Electronics On Canoe

[NEjitterbugger]

I have started to fish deep water... (Where I can't see the bottom) I have never used electronics while fishing and all I am looking for is something that will show me the geography of what's bellow me. Any suggestions and or tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[ec1]

I ran into the same situation as you (Fishing deeper smallies in the fall)

There are mounts for transducers that attach to the back of the boat with a clamp. I don't own one of these.

 

I have a Humminbird 345C with an ice transducer that I use for ice fishing and I just throw it off the side of the canoe whenever needed. Of course, the transducer will not be 100% vertical whenever you're moving but it gives a general idea of how deep the water is, and whether there is a fish that I should drop straight down to.

[Felix77]

I use a hummingbird 120 which I fish from my canoe.  I kind of cram it on the side of my canoe.  Works pretty well.  Still need to practice more with it though.

 

http://store.humminbird.com/products/271365/120_Fishin'_Buddy

[moguy1973]

I'd just make a removable bracket to hang the transducer over the side and get a Scotty or Ram mount to mount the finder on one of the thwarts.

 

Then get a sealed battery like this one from Cabelas and you are good to go...That's what I use for my kayak...

 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/AutoBoat-Batteries-Chargers/Marine-Deep-Cycle-Batteries|/pc/104794380/c/104698080/sc/104446080/Cabelas-Rechargeable-12-Volt-Battery/700551.uts?destination=%2Fcategory%2FMarine-Deep-Cycle-Batteries%2F104446080.uts&WTz_l=Unknown%3Bcat104446080

 

 

Lots of ideas here on how to mount it also

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=fish+finder+on+a+canoe&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=nCrOUYWHCZLm8wTPtYGwCw&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=704

[Goose52]

Any sonar unit will show you bottom contour, depth, and usually surface water temp. Let your budget be your guide on any additional features that you can afford.

Regarding mounting - lots of suggestions above. You can get a 1-piece unit like Felix77 mentioned, or a typical 2-piece (head unit and transducer) system. Lots of ways to mount the head unit, and several ways to mount the transducer including side brackets and suction cup mounts.

In my case, I built a "dashboard" for my canoe (see photo) that includes the sonar head unit and the transducer (mounted on a hinged Slide Trax Transducer Deployment Arm) and also has a Scotty rod holder and two tackle trays. With everything mounted on a dashboard, it makes the canoe easy to rig lakeside and all you need is a power source - in my case the TM battery. Or, the sonar can be powered by a small (7-8ah)sealed lead-acid battery as referenced by moguy1973.

Lots of ways to go about it - let your budget and creativity be your guide.

 

[Bladesmith,]

Goose 52; I really like the way you have your canoe rigged out. I especially like the idea of your outriggers. They would be real handy if you got caught out in rough water as when a squall suddenly blows up. I'm curious to know; do you trailer it or carry it otherwise?

[Goose52]

I car-top the canoe and all the gear fits into the trunk and backseat of a compact sedan.  It takes about 12 minutes or so from the time I pull up to the lake with the canoe on the roof until I'm pushing off the bank and going fishing.  That speed can be attributed to the modular nature of the systems, including the dashboard...

[OkobojiEagle]

Through hull tranducer may be an option if you can live with a permanent mount.

oe

[Snakehead Whisperer]

I think moguy1973 and Felix77 both have great suggestions. I have a small bracket for the transducer that I built out of wood. It holds the fish finder, battery and has the transducer on a hinge that you can flip up in case of rocks, etc. It also functions as a small table which is nice to have. Built it with scrap 1x2" and 1x4" and spent maybe $5 on the hardware. This is the best pic I have of it, sorry. You can see the fish finder on top, a small battery box beneath, and the transducer arm on the right. 

 

As far as the through hull idea, it works really well if you have a fiberglass/plastic/RamX  and possibly an aluminum type canoe (won't work through wood hulls.) The only downside is that it will not give you an accurate surface temp reading. This is definitely the way to go in a kayak, but with canoes I find that the bracket works best (I also use a few different canoes and this mount moves easily from one to another.)

 

Felix77's suggestion will be the fastest/easiest. If you build a bracket you can use any brand/type of electronics, including a GPS/chartplotter/down imaging. 

 

@Goose52... nice rig.