Livescope on a kayak

[5by3]

With all the holiday deals floating around, I’ve been kicking around the idea of buying garmin livescope for my old town 106 pdl. 
 

The question is… is it a hassle to set up and transport the extra mounts, poles, etc.? Does it get in the way while you’re fishing?

 

One of my favorite features of kayak fishing is the simplicity it brings, and I am worried that if I add more gear it will just become more work and I may as well purchase a boat at that point. That being said, I’ve been dipping my feet in the kayak tournament scene with some success and I think this could help me out more.
 

what are your thoughts?

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, 5by3 said:

With all the holiday deals floating around, I’ve been kicking around the idea of buying garmin livescope for my old town 106 pdl. 
 

The question is… is it a hassle to set up and transport the extra mounts, poles, etc.? Does it get in the way while you’re fishing?

 

One of my favorite features of kayak fishing is the simplicity it brings, and I am worried that if I add more gear it will just become more work and I may as well purchase a boat at that point. That being said, I’ve been dipping my feet in the kayak tournament scene with some success and I think this could help me out more.
 

what are your thoughts?

I have megalive on an autopilot. I have the fishing specialties mount. I’ve been running the same setup for two years now with a helix 9. To answer your questions:

 

No, it doesn’t get in the way while fishing. I stand to fish and the pole is about even with my leg/hip. That’s also the side I land fish on and still not a problem.  The only time it’s ’in the way’ is if I’m going through thick grass/pads or if I am around a bunch of timber just under the surface.

 

I rigged mine such that it’s only two screw connections for the wires and pull the whole pole out from the base plate. Super easy to put in and remove as needed. When I’m making a run between spots I pull the pole out of the water and lay it along the trolling motor. 
 

That said, it’s another step. Pull boat out of truck and get it into the water. Add motor. Add helix. Add tackle and rods. Add ffs. Even with quick connections, cable tray, etc it’s still an added step for each thing. Last season I fished one lake that I know a lot and I left all of the electronics in the truck a bunch. It was nice just grabbing rods, tackle, motor. 

Others here can talk about tournament use since I don’t fish them. But I’m pretty sure if I were to fish tournaments I’d have it every day. Certain circumstances it gives you a big advantage over not having it.  Fishing Florida grass mats?  Maybe not. Anywhere else?  Yeah it can help. 

[FryDog62]

I felt the same jumping into kayak fishing three years ago, I wanted to keep it simple and didn’t want to be the guy with all the extra “stuff” and gadgets. 
 

But I obviously changed my mind. I like being on the water in a kayak and the simplicity - but I found efficiency is much more important when you are in a slow moving vessel with limited space. 
 

Within a year, I added a second graph and Livescope. It makes me so much more efficient in reading the water in the limited areas that I’m able to fish. 
 

I have a Fishing Specialties mount for the Livescope transducer and it doesn’t get in the way while fishing. I have the black box in the compartment under the seat. Lithium battery in the bow hatch. 
 

Year three, I went a little overboard and added 360 Imaging. I was moving to an area where reading rock piles and bottom structure was key. I bought the Foretex size 360 shaft which is the shortest length offered. Works great on a yak. I added a Dugout Bait and Tackle transducer mount. It works for 360 or Livescope transducers. I do like it a bit better than the Fishing Specialties mount because it stows cleanly on the side of the hull, but it is twice the price.
 

If I had to have one of the above technologies over the other on a kayak, it would be Livescope.  I wouldn’t fish in a kayak again without it. 

[Koz]

It’s only a pain if you’re like me and when you stay at a hotel you pull the black box from the hatch. That’s where Velcro comes in handy.

 

I also have the Fishing Specialties transducer pole. The drawback with this mount is that it’s a fixed mount. The transducer and mount adds considerable drag and slows me down when I make a speed run. I can remove it quickly, but then it takes up my deck space.

 

There are also times when I am moving slow and fishing amidst stump fields and I will pull the FFS mount. That’s where the deck gets crowded landing a fish with that sitting on the deck.

 

If I don’t pull it, I risk breaking it off. The Fishing Specialties mount uses nylon bolts that are designed to shear if you hit something. Be sure to keep spare nylon bolts on board. More than once I have sheared them in the middle of fishing.

 

I do have a solution to that. I bought some RAM mounts to fashion an articulated arm so I can swing it onto the gunnel. I’ll post pictures after I set it up and do a test run. My new solution also includes the use of nylon bolts.

 

When I get to the launch it takes me 20 minutes or so to set up. That includes affixing my Garmin and Humminbird units to my captain’s bridge, pulling rods out of rod sleeves and loading the rods on the kayak, mounting the motor, affix my cooler, etc. My Livescope is already rigged with the transducer pole laying on the deck.

[FryDog62]

22 minutes ago, Koz said:

When I get to the launch it takes me 20 minutes or so to set up. That includes affixing my Garmin and Humminbird units to my captain’s bridge, pulling rods out of rod sleeves and loading the rods on the kayak, mounting the motor, affix my cooler, etc. My Livescope is already rigged with the transducer pole laying on the deck.

I agree, one of the biggest drawbacks for me in kayak fishing is the amount of time it takes to set up at the ramp and tear down at the end of the day. 
 

I’m coming from the bass boat world where I get to the launch and am on the water in 5 minutes or less. 
 

So I spent time really thinking about how to become more efficient.  First thing I did was to get an interstate quality trailer so I could more quickly wet launch at the ramp.
 

Second was a solid Captains Bridge made out of thick aluminum. I now keep my 2 graphs affixed when trailering. I don’t think the graphs bounce any more than they did when they were permanently affixed to the bow of my bass boat. I do always remove the motor and that straps down in my vehicle. 
 

Lastly, I added a travel cover to keep everything inside the hull when trailering. That way I don’t have to remove all the things that might fly out like - the seat, net, pliers, transducer mounts, pliers, scissors, plastics, etc. 

 

I’d say I got the set up and tear down process to approx 10-12 minutes each way. Not a huge time savings but it helps… 

 

What else do you do to save time/hassle?  Always looking to learn… 

[gim]

37 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

I’m coming from the bass boat world where I get to the launch and am on the water in 5 minutes or less. 

The bass boat should be the solution here. 😂

[FryDog62]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

The bass boat should be the solution here. 😂

It was and might be again someday… but living/transporting over 3 states across the country in 2-3 years with limited garage/storage, the flexibility of a yak is hard to beat 👍

[Koz]

3 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I agree, one of the biggest drawbacks for me in kayak fishing is the amount of time it takes to set up at the ramp and tear down at the end of the day. 
 

I’m coming from the bass boat world where I get to the launch and am on the water in 5 minutes or less. 
 

So I spent time really thinking about how to become more efficient.  First thing I did was to get an interstate quality trailer so I could more quickly wet launch at the ramp.
 

Second was a solid Captains Bridge made out of thick aluminum. I now keep my 2 graphs affixed when trailering. I don’t think the graphs bounce any more than they did when they were permanently affixed to the bow of my bass boat. I do always remove the motor and that straps down in my vehicle. 
 

Lastly, I added a travel cover to keep everything inside the hull when trailering. That way I don’t have to remove all the things that might fly out like - the seat, net, pliers, transducer mounts, pliers, scissors, plastics, etc. 

 

I’d say I got the set up and tear down process to approx 10-12 minutes each way. Not a huge time savings but it helps… 

 

What else do you do to save time/hassle?  Always looking to learn… 

Adding the winch to my trailer really saves time getting off of the water.

 

Like you, I have a kayak cover so my tools, Livescope, and crate stay on the kayak. But I do remove my graphs after fishing. I use T-bolts to mount them on my captain’s bridge. I do this because when I travel and stay in hotels I don’t want to risk them being stolen.

 

When I leave my house or the hotel, all of my battery connections are in place. When I get to the ramp, the storage space in my Bronco is set organized in the order I need to set things up. I don’t have to go digging for anything.

 

If I’m fishing for fun I will set up at the ramp. If I’m fishing a tournament, everything but my rods is set up at the hotel. 

 

But no matter how you slice it, it does take a decent amount of time to set up and tear down. The flip side is that while doing that I get to meet a lot of people as they come up, admire my setup, and ask a lot of questions. It’s great to introduce people to kayak angling.

[5by3]

Thanks all for the thoughts! After some thought I am going to hold off on livescope. I don’t currently have a trailer for my yak and store it outside so I feel that setting up and tearing down would become a bit more of a time commitment than I want to work with right now. I like being able to throw it in the back of my pick up and be on the water in about 2-3 mins with my helix setup.

 

I definitely envy your set ups though! Maybe some day…