Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Help Needed: Setting up fish finder
- Thread starter Jake Watrous
- Start date
Thank you.
I believe it would.
Fourbtgait
Steelhead
Thank you for the feedback. I’m mostly spitballing ideas right now, so every bit of experience helps me from reinventing the wheel.
I once spent a weekend making a stand with slats for vents to raise my big flatscreen CRT television up in its inset hole above the fireplace and we could put the dvd player underneath. Walnut and cherry, mortise and tenon joints, etc. A friend saw it and said “that’s the prettiest packing pallet ever". And damned if it wasn’t almost board for board a pallet. Totally invisible under the tv and in that hole, too.
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Thank you. I hadn’t thought about the need to raise and lower it quickly or “quickly”.
Feeling a bit like the architect who forgot to account for the weight of the books when he designed a library.
@GLassguy2 suggested in a PM a magnetic through-hull attachment for the transducer. Hadn't even considered that--something to put on the idea board.
Putting this here in case some future person finds themselves in a similar quandary.
www.fishfindermounts.com
Putting this here in case some future person finds themselves in a similar quandary.
Xpower 15mm Magnetic Transducer Mount | fishfindermounts2
Our famous 15mm magnetic transducer mount has become even more powerful - 20% more powerful. Transducers are just getting bigger and bigger it seems, so this is that extra clamping power when you have something really large like the total scan/ 3D scan transducers from Lowrance, or even the...
www.fishfindermounts.com
Fourbtgait
Steelhead
Just thought, strip canoe, I think my Garmin came with a foam insert for it that can be set in the bottom of the boat, inside. Often times transducer’s are mounted inside in a putty or something. Maybe someone else remembers. Or google it.
ok, I googled it…. And noted it says not best in cored fiberglass applications. Sorry.
ok, I googled it…. And noted it says not best in cored fiberglass applications. Sorry.
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That’s a cool idea—did not know that was even possible—thanks!
Unfortunately yeah, it’s both wood and cored fiberglass. Four layers of fiberglass sandwiching wood.
Fourbtgait
Steelhead
4?
I always used a football shape and a full one outside, one inside
S glass full outside, plus another just on the football. One inside, plus another just on the inside of the football.
I’ve got a dog, two kids 10 and under, plan to haul crab pots in it and float parts of rivers like the John Day and Yakima. Also putting bronze strips on the outer bow and stern stems for rock/oyster beaches. I’d rather be overbuilt than underwater.
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Divad
Whitefish
They make clamp mounts to a socket but not clamp mounts to a platform at least that I can find. So if you were trying to get it all in one you’d have to have another adapter from socket to base.
I would build or modify a clamp mount to a Scotty or universal style base (wood w/ pre made holes). That way you don’t have so many adapters and you can swap things out.
I bought the Chinese finder/mount that has Scotty bolt pattern, an arm and universal plate for finder. It has the ability to adjust angle, which I’m not sure is worth the weight/bulk compared to a homemade setup. It was $28 and took two weeks from aliexpress, same one is sold on Amazon for $65.
I’ll probably end up making something homemade that’s lighter.
I would build or modify a clamp mount to a Scotty or universal style base (wood w/ pre made holes). That way you don’t have so many adapters and you can swap things out.
I bought the Chinese finder/mount that has Scotty bolt pattern, an arm and universal plate for finder. It has the ability to adjust angle, which I’m not sure is worth the weight/bulk compared to a homemade setup. It was $28 and took two weeks from aliexpress, same one is sold on Amazon for $65.
I’ll probably end up making something homemade that’s lighter.
Thank you.
Fourbtgait
Steelhead
In your boat, the ideal placement to mount a fishfinder is on the bow. The transducer is the most essential part of the unit which is attached to the boat's bottom or starboard transom side, 0.25-0.5 inches above the bottom and away from the motor to prevent damage from waves and debris.
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I’m curious about your suggestion to place it in the bow. Is that because placing it in the stern means I’ll have passed over whatever it shows by the time it shows it?
That makes sense and isn’t something I’d thought about.
The bow would give you a slightly quicker shot in the sense that it's going to be looking slightly ahead of your physical position on the boat. Most boats run a bow transducer on a deployable trolling motor, which allows the ducer to be out of the water when running fast so it doesn't get destroyed.
Mounting transducers to a transom is a bit of a fine art as mentioned above due to the proximity to the prop and all the turbulence created right there. Since a high percentage of transducer installs on boats are done so with the goal of achieving a nice clear image and bottom tracking at higher rates of speed the ducer needs to be installed in a fairly specific location.
In the case of a paddle propelled canoe I can't think of any real disadvantage to some sort of bow mount, even if the actual advantage wasn't likely to be noticed much. Honestly in your case wherever you felt was the most practical place to set it up is likely to be just fine. Especially considering that you'll likely be using it to find bait, general depth and contour stuff, the GPS capabilities, placing way points etc much more often than needing a few seconds advance notice of a specific fish that it spots from the bow.
Thank you!
