Fish Finder Installation

[emmickley]

I bought my first bass boat in June of 2012, it is a 1994 Astro FSX with a 225 HP carbed Mercury.  I recently bought a Humminbird 997c Si over the winter.  I am looking to pull my boat out of storage and installing this fish finder here shortly before the weather changes and its time to be on the lake.  I have never installed one of these transducers or units and am jus looking for every bit of advice I can get prior to starting the project.  I am an electrican/HVAC technicain so I feel like I shouldn't have too much trouble but I realize there are easier, better, and correct ways of doing things so all advice is greatly appreciated.  I have heard of mounting a PVC board to the back of my boat for my transducer incase of the transducer catching on something and/or stripping screws out of the PVC board rather than causing damge to the boat itself.  Does this sound like a good idea?  Also I am debating on mounting the unit at the drivers seat or at the front fishing seat to see during trolling motor operation.  If you guys could give me any advice that would be helpful, that would be great! Thanks!

 

emmickley@gmail.com

Eric

[Trailer]

I just ordered the Stern Saver from Tackle Warehouse because I didn't want to screw the transducer directly into the transom. Still waiting for them to ship it but the installation looks easy and the idea seems to be smart.

 

I was dead-set on mounting my Humminbird down scan unit up front and on the trolling motor but a co-worker who knows a ton more about fishing and boats told me to mount it on the console because most of the time I will be cruising looking for structure, not trolling. My two cents.

[Wayne P.]

I bought my first bass boat in June of 2012, it is a 1994 Astro FSX with a 225 HP carbed Mercury.  I recently bought a Humminbird 997c Si over the winter.  I am looking to pull my boat out of storage and installing this fish finder here shortly before the weather changes and its time to be on the lake.  I have never installed one of these transducers or units and am jus looking for every bit of advice I can get prior to starting the project.  I am an electrican/HVAC technicain so I feel like I shouldn't have too much trouble but I realize there are easier, better, and correct ways of doing things so all advice is greatly appreciated.  I have heard of mounting a PVC board to the back of my boat for my transducer incase of the transducer catching on something and/or stripping screws out of the PVC board rather than causing damge to the boat itself.  Does this sound like a good idea?  Also I am debating on mounting the unit at the drivers seat or at the front fishing seat to see during trolling motor operation.  If you guys could give me any advice that would be helpful, that would be great! Thanks!

 

emmickley@gmail.com

Eric

 Install your 997c SI at the console and then get an extra SI transducer, power cord, and AS SYSLINK for the trolling motor so you can use it a both places. Use the RAM mount system so you can easily switch display positions to have it where you are.

Once you learn how to use Side Imaging, you will want that information as you fish.

[papajoe222]

I just ordered the Stern Saver from Tackle Warehouse because I didn't want to screw the transducer directly into the transom. Still waiting for them to ship it but the installation looks easy and the idea seems to be smart.

 

I was dead-set on mounting my Humminbird down scan unit up front and on the trolling motor but a co-worker who knows a ton more about fishing and boats told me to mount it on the console because most of the time I will be cruising looking for structure, not trolling. My two cents.

This is the way to go unless you'll be mounting the unit on the front deck to view while using the trolling motor.  In that case, you'd want to mount the transducer on the motor if possible.  HumminBird makes a shield that will mount the transducer to the motor and protect it from banging it into limbs, bottom, etc. 

A good all around position for the unit is to the right of your console on a raised swivel mount.  While running the big motor you'll have it right next to you and before you jump up on the deck, you can spin it so it faces you up there.  Makes it a little awkward to make adjustments from up front that way as you'll need to get off the trolling motor controls, but it's another option that'll give you dual purpose usage.