Favorite fish finder and size on kayak

[Early release]

I am going back and forth on upgrading my little Humminbird PiranhaMax4 DI fishfinder on my Old Town 120 PDL. It's certainly doing what it's expected to do, it finds the bottom, it sort of tells me where fish are and it reports the transducer water temp.

But, I think some of the fish are moving into deeper water and I'd like to go find them, so I am thinking about an upgrade. I think I'd also like GPS/GNSS capability, so I can mark events on the display and find those spots again. I'm still trying to figure where the cannon is at Barrett now that it's probably 30 feet below the surface. I also think a 7-9 inch display mounted on the side of the kayak, is good. Down imaging and Side imaging for sure, but on the active target sonar what are the thoughts for a kayak? Is space more important on a kayak or are features on your fishfinder. Should I spend $2500 and get a Garmin LiveScope plus V34 and UHD93SV? If I don't do that, I'm thinking Humminbird Helix7 with GPS. Or should I just keep the little one, because it never gets in the way and it draws almost no power, which allows the tiny 10AH battery to last multiple trips.

Interested in what people have, what they like and why or why not if they would do it again.

Thanks in advance.

[Rattus]

I have a Garmin Striker Vivid 4cv. I like its size and features, but wished it had the ability to upload/download waypoints and maps. You can create your own maps, but it sure would be nice to have a map of place ahead of time instead of making one real time. It has a “share user data” feature but it’s clunky at best and requires a special cable.. I believe the 7cv version has WiFi which would solve my problem, but its form factor (and price) is bigger.

[bendopolo 44+]

I’m having really good luck with my Lowrance 5 inch. My buddies all have 7 and 9 inch but I think too much screen gets in the way, at least for me. It is pretty close to my face so no readability issues. I bought a 1 year old upgraded Chart Chip off EBay with better bottom topography for $50. Works every time. Doesn’t suck juice like the bigger displays.

[Early release]

Looks like in general, I should just keep the sample size one, as it does do the basics well. Thanks for the help and saving me money.

[blackcloud9]

Looks like in general, I should just keep the sample size one, as it does do the basics well. Thanks for the help and saving me money.

Sure! You may stick to your trusty one dimensional unit, similar to the Humminbirds and Lowrance units I've been using for decades of successful fishing. Those are fine, helpful tools that read and plot a single beam up and down. I fish a LOT and I have been kayak fishing regularly for 25 years. But a Livescope addition was a fairly easy purchase for me.

It's truly amazing what you learn/know/see when equipped with a two-dimensional sonar like LiveScope (Lowrance has the very similar ActiveTarget).

It's not for everyone and it takes time to learn, but my experiences have been insane. Especially for winter time bass, crappie and bluegill. Of course it works great all year round, but when the fish retreat out into deep open water and main channel areas, you can still locate and catch them easily on our deep reservoirs. I'm even using it in the ocean and bays, but it works best for suspended, slow-moving fish like crappie.

I got the 7-inch Garmin ECHOMAP UHD 73sv and Livescope system(GLS10/LVS32) for my kayak - which some people will tell you is a waste of money because you need to get the 10 or 12 inch screen. Whatever. I spent about $1,400+ over a year ago and I will use this forever because there's no need to upgrade. These things go on sale often on Bass Pro Shops and the Russell Marine Product sites, best deals are Black Friday events.

I got these:

• Garmin ECHOMAP™ UHD 73sv | Marine Chartplotter
  Garmin Panoptix Livescope™ System | Live Scanning Sonar
  19 AH Lithium Battery
  

Installation was not too difficult, lots of videos on YouTube and information on FB 'Livescope Addicts' groups. I made my own transducer pole using PVC.

Here are some shots I've taken of what I can see on the Garmin, but of course the fish are moving around on the screen as they swim.

A kelp bed leaning in the current, with no white seabass showing. (This is a touch-screen and I can zoom in using two fingers <unpinch>)
.

A crappie straight below the kayak at 9 feet deep, with many big catfish swimming vertically up and down just ahead about 15-40 feet.
.

A school of bluegill/redear starting at 8 feet ahead of the kayak and they are 11 feet down.
.

A nice bass picked off from the base of the tree, from just ahead of the kayak.
.

[Stringbean]

Larry,
Thank you for sharing your expertise, your hard work has paid off. Your tips make it possible for others to enjoy the sport.

[blackcloud9]

Larry,
Thank you for sharing your expertise, your hard work has paid off. Your tips make it possible for others to enjoy the sport.

Glad you appreciate it Chuck. Not long ago, I was curious about the possibility of using LiveScope on my kayak and now its a very cool reality thanks to others that I have learned from. Location of fish is 90% of catching, and it seems that the entire country is using this tech for ice fishing and so many other applications. Strangely, California may be the last to get in on it .. it seems that fishing-wise, we tend to be pretty stubborn in our ways. Just passing along ideas to fellow fishermen.

[Early release]

Thanks for the nice write up. You pretty much nailed what I was thinking about with the fishfinder. I'm happy that you use the 7" unit. That was my biggest concern was getting some large screen and then impacting my movement in the kayak. I'll probably match your setup. Next I have to design my transducer mount for my PDL120.

[blackcloud9]

Thanks for the nice write up. You pretty much nailed what I was thinking about with the fishfinder. I'm happy that you use the 7" unit. That was my biggest concern was getting some large screen and then impacting my movement in the kayak. I'll probably match your setup. Next I have to design my transducer mount for my PDL120.

If your budget allows, the 9" Garmin unit would be nice as well, but not necessary. I know dozens of kayakers using the 10"- it's better suited for bigger Pro Anglers.

DIY PVC pole-mount for the transducer, mine is patterned after this one and it works great - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb4FaCWnAkc

Also you should think about mounting your GLS10(Black Box), battery and wiring to a "shuttle" for easy transport. Shuttles are used for ice fishing but work great for kayaks. In general, Summit makes some great and affordable solutions for LiveScope mounting including a shuttle, pole and carry bag.

My shuttle is placed into my front hatch when launching, and I connect the battery and transducer/network connectors and its ready. Takes two minutes.

The battery I got is from Amped Outdoors (19Ah Lithium Battery (14.8V NMC) with Charger Quick Connect) provides 8 to 10 hours of use with my setup.

Here is a photo showing the screen and the pole in use. The horizontal pvc shows my transducer direction.

[Early release]

I like the shuttle idea also. I was thinking to mount the Livescope unit behind my seat with the battery, but maybe with the shuttle I can put in the forward hatch, like you are doing. I have a Dakota lithium phosphate 10AH battery already so I'd parallel another one. I think this is a great setup, thanks again.