good starter fish/depth finder for kayak?

Hi,

Fished in the Minnesota northwoods and Canadian wilderness from a canoe for years, before moving out here about a year ago. I've been getting into the kayak thing now, and am starting to rig up my Tarpon 140 for fishing.

What would you guys recommend for a decent starter fish finder/flasher? My wife and her parents are pestering me for a couple gift ideas (her dad loves buying me fishing stuff), so I might have to float this his way. Anything from $150-300?

Also, I'd like to take the unit off each time, since my kayak is stored outside. What kind of mounting/ transducer set up do you recommend? Finally, I'd love to be able to take it with me in the canoe once in a while...so one of the units in the portable case might be ok.

Any advice? Things to look for?

Thanks - this is a great site.

John

The Eagle Cuda is $80 for the base model, and $200 for depthfinder and gps combo

Lee has a nice little "how to" in this thread- http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,3892.0.html

The thru-hull method is a bout as clean as you can get, and allows portability.

Hummingbird also makes some nice units, with more resolution, if I remember correctly, for a little more $. Check with Zee.

I bought the Hummingbird Piranhamax 215, but wish I had sprung for the Eagle Cuda 350 S/Map. GPS is a handy tool.

http://www.kayakfishingsupplies.com/servlet/the-67/Eagle-Cuda-350-S-fdsh-Map/Detail

I like getting good deals and I think I'm pretty good at it.  So, try going to a few boat dealers and asking for take offs.  These are the fish finders they end up with when people buy boats and upgrade.  Especially common with bass boats.  If you want try calling Anglers Marine in Anaheim Ca.  They had a bunch recently at a bass expo for fifty dollars each, and they were nice.  You'll probably have to bug them a little because they aren't that good with the phone thing.  I tried getting them to post them on are web and didn't get a call back.  Good luck.  Andy

Thanks guys. This is helpful. Given my interest in taking the unit on wilderness canoe trips too (where you have to portage all your gear), what kind/size batteries do most of the units run off of? Ideally, I'd keep the whole thing to a few pounds and be able to run the thing for several days (on and off) without having to recharge/replace.

I used to take flashers that ran off a handful of smaller batteries (can't remember exactly), and I'd probably prefer to go that route again.

There is a how to article on the front page (maybe in drilling and cutting) about how to make your own rechargeable battery from 12 AA batteries.  BUT, it looked like a pain and the author of the article ended up with the same battery as I have. 

A 5Ah battery will last about 10 hours from what I've seen, and that was mostly in colder temperatures as well.  You would need a pretty hefty battery to last several days if you're running it the whole time.... I'm not sure you can find one that big actually.

Possible solution is bringing a recharger like SolarFlat  If you shop around you can probably get it for less than the Brunton site lists it for ($195)

I use a 7ah battery (from Cabelas) and often use it 4-5 times before recharging. I do have just the little Cuda 168, and don't use the lit screen, so the draw is minimal. A bigger unit, with GPS, will probably draw more.

Thanks. How heavy is a 7ah battery?

Vexilar was making a nice little unit for the Boundary Waters a few years back that weighed 2.5 pounds and ran for several days on 8 double AA...seemed like the perfect thing for this. Might have been discontinued though.

http://www.batteriesplus.com/Search.aspx?searchterm=werker

This is basically the battery I use, but in a much nicer waterproof container than I built. I use a transformer type charger.

http://www.kayakfishingsupplies.com/servlet/the-238/Battery-Box-Complete-Power/Detail

I've been using a 5 Ah battery with my 'Cuda 250/s. It typically lasts 2-3 trips between charges. I've only had it actually crap out on me one time.

Jay

I bought the Hummingbird Piranhamax 215, but wish I had sprung for the Eagle Cuda 350 S/Map. GPS is a handy tool.

http://www.kayakfishingsupplies.com/servlet/the-67/Eagle-Cuda-350-S-fdsh-Map/Detail

I personally own a Garmin FF/GPS map plotter.  It was pretty pricey even when I picked it up on E-bay, but I find that in our waters that the on-screen map is no gimmick but a nearly indispensible tool.  When you're out on the salt water, those waters are BIG.  And if you get out more than say 1/2 mile (all the time), all the land masses start looking like they run together... is that the island or just a hill that comes down to the water?

I know that a lot of guys have been really happy with the different Hummingbird machines, mostly because of resolution I think.  I have to admit that I'm not to familiar with their different models though.  But with just a glance at that Cuda-350, I have to tell you that it looks like one heck of a bargain for a FF combined with a mapping GPS at just over $200.  One thing that you might think about in your selection will be that the GPS together with sonar will run down your battery a lot quicker than just sonar alone.  But to me, since it's in a boat and not on my back, I'd FAR rather carry the weight of a little more battery capacity than to give up my on-screen map capacity.  "How much quicker" I can hear you asking.  Look to the amperage used to compare one model to another.

Fishin-T

Thanks. How heavy is a 7ah battery?

Vexilar was making a nice little unit for the Boundary Waters a few years back that weighed 2.5 pounds and ran for several days on 8 double AA...seemed like the perfect thing for this. Might have been discontinued though.

roughly 3-5lbs

I think my 7ah is closer to 3lbs, than 5. And Fishin'-T is right about the little bit of extra weight not being a big deal. Heck, if I'm fishing in the salt, I'm carrying much, much, more in lead weights and jigheads.

I checked at Cabelas to see if they listed a shipping weight, and it looks like the battery and charger are currently on sale for $19.99- http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0036388018049a&_requestid=61680