New fish finder installation

[Yak Fish]

I just got my humminbird 788ci hd di today and hope to get my perch on tomorrow. I thought that I'd post a few pics for anyone interested. I'm trying a bit of a different approach with this one than the last. I've never liked the thru hull mount so in lieu of my standard rudder mount (I'll post some pics of that tomorrow when I take the old ff off the yak) I am trying a flexible arm straight from the ff. So basically it's a stand alone unit, minus the battery. I could take it from boat to boat with no hassle if desired.

I made a bracket and mounted it to the ram mount base. The bracket holds the flexible arm to which the transducer is mounted. This will put the transducer right where I fish, and with the switchfire mode, I'll be able to see my jig. The transducer wire runs internal to the flexible arm so it's nice and clean. Being that the arm is flexible there is no need to worry about bumping anything or having to pull it out of the water quickly. It's stiff enough that it will hold shape but not so much that you can't manuever it.

I'm still interest if I can rotate the transducer to multiple angles using the down imaging to see if I can "look around" with it....under docks, etc. With the flexible arm I'll be able to give it a shot.

Some of you are looking for a "wet" mount so hopefully this helps. I'll also post the rudder mount tomorrow.

[DOGFISH]

That is different. Nice idea. I am presently kicking around some new ideas with my new rig. Good luck.

[mmanolis2001]

Very nice and clean. Let us know how it works out for you. Take some pics of the perch stacked up.

[Yak Fish]

That is different. Nice idea. I am presently kicking around some new ideas with my new rig. Good luck.

I liked your idea of hanging the transducer off the rear bar on the PA. That should work pretty well as long as you can protect it.

[Memory Maker]

I really like that .......... is it tough enough not to move wwhen you have water resistance from moving place to place?

[tufnik]

Looks good, but I thought about that drag too. I wonder if the arm of the Madfrog Liberator has less drag.

[DOGFISH]

Are some of you guys still using the duct putty, in a shoot through installation. I mean like shoot through the putty, not a wet well. How does it hold up. I have also seen a humminbird shoot through type trasducer with a separate temp sensor that could be dropped through a scupper hole.

I am still looking into the rear handle rig. I would also like to try to put the through hull transducer into a scupper hole of the PA, but I don't think the tread portion of the transducer is long enough. I am looking for a good clean set up. I liked the through the scupper hole rig of the Ocean Kayak.

[ronaultmtd]

Not me- I have gone completely to the wet-well, duct-seal system- works really well, so I haven't messed with success-

[Yak Fish]

I got to use the fish finder for the first time today and it worked really well. I should have gotten this thing long ago. The mount also worked really well. I need to stiffen the mounting bracket....after I got it all assembled, the arm was a little heavier than I though. I temporarily mounted a support just before heading out but I need to do a better job on it. Either way, the adjustable arm was awesome. Based on one day using it here are my observations:

The arm is plenty stiff to troll with it and move from place to place. There is some drag on it, but no big deal.

The adjustable arm allowed me to reposition the transducer so I could see my jig which was really cool. My old ff had not chance of this.

It was very easy to reposition the transducer in shallow water so that it looks to the side. I posted some questions on whether or not this would work, and it does. In about 5" of water and under, I got some really nice shots looking toward the bank. I could see rocks, stumps and logs. I could even see the perch traps and the lines attached to the buoys. While it's not "side imaging" it's not too bad. I would use this for bass fishing while working banks looking for structure. I tried to take some screen shots but since it was my first day with the unit I'm not sure if I got what I think I got. I have to go review what I think I took.


I also promised pics of my rudder mount ff and here they are...

[DOGFISH]

I like the rudder mount. I thought about that one myself. Nice job.

[Yak Fish]

Here's a snap shot of what I saw when I turned the transducer sideways and trolled along shore. You can see the shoreline is 30' from the boat. This particular shoreline was rip rap as evident by the sharp individual returns. You can also see larger random rocks that cast shadows and what looks like a submerged tree.

So that you can orient yourself, the bottom of the screen is to the furthest shoreline point to the left of the kayak. The top of the screen is the closest. I am in about 5' of water.

[tufnik]

Yeah, good job. I may just copy both of your ideas. Thanks for sharing.

[Floppy]

Hi! I really like the flexible arm idea. Where did you get the arm? I want to put something like this together so I can switch my FF to other boats.

Thanks!

[Yak Fish]

Hi! I really like the flexible arm idea. Where did you get the arm? I want to put something like this together so I can switch my FF to other boats.

Thanks!

Loc Line makes product like this. They sell several different types of adapters, flanges, etc. This is the 3/4" variety. The thinner stuff will be too flexible to drag through the water. Their colors are blue and orange.

I did not buy from loc line. I bought mine from Home Depot. The product I bought was on clearance and was sold as a "spot light adapter." I bought 2 packages at around $7 each. The retail price was $12 and Lowes sells the same product for a little more. The nice thing about this version is that it has flanges on each end that you can use for mounting, and I also like that it's white in color. You can pull apart the links and add more/less if you like. I just saw them at home depot yesterday so I know there are still some on clearance.

[Floppy]

Thanks! I'll get by there today!