Re: fish finder & depth meter for kayak fishing

[Mike]

Your cheapest option (as far as I can find) would be the Humminbird 535
portable. It runs on two lantern batteries. It's designed for ice fishing
but I would imagine if you got creative with the transducer mounting it
would suit your needs. This would be my choice considering the transducer
is hard-wired to the unit. You should be able to find one under $200.
I would stay away from the wrist watch screen SmartCast - it's really too
small to see any bottom detail. There are also two other versions with
rod-mountable screens. There is a version with a larger screen (Pirahna
Smartcast RF10 and RF15). They run about $150. You should be able to find
some good info on these systems at www.humminbird.com. Lowrance has their
X67C Ice Machine, but it's more in the $300 range, but you get a color
screen for your money. Unfortunatley all my recommendations are more
expensive than what you've already seen. If you think the small screen of
the SmartCast will suit you, that's most likely your best option.


> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for a small, light, simple, and *cheap* fish finder/depth
> meter for fishing on my kayak. I do *not* need fancy displays, only
> something capable of telling me basically what the bottom looks like,
> or maybe even locate fish.
>
> Ideally, it would be battery-powered, totally portable (not rigged
> permanently to the kayak). I have seen one model with two little
> sensors which can be hooked to the fishing line and a wrist-watch with
> a basic black & white display. The price was 80 bucks though. Are
> these any good?
>
> Is there anything cheaper out there?
>
> I would use it in swamps, creeks, the Intercoastal River in
> East-central Florida.
> Any advice on models?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> TN
>

[Calif Bill]

Wally World has the Garmin low end and I think Eagle. They are about $90.
Get a rechargeable gelcell 12 battery. If you know someone in the security
business, the alarms use these and they are pretty cheap from them.
Bill

"Mike" > wrote in message
news:9TyKd.21859$B95.14318@lakeread02...
> Your cheapest option (as far as I can find) would be the Humminbird 535
> portable. It runs on two lantern batteries. It's designed for ice
fishing
> but I would imagine if you got creative with the transducer mounting it
> would suit your needs. This would be my choice considering the transducer
> is hard-wired to the unit. You should be able to find one under $200.
> I would stay away from the wrist watch screen SmartCast - it's really
too
> small to see any bottom detail. There are also two other versions with
> rod-mountable screens. There is a version with a larger screen (Pirahna
> Smartcast RF10 and RF15). They run about $150. You should be able to
find
> some good info on these systems at www.humminbird.com. Lowrance has their
> X67C Ice Machine, but it's more in the $300 range, but you get a color
> screen for your money. Unfortunatley all my recommendations are more
> expensive than what you've already seen. If you think the small screen of
> the SmartCast will suit you, that's most likely your best option.
>
>
> > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > I am looking for a small, light, simple, and *cheap* fish finder/depth
> > meter for fishing on my kayak. I do *not* need fancy displays, only
> > something capable of telling me basically what the bottom looks like,
> > or maybe even locate fish.
> >
> > Ideally, it would be battery-powered, totally portable (not rigged
> > permanently to the kayak). I have seen one model with two little
> > sensors which can be hooked to the fishing line and a wrist-watch with
> > a basic black & white display. The price was 80 bucks though. Are
> > these any good?
> >
> > Is there anything cheaper out there?
> >
> > I would use it in swamps, creeks, the Intercoastal River in
> > East-central Florida.
> > Any advice on models?
> >
> > Many thanks in advance,
> >
> > TN
> >
>
>

[[email protected]]

Hi,

Thanks for all your answers. For the past days, I have looked into
many website discussing various models, and I am slowly leaning towards
getting a Humminbird Piranha Max30. While the price is much more than
I initially wanted to pay, its features look very attractive.

1) I get a smart cast remote sense *AND* a regular sensor rod
2) the regular sensor rod can be mounted with a suction cup anywhere
3) the screen has more details than a wrist-carried one
4) it still runs on batteries

Would anyone have any opinion/remarks/warnings/opinions on this model?
Thanks in advance!

TN

[makule]

Hi,

I use a Piranha Max 10 with the transducer mounted inside the hull of
my OK Prowler to fish offshore in Hawaii in water up to 400'. It works
great. Be sure to use an epoxy designed to be used to attach to
polypropelene and stir carefully so as not to introduce bubbles into
the epoxy.

SW
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for a small, light, simple, and *cheap* fish
finder/depth
> meter for fishing on my kayak. I do *not* need fancy displays, only
> something capable of telling me basically what the bottom looks like,
> or maybe even locate fish.
>
> Ideally, it would be battery-powered, totally portable (not rigged
> permanently to the kayak). I have seen one model with two little
> sensors which can be hooked to the fishing line and a wrist-watch
with
> a basic black & white display. The price was 80 bucks though. Are
> these any good?
>
> Is there anything cheaper out there?
>
> I would use it in swamps, creeks, the Intercoastal River in
> East-central Florida.
> Any advice on models?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> TN