I need a fish finder for my kayak. It’s an ultimate 12 and I fish only lakes. I want to stay around 150.00 not including the battery. I don’t usually fish at night so I’m thinking black and white will do. I looked at some features and I think I narrowed it to a Humminbird pirahnamax 240 or 535. Can anyone help with my decision. I like the 240 because of it’s tri beam, but I don’t know if this is important. The 535 has better resolution.
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about 20 guys in my club, including myself, all use the eagle cuda 168. We all agree it’s a good value. Food for thought, I know you will think it needs 12v to run, but it doesn’t. I actually use an 8,4v 1100mah rechargable pack from one of my RC planes and it keeps the finder working all day. If you don’t already have such a battery pack & charger, radio shack has a 9.6v RC car kit that comes with the charger 15.99 for the 1000mah, 19.99 for the 1600mah. I know for a fact that the 1600mah will keep a the cuda running for 2 days solid!
If you need help with the install just shoot me a message.
enjoy!
battery for FF
would this battery work?
http://www.batterymart.com/p-12v-7ah-sealed-lead-acid-battery.html
More data is better
What you want is to compare how much information it collects. More beams = more information. Resolution isn’t that big a deal so long as the resolution is high enough to read. Remember, you’re not really finding fish, you’re getting bottom contour. If you are fishing a flat area and all of a sudden see a big bump, well you’ve got your fish. The fish aren’t the big bump. The big bump is probably a rock, but the fish will relate to the cover and structure.
- Big D
humminbird pirahnamax 240
The 240 has 3 beams and I think it’s where I’m leaning right now. Anyone have 1 of these?
yes
that battery will work. In fact i had one for half a day before I returned it for several reasons. A)I found out it’s overkill B)its big/heavy/bulky and it won’t fit inside a little dry box C)I already had a RC batteries.
Here is the one that most in my club use:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u23/djohnalyn/battery.jpg
Locator
My locator of choice is the Humminbird RF 35.
It has advantages and disadvantages;
Advantages;
- Not too terribly expensive - - Around $100, but can be commonly found on sale for about $70.00 - $80.00.
- Takes up no room in the ‘yak - - you wear the display unit on your wrist like a wristwatch. The transducer looks like a miniature toy submarine. I tow it behind the yak on a string.
- No holes to drill; no wires to contend with(completely wireless); no need to find a place to mount a battery, transducer, or the display unit.
- Totally portable; can be used with any boat or when fishing from a pier or the bank.
Disadvantages;
- Since the display unit is the size of a wristwatch, the resolution is not as detailed as a larger unit. But the primary function of any locator is twofold; to show depth and bottom contour. It does both quite well. Plus it shows surface temperature.
- The battery in the wrist unit only lasts about 40 hours. Then it must be replaced.
- It does mark fish, but doesn’t show their depth.
- The battery in the transducer lasts about 500 hours. Then the transducer needs to be replaced. It costs about $10 - $15. It automatically activates when you put it in the water. It shuts off when you take it out of the water.
- You will constantly be asked what that goofy looking thing is that you are towing behind your kayak!
Fishin’ Buddy
I’m real happy with the Humminbird Fishin’ Buddy 130. Easy on and easy off and you don’t have to fuss with mounting a transducer. I use mine on my Ultimate 12 and it provides depth and side viewing.
Cleep in windy Kansas
Hummingbird 170
– Last Updated: May-31-09 4:26 PM EST –
I install 125 FF a year on kayaks. And the hotty this year for a bunch of reasons is the Hummingbird 170 about $125
NiMH for portable units
Anyone know of you can use NiMH AA’s in leiu of alkaline AA’s?
Thanks
John
Both Lithium and NiMH
can be used in my fishfinder according to Eagle
fish finder options
If it’s not too late, consider a Hummingbird or lowrance portable unit. I have an ultimate 12 and have used the Hummingbird portable (paid $199 at cabelas) works great.
Once you start mounting units and transducers you will notice interference on certain boats. Because of the tunnel hull in the ultimate a suction cup side mount will work best. I have other yaks with hard mounted depth finders and get some interference. Go with the portable
Hope this helps
Dc
Humminbird 120
Got a portable Humminbird 120 fishin’ buddy - runs on 6 AA batteries and shows what I want to see. Clamps onto the side of the canoe and has a transducer on a rod that sticks into the water. No suction cups, no strange electrical hookups, and best of all - got it cheap (under $200). Works great.
Cuda 300
I bought and installed a Cuda 300 for like $79.00 from Gander mountain. It was small, light weight and inexpensive. It works great and never fails to give info. It tells water temp depth to bottom and at what depth the fish are and a general idea of how big the fish are. It also is lighted for night time fishing which is good because I love fishing at night. It is small so it don’t use a lot of room works great between your leggs and controls are easy to use. I power it with a 12 volt skil cordless drill battery. It runs it all day and most the night on one charge. The drill came with two so I have a spare and the two together weigh a little over a pound. For about $140 you can get the fish finder a battery and charger and for just a little more get an extra battery. Have fun.
Something simple…
I have fished lakes and saltwater bays in my Prowler13 with an old piranha, one of the originals. I would go for the tri beam over the better resolution. Mine is mounted in the center just about at my ankles so the resolution isn’t a turn on for me, especially since there may be glare depending on environmental conditions. My primary use is for finding structure and dropoffs or channels depending on where you are. It’s easy to read moving water like on a river but lakes can get tricky if you’re new to the area. Power consumption may be another concern. I use a 12v battery from a cordless drill instead of the heavier gel cells and it lasted me over 8hrs one day. Point being, go with your gut and get what you want. Just don’t get caught up in all the features that you may never really need for your type of fishing.
Good luck and get fishing!!!