With Christmas just around the corner, I am thinking of things that I wouldn’t mind having. I plan on buying a second fishing kayak before next Spring and would like to equip it with a depth/fish finder. I have a Garmin 140 Blue that I took off of my CC that works fine. I would need to get another transducer as the original stayed on my boat when I put the new unit on.
My question is, would this Garmin work or should I start with a new setup designed for kayaks? Any suggestions/recommendations appreciated.
Thanks!
I had one on my yak for a while, and I never used it to find “fish” I used it to look at structure and depth and to find deeper holes in creeks… I have a Humminbird el cheepo and it’s worked great. I like having them on a yak but get along fine without it now… If you do, I would mount your transdeucer under your butt… I thought having it up front would be cool but some reminded me that what part of a yak is ALWAYS incontqct wiht the water… yep… right where you sit… I have seen some yaks rigged wiht some serious electrinics so I am sure the garmin would work.
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
SC Chapter Coordinator- Heroes on the Water
http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
Charleston Director- SCKayakfishing.com
Tarpon 160os
It would work great. You need a small battery in a dry box; something like a rechargeable deer feeder battery.
Also - SERIOUSLY GREASE UP THE TERMINAL CONNECTIONS. The fastest failure is the electrical terminals rotting away from saltwater exposure.
Who’s Ready for a Sleigh Ride? www.KayakFishSC.com
I use a Werker brand Alarm system battery… fully sealed so it won’t leak on you and it holds a charge for at leat 3 years now… I have a small plastic crate epoxied into the hull up front and drop it in there and secure wiht bungees. Keeps it up enough so it wont sit in water and keeps it form moving around…
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
SC Chapter Coordinator- Heroes on the Water
http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
Charleston Director- SCKayakfishing.com
Tarpon 160os
Three years? Wow. I have an off brand battery and get forty to forty five hours on a charge. Course I leave it on just about all the time. That’s plenty of time for me, I think it’s an 18 amp hour model. It’s mounted in a little box inside the behind the seat hatch, bungied to the seat support.
And yep, my transducer is right behind my butt too. I like seeing what’s directly underneath me, and it keeps it out of the way of whatever I stow in the bow.
edit: and about those connector tabs: yep, they corrode. What you can do if one breaks off is drill at a shallow angle, not deep, but just enough so you can make a hole through the part of the tab that’s embedded in the plastic casing. Then shoot a screw in there, solder an alligator clip to your power cable and clip it on.
You guys should post pix of your rigs. Sounds cool!
That is a great idea DD, I would love to see some of your rigs. I am kind of leaning towards getting a whole new rig geared specifically for kayaks. If ya’ll have any one in particular that you would recommend, let me know.
Here is something I learned when I installed one on my ride:
I glued the transducer inside the yak, and had to drill a hole on top of the deck to run the wires out to the unit. I originally bought a garmin, which had a plug that was almost an inch wide, which meant the hole would have to be huge to fit the plug through. I went back and bought a Lowrance(same as eagle), and the plug was much, much smaller. I was able to fit this through a rubber grommit that plugged into the hole to seal it off.
Hobie makes a good install kit, but I did not like the battery set up (AAs in a dry bag), so I went to the Werker battery that others have mentioned.
In all honesty, though, I do not use my depth finder anymore.
DD
Annoy a Liberal, Work Hard and Be Happy!
Just mounted mine Monday…I like the external mount because it can be transferred between boats if I get another and I don’t have wires hangin around when I don’t use it. I used two 6v rayovac rechargeable deer feeder batteries from wally world 18$ and a 2$ tupperware …I have no intension of submerging them so a high dollar battery box wasn on my list of wants. For the maiden voyage I stuck the battery behind my foot stirrup, no issues but I intend in installing a plug on my “console” and putting batteries under deck…I like external because you can get water temp also. I bought the Garmin echo 200 for $160 and I love it. I’m picky about pixels not so much color…sun was out all day yesterday and had no issues seeing it…
Fish On!
If you want a dovetail and plate made up like I got let me know, it’s nice because you can also have a Scotty on a dovetail and put it there if you don’t want to use graph…
Fish On!
Cool looking rig. I still have to decide if i want to rig up a Garmin 160 Blue that I took off my boat or start from scratch with something more kayak friendly. Thanks for the info everyone.