Why did you choose where you chose to drill thru yak for transducer cable?

Before I make the final commitment to the big ol' hole in the yak wanted to get thoughts from others as to why you chose where you chose to drill.  Originally I was going to go with a front and center hole, but realized at the end of the day I fold up my crab pots and just throw up on top of my legs half the time, and mounting there may be an issue with general wear and tear.  Now I'm thinking about mounting at the end of the footwell behind the foot rest so that it's somewhat protected from any errant crab pots.  Curious why you guys chose where you chose for the thru-hull hole.

What are you paddling?

Perception Search 15.  Thought about just going under the rubber hatch, but wanted something a bit cleaner.

I like having my FF at the end of the footwells.  It's out of the way (for the most part) and the temptation to play with the features is a scoot and hop away.  Keeps me concentrating on fishing.

If you have the option to run your cable thru a hatch, I'd highly recommend it!  You don't always need your FF and the cable isn't left exposed to the elements or the forces of clumsy stupidity.... Don't ask me or Wali how we know..... 

-Spot-

I too put mine at the end of the footwell.  It's low enough that I can leave it attached when putting the kayak on the car (though I don't normally).  I feel it's really safe from getting broken being down there.

Now if I could get the thing to actually show fish...

I second the idea if you can run the lines under a hatch do so. I thought this over a long time and since I did not put a hole that the lines went through I can take the FF out much easier. I was concerned about keeping the top of the yak clean and since there are no connections or base plates to be seen when the FF is off it is the best option I found. I used bungees to hold my FF to the deck of my yak and it works great! Very stable, easy set up, out of the way when need to be, easy to reach and see when in use, and when I want a new fish finder I won't be looking for a way to plug the hole cut for the old one if it doesn't match. The method I used to mount the fish finder also doubles as a place to mount my compass when I am not fishing.

Here is my mounting method.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,4737.0.html

I like having my FF at the end of the footwells.  It's out of the way (for the most part) and the temptation to play with the features is a scoot and hop away.  Keeps me concentrating on fishing.

That is why Spot catches fish!

Unlike Spot, I mount mine on the center hatch between my legs. Which is why I have posted a bunch of cool shortcuts and hidden features of my FF/GPS and not as much fish porn. I like it at hand and I can read the small screen of my M68.

My cable is fed through a hole drilled through the center of the FF mount. Makes for a nice sano install with no extra holes. Thats only good for the Eagle/Lowrance as most of the rest of the FF's have a larger plug.



http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,4867.msg50875.html#msg50875


I  really like Haze Grey's button mount with the cable lead under the hatch the best though. No holes at all (except the screws for the buttons) and it does not matter how big the plug is.

Use a hatch for cable routing and if possible a temporary FF mount to try out locations.  I ended up installing a transverse bar forward of the foot wells on my Revo, using RAM mounts for the FF and a Scotty rod holder.  I still route the transducer cable until the forward hatch lid.