[auwhaler]

Does anyone have a recomendation for a good bottom machine to use in a kayak? Has anyone had any experience with the Hummingbird watch with the wireless transducer? I know it is probably cheap but may work okay to know depth and in shallow water. Any opinions?

 

[Bduv]

I use the Eagle Fisheasy 245, I had an eagle Cuda 168 on my last yak. They seem to work pretty well, are easy to install and fairly inexpensive.

I know some others that use Humminbird and they seem to be happy as well.

It all depends on the features that you are looking for and the amount of $ that you want to spend.

Search the forums on www.gulfcoastkayakfishing.com you will find install options and probably some personal reviews.

I dont know how much I would trust one of those portable units. It seems like a good chop on the water would prevent them from reading properly.

Bryan

 

[rednex*toyz]

I use the Lowrance M68 GPS/FF. $400. Works Well. Next choice might be the equiv. Humminbird because of the dual freq. Comes down to $$$.

 

[Tuna Man]

auwhaler (12/6/2007)Does anyone have a recomendation for a good bottom machine to use in a kayak? Has anyone had any experience with the Hummingbird watch with the wireless transducer? I know it is probably cheap but may work okay to know depth and in shallow water. Any opinions?

When in Colorado this past summer, I ran into a couple of guys at a small store looking for a place to catch Trout. I sent them to a lake that I fished the day before and intended to fish that day. Well they got there before me and I saw one guy casting a plug that was suited for a 10# bass. Well come to find out that he was in fact casting the Hummingbird. We talked about it (I've been watching them on E-Bay before the trip) and other then the first one not working correctly and returned it for another. Had no problems since and it did in fact paint the fish. I'm still thinking about picking one up, to use at the quarry whenBass fishing.

 

[shorebound]

I have read that the Cuda 140? has issues with shallow water. In water 3 feet or less it just flips out and doesn't read it or reads 999. The instruction manual actually says this but the outside of the box does not. So you might want to ask around to see what ppl have and how they like it.

 

[rednex*toyz]

Most units won't read in less than 3'. The signals are too storng (generally) that the reflex time can't easily be measured. Have a similar issue with my Lowrance M68c.

 

[Popdidit]

try the hummingbird200 series starting at $99. you can go dual freq. for$20 more. its user friendlyand gives you 0+ depth reading in shallow water.

 

[SheYakFishr]

I have the same as Bryan..... an Eagle Fisheasy 245DS... (paid $99.00)it has two cones and I see things on the bottom.. that I NEVER saw with the cheaper Eagle 168. I LOVE my new FF... even tho... it's not wireless. It also does not read in the shallower water but that isn't important to me. I surely wouldn't spend LOTS of money for one for a yak... because it can and WILL get wet. I think my 168 died because of the 5' swells going over the sides of the yak. It quit working before I made it back in. If something happened to the 245DS.... I WOULD get another one.

 

[FLSalomon]

Most of us fish inshore in water 25 deep or less, more often than not in water less than 6 feet deep. A lot of the features in the more expensive FF's have limited use in shallow water. Almost any FF can tell you how deep the water is and if there is any break or structure down there in that situation.I find it hard to justify spendinghundreds of $$ on an expensive FF whan an more economical one will do the job. Remember, you will still need to buy a battery, battery holder, waterproof storage, and mount - all things that will run up the cost. What will be your power source? The less expensive units can run all day on 8 AA batteries. The more powerful models may need more juice. If you fish in the gulf a lot, than perhaps a more capable unit makes sense - dual beams, more resolution, bigger screen, etc. I will let others speak to that.

If you are in 6 feet of water and your FF has a 60 degree cone, which is common - that means it is seeing 30 degrees on either side of the boat. Using basic trigonometry - no I don't have that in my head, I looked it up - the FF is seeing out 3.5 feet on both sides of the yak or a circle 7 feet across on the bottom. Probably not much use as a fish finder, but very useful for finding depth and any breaks in the bottom. Now if you are in 30 feet of water, it is seeing a much bigger cone of water.

A good tip is to buy the most pixels in the vertical part of the display that you can afford - more pixels in the vertical mean the picture will have that much more resolution - more pixels per inch of water column... The Eagle Cuda 128 has 128 pixels in the vertical, the Eagle Cuda 168 has 168 pixels and the Eagle Cuda 242 has - guess - 242 pixels in the vertical....The 168 is $67 at Academy, the 242 is $87. Humminbird, Garmin and other brands put out good models in that price range. I have two Eagle Cudas, they work just fine and run all day on 8 AA bateries.

I have the Humminbird watch / remote thingy - it came with the yak. It works OK, but is a little inconvenient to use. There is the hassleof tying it on and using up fishable casts.I used it once or twice and now it sits in the closet...

Check out the FF install articles in the rigging section of the GCKFA home page.

 

[garnetgoldfan]

I got a fishfinder for x mas, awhile back there was a post on installation. Does anyone have good directions for installing an Eagle fisheasy 320c, and is that too much machine fora yak.

 

[SheYakFishr]

I don't know about THAT model.. but there are several installations on our yak forum....

www.gulfcoastkayakfishing.com

It's not hard at all to install one. Just make sure the silicone you use (or whatever) has NO bubbles in it. GO VERY SLOW..... when squirting it out on the inside bottom and you should be okay!!! :- )