I see a few older conversations about this but hoping for some more recent information. What kind of set ups are y’all running. I am looking for something self contained and compact. Would like to be able to take it off the yak pretty easily and not have a bunch of stuff mounted directly to the Kayak. I was looking at the Lucky fish finders on amazon. I am looking to monitor depth and see basic structure and maybe spot some fish. Not looking for the clarity of watching my bait dance towards the fish and into it’s mouth. All though that is really cool. If y’all have a really compact solution for the larger fish finders I am all ears. I am also considering something like the Lowrance hook 2 and a side mounted set up. But i am pretty sure i will need an adapter for my rails. Thanks y’all!
Not up on the latest, but I would recommend getting one with GPS. I started with a basic model that downward scans for structure and fish (find structure more important). The problem is going back to finding that same spot again on another kayak fishing excursion. I picked up a GPS model which allows to mark/name spots and to go back again.
Personally, I was never good with being able to differentiate the blips and such for fish. So I just focus on bottom structure and the changes in bottom composition (e.g. sand to rocks, etc.) The new (way more expensive) models know have side scan (in additon to traditional down scan) which to see very clearly what is underneath you. Pretty amazing stuff but I personally am not willing to pay for it.
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I am thinking of the lucky fish finder for the same reasons you mentioned on your post. I have watched some videos about the device nd it seems like it exactly what im lookong for, portable and self contained (no extra battery to tote around). Im getting the $90 version because it has more features but dont think it has gps unfortunately. Let us know what you end up with. If i didnt go with the lucky, id go with a nocua battery to power the finder (like the striker vivid 4), they are small and lightweight and litium ion.
I am thinking the same thing. Luckily i have a very small pond in my back yard I could easily test it before actually going out to use it. I really like the small foot print of the lucky and will probably try one of those.