Bonesaw Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 What depth finders are all the Yakkers on here using. What depth finder would you guys recommend if you could do it over again. I ask because I've recently moved and the lake that I have come to know over the last few years, and hundreds of hours on the water, is now prohibitively far away. I have my eye on a new spot with a good reputation but I want the advantage of a depth finder figuring this one out. Most of my time will be spent on this one lake or lakes I already know.(at least in the yak). Right now I like the hummingbird 571 HD di. Thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Ramen Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 I use a 570 DI. I think Mike and Sean use the Elite 5 HDI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 I have the Elite 5 HDI. The only good thing I can say about it is that when it works, it's nice to have all 3, GPS, 2D and Downscan, with only the one transducer. It draws twice as much power as what Lowrance originally listed in the specs. I'm about to send my graph in for the 4th time. It has only worked correctly a total of 4 days over the nearly 6 months I've owned it. So, no I wouldn't necessarily recommend what I bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonesaw Posted April 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 Thanks for responses. One question I forgot to ask, where do you guys have the transducer. I know some guys mount in the hull(not in the water), some on bottom (in the water) and others go with the scupper mount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 What kayak do you have? The lowrance scupper mount looks like a plastic POS. I didn't bother messing with it. When I had my graph on my old kayak, I just mounted it off the back, where the two screws to hold a rudder are. Didn't have a rudder, didn't want one, and it got the transducer in the water easily. There are arms that run over the side of the kayak to get the transducer in the water too. RAM makes one, and you can make your own. I have a Ride 115x now and the graph/battery/transducer are all mounted to one removable piece. There's a hole in the bottom of the kayak for the transducer to sit in the water. So that makes everything really easy. If you want, shoot me a pm with your email or phone number and I'll send you some pics of some different ways to mount them that I have saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmayer88 Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 What kind of battery are you guys using Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Ramen Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I use a deer feeder battery. Mike has used a number of different batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDBEAD Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 Just find out what "The Black Cloud" Mike D does and do everything the exact opposite. You'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I picked up the cabelas package first. Was like $25 for an 8Ah battery and charger. The charger is brutally slow. 200mA I think. I've also run a Lithium pack that is a friend of mines. They're cheap, chinese, get them on eBay for $25-$30 for 7 to 9Ah equivalent. Smaller and light weight. I'm just using a 9Ah sealed battery now. Same size as the Cabelas one, just more capacity. There are a lot of choices, and a bunch of other forums with lots of into. Just find out what your graph draws on average, and do the math to figure out what you need at a bare minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmayer88 Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 Thanks. I also have the Ride 115x and wanted something to fit in the console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 Depending on what graph you have, and how much extra wiring you have to stuff in there, I got the 9Ah SLA because that was the highest capacity battery in that footprint. No room for anything bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Ramen Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I've also run a Lithium pack that is a friend of mines. They're cheap, chinese, get them on eBay for $25-$30 for 7 to 9Ah equivalent. Smaller and light weight. If I was starting over again, this is probably what I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bvpolo42 Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 i have an elite-5 dsi on my tarpon 160. from my experience this unit is great and the bottom detail is amazing, as well as trees and schooling fish (ill see if i can upload a pic later on). I use the scupper mount from lowrance. Ill admit it does look cheap but on the tarpon the transducer is tucked up out of harms way and always submerged (personally couldnt think of a better way to mount without putting holes in the yak) also forgot to mention i use it in the ocean and good detail down to 75ft. I have and old battery out of a quad or something, powers my go pro and graph 8hrs+ only downside is it weighs 15lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmayer88 Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Any of you guys use a Side Imaging unit on your Yak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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