birch lake last weekend and it was excellent. No regrets. I have the transducer mounted on an older Tite-Lok pole that can be clamped to my boats transom or the sidewall of a canoe. I put two blocks of wood between the clamps to protect the canoe.

I have the Humminbird Helix 5 with a small lithium battery. I can't remember the size/brand of the battery, but its probably equivalent in size to about 2/3 of a Nalgene bottle.

I've ditched all the mounting hardware, so its just battery to the unit to the transducer suctioned to the hull. The mounts make it very bulky and kind of annoying to set up and tear down.

I've used it a lot on 3-5 day trips and the battery has held up. I love that it is also a GPS unit, but that can be a battery drain.

I'm sure there are some that will last longer, but this is perfect for 90% of the trips I take. If I wanted to go longer I'd get another battery. They're not that big.

I also use a Helix 5. Magnet attachment thru side of canoe. I pair mine with a 20-25Ah Li-ion battery. The GPS auto charting is a game changer for later-season trips when the fish are deeper and grouped tighter. Fishing in fall with only a depth chart would be so much harder. I need a solar panel for trips > 3-5 days due to the power draw.

Had this setup for years. Piranha portable locator with thru hull transducer mounted in the bow. Works great, couldn’t be any easier, literally plug & play. The unit is small, lightweight, folds into itself and is easy to portage in a pack or put in a bucket on the way to the lake. 8 AA batteries inside the base last easily more than a season. Also have my tandem Spirit II set up this way.

Google "ice fishing depth finder".

They are usually sorta portable.
I have an old Lowrance. It is nice and shoots right through the bottom of my kevlar canoe.

I like a bigger screen. I would probably recommend this one:
https://www.scheels.com/p/75375932270?queryID=57f3bf38bf8a0025

I do like having it. You can find mid-lake humps and other features that hold fish.

Also, use the search feature on the top of this page. BWCA has discussed this to death...

These are all good explanations, thanks for the input everyone!

Not sure who the moderators of these posts are, but it might be nice to pin a post in the Fishing forum with either recommendations/links to threads about depth finders. It would be nice if all of the information was all in one place since it seems this question gets asked a lot.

There are lots of options depending on what you want to accomplish. An old black and white finder like Scat posted will get the job done with the smallest battery draw. I do like the Garmin Strikers with their smaller screens if you want to add color and better definition. Both Garmin and Humminbird have become more popular in recent years due to their superior forward facing (live scope) sonar and side imaging. Those technologies are great for motor boat fishing, but they don't lend themselves to easy use in a canoe due to power and implementation requirements.

Personally I use a 5" Lowrance unit(Eagle), as it adds GPS functionality. I like the relatively open nature of how Lowrance operates compared to their competition.

I have compiled a free BWCA/Quetico map that runs on all modern Lowrance units with a SD card slot(GPS). I encourage you to check it out before making a buying decision.

BWCA/Quetico Map for Lowrance Units

I would recommend some sort of rechargeable lithium battery to power whatever unit you end up getting. If you are starting out fresh, personally I would probably go to Amzn and get a 20 Ah Lifepo4 battery for a 7 or 8 day trip. They are a lot lighter than the old lead batteries and they offer twice as much usable power. You will need a Lifepo4 specific charger, as these batteries charge at a higher voltage than a car battery. Typically these batteries are "sealed", but I would not submerge them and it can't hurt to protect them from the rain.

Another tip that is not talked about enough is turning the brightness down a couple clicks if you can get away with it. On my Eagle unit, at full brightness it consumes around a third of an amp. If I turn the brightness down 3 clicks, power consumption is closer to a fifth of an amp. So instead of getting 3 hours of use for every Amp Hour of battery, I can get almost 5 hours. That can be a game changer on a backcountry trip.

There a different options for rigging your transducer. I prefer to shoot thru the hull as it keeps things simple and quiet. I use a 3D printed "Well" siliconed to the floor of my canoe where there is no foam to obstruct the signal that holds a small amount of water and allows for easy removal of the transducer for portaging. Keep in mind that shooting through the hull does not work for the down scan(3D) sonar, so you will be limited to only traditional 2D sonar with this method.

Transducer Well

arnesr,
That's a nice clean setup.
Can you comment on any perceived signal loss with 2D sonar going thru your kevlar hull? I assume the transducer is in water, which is in contact with the hull.

I built an adjustable mount with a galvanized hinge that allows me to attach to outside of any rental kevlar canoe with a magnet, but I could cut some weight with an internal well like yours. I wouldn't do it if I lost signal, though.

I will add a comment about Li-ion batteries:
- I purchased one "budget tier" (but far from cheap) 25Ah LFP battery and it degraded to 40% (!!!) of the original capacity within a year. Warranty claim in progress with zero response so far.
- I've just replaced it with a Renogy 20Ah battery and I have it running a capacity test right now to confirm performance.

There are many Chinese importers of batteries and Li-ion cells. Premium brands like Dakota Lithium or Battle Born are priced much higher than what you find on Amazon or eBay. I'm hoping the Renogy is better than the previous brand I bought.

nittanye,

I don't notice any signal loss shooting through the hull with 2D sonar, in fact I can see my jig clearly in 30+ FOW when fishing under the canoe. You are correct, I have a small amount of water inside the well to facilitate the signal transfer. On my Souris River I can basically shoot through the hull anywhere between the support ribs, as there is no foam core to avoid. It's just nice not having to worry about the transducer on the outside of your canoe when you get shallow or are fighting a fish, etc.

Your 40% capacity battery may have cells that are out of balance, or even a defective cell. Will Prouse on YT has a lot of content about batteries and maintaining them. His channel is mostly solar related and thus he deals with mostly larger batteries, but the information is still relevant, as it is the same the technology as is inside these smaller batteries. I find it interesting that sometimes the more expensive batteries that he tears apart and tests are not as good as some of the cheaper ones. I agree, there are a lot of Chinese importers and it is hard to choose which one might be good. It's just hard to justify paying 3 times the price for a name brand, when they are all imported from China, perhaps even made in the same factory.

LiFePO4 Charging Guidelines