Transducer Suggestions

[ProCraft Joe]

I just got a new Lowrance HDS-5 for the bow of my boat and can't decide which transducer to get. Which is the best way to mount it? I currently have it on the TM but was wondering if through hull would be better. Will I lose any sensitivity going through the fiberglass?

[Jig Man]

Yes you will lose some sens but I doubt you will notice it.  You can install a switch and have the best of both worlds with xducer in both places.

[Way2slow]

What kind of boat, can you get a straight shot down,  and how thick is the fiberglass and is it nothing but fiberglass, a lot of hulls us wood and other materials between layers of fiberglass in the hull layup .   They leave the sump area at the rear of the boat free of any other fillers and try to avoid having air pockets so have a good through the hull location to mount a transducer.   Get up toward the front and this is not the case.  

Now, if you're talking about mounting you're transducuer back there, then you are already the length of the boat over anything the depthfinder is going to pickup.   I like mine so it's looking directly under me when I'm in the front.   The puck style mounted with a large SS clamp and the wires properly routed and secured up the shaft and down the mount works great.   You can get a TM with the Xducer already built in, and not have to worry about the cable.

[ProCraft Joe]

Sorry, it's a Ranger 393V. I have thought about the new TM but I hate to spend that much money.

[Way2slow]

I don't think you're going to be happy with any location you might be able to find in the front. The glass is pretty darn think there and they don't take the precautions there to try and make sure there are no air bubbles in the glass. About the only way you're going to get anywhere near a straight down shot is to carefully grind a pocket inside the hull up front. This would make the side nearest the front very thin and even though you fill it back in with epoxy, a limb hitting in just that spot could cause you a big problem. Back in the days of the old MG 15 mounts, I ground one boat like that becasue my cable kept getting cut in the mount. It makes a hellava mess with the glass dust and I alway thought about that spot everytime I put the front into a tree top, wondering if I was going to have a big hole before I got back out.

As for mounting it in the sump, don't think you will be happy there either. Tried that and it bugged the crap out of me trying to fish underwater cover when you can't tell if it's right below you or 20 feet away or trying to work the drop off of creek channel. I fish a lot of deeper water and that proved unusable.