Fish finder bargains

FYI, I've been doing some shopping for a fish finder to equip my new ride over the last few days.  There are some pretty good bargains to be had right now...

GI Joes (though I guess they prefer to be called "Joes Outdoors" now) has the Eagle Cuda 168 on sale for $60 bucks.  From what I've read, this seems to be a really popular and rugged basic unit for kayaks.  They also have the Cuda 242 for $80.

Fisherman's Marine here in Portland has the Eagle Cuda 250 fish finder and GPS combo on sale for $185.  Though I set out to buy a nice cheap unit, I ended up getting this guy instead.  It looks to be almost the same size/shape as the Cuda 168 and 242.  I really like the GPS feature for marking fishing spots (and, if necessary, finding my way back to the put in in the fog.)

That's the same FF I got. It's done a great job so far! The GPS is pretty detailed and it's gotten me out of some confusing situations. It's got all the good map marking features etc so a really good deal. I got mine last year @ $200 so nice purchase 3W!

Don't forget to post some pics of the yak as you pimp it.

Z

The pimpage advances slowly.  Been working late this week.

Mounted the transducer tonight.  Little concerned about how good of a job I did, though.  Time will tell.

Little concerned about how good of a job I did, though.  Time will tell.

Marine Goop lasts a long time.   

-Allen

Goop works pretty good! Mine has been stuck for 10+ years and counting.
(Why yes, as a matter of fact I am the original goop ball)

But I tried a slightly different route this go round though. I used a short length of oversized pool noodle, carved a divot in the end to make the transducer fit flush, led the wire up through the noodle and shoved it under my seat. Works GREAT. No goop, just the pressure from the foam. Totally removable (have'nt quite figuered out why I'd want to remove it though). A dab of vasaline on the face of the transducer might be a good idea but mine is working wonderfully without it (first time I could watch my bait go up and down).
Wish I could claim that idea too, but I got it from the KFS board.

I had second thoughts and pulled the transducer loose last night before the Goop dried (used rubbing alcohol to clean it all off.)  My issue is that the standard Eagle transducer is almost flat, while the hull of my boat where I want to point it (behind the sail post in the forward-most compartment) has a pronunced "V".  Getting the sucker to stick down without slowly sliding away is a problem.

Re-thinking my set up now.  I'd like to pipe-clamp it to the sail mount, but the bracket that came with the transducer is not really suitable.  I may try and fashion a mount of my own tonight.

And, of course, today is sunny and beautiful and I am at work, and the weekend will be rainy.

Threeweight, I highly recommend checking out some the transducer discussion on the NCKA site. There's a lot of guys done there, sharing ideas like the pool noodle concept. I don't have time to explain tonight, but good luck and I'll check back in later.

I tried something different (variation of the pool noodle concept).  I have a few hunks of ethafoam laying around (from putting a cushion on a bench on my raft frame), and I cut a 3" by 2" chunk out, then traced out and cut a slot for the transducer.  Glued it down with marine goop last night.  Today I applied silocone adhesive to the base of the transducer, and a bit in the slot, and stuck it down.

We'll see how it works.  I was having a tough time keeping air bubbles out of the Goop (maybe a bad tube?).

From what I've been hearing /reading people are gluing the foam down, then putting a little water in the resultant cup and putting the transducer in that. This presumes a tight fit between transducer and foam. So, you don't need the second shot of adhesive (silicone). I don't think it will hurt, if you want a permanent transducer mount. The idea was to have a set up that allowed switching a FF from boat to boat.

My problem was getting the transducer to sit still in the adhesive, rather than sliding out over the course of a couple hours due to its shape and the shape of the hull.  The foam "slot" did the trick for keeping it still.  Will have to wait a few days to see if I got all the bubbles out this time.

I just tape the 'ducer down while the goop dries.

-Allen