Putting holes in a perfectly good kayak...

[Kardinal_84]

It goes against every bone in my body but I took a drill to my kayak to get it ready for more fishing.

I already had one rod holder but added a second Scotty flush mount so I could move the rod and also its where I am going to mount my camera on a monopod.

Decided to permanently mount a thru hull tranducer.
A RAM mount for the fishfinder.
12V marine grade jack.

Still have not decided on how to mount the battery but for now I plan to just wedge it into the hatch.

[Kardinal_84]

The last bit is to mount the transducer to shoot thru the hull. The problem is I wanted to use the pool noodle and water method but where the heck are you going to find pool accessories in Alaska during the winter? But the wife comes through! $7 bucks marked down from $30. the hummingbird mounting kit is $30 plus shipping. I can always use the xtra for floation. lol. After searching several hardware stores, here's my solution!

[power drifter]

so can you bolt the mounts or do you have to just use screws? looks like it would be fun. always thought Id like to try one out but I have a 11 ft double ended raft that I love to play with.I also would love to hit the salt and try some jig fishing. I play on the rivers more so would you float that down the Kenai river as well as lakes and off shore?

[Kardinal_84]

It's mainly riveted on. Seems solid enough. I mainly go out of Whittier but I just started. Rivers sort of scare me. One day. Lakes seem more remote. I like the idea of saltwater. Potential for a huge fish plus variety points.

[Kardinal_84]

How I plan to mount my camera. I can move rod holder to the right edge.


Transducer Install
Used the foam from the workout roll. Marine goop to attach to hull. Put water in, squeeze in transducer, rock it side to side to get rid of air bubbles. So the theory goes.

[cod]

Kard.......The transducer set up looks great. U have only one layer of hull at the point u set the foam at, right? I used to shoot thru the hull on mine. I built a few layers of duct tape over something underneath it rolled up(cant rembr what) and then layed my xducer in it with just a smidge of water in it. My xducer layed nice and flat and it worked good. It was btween my legs and sometimes the cable would get in the way so I remounted the xducer permanently on the bottom of my rudder w. a bracket I rigged, and a single rivet. It would allow it to swivel under the rudder so that it would point down in its natual position. I always pulled in my rudder b4 hitting shore and it comes right up out w. the rudder. Addressing holes in the boat... I always try to put a plate big as i can on the back side when rivetting, bolting, etc to give as wide a stress release point as possible for your anchor point. (tin can top, piece of sheet metal, wks good etc.) As far as 'destroying' the hull with holes... I dont worry bout that. If someone (U) wants to remove item, one can always take it off and replace with plain bolt or a lashing loop. U can naver have too many lashing loops on your yak.

[Kardinal_84]

Cod, thanks. It looks to be a thin single layer at that point. I have a question for ya. I have a pirhanamax 160. Before when i used it, I had no problems seeing down to 600 ft in clear water using the suction mount and of course the transducer directly in the water. I know it degrades some when you shoot thru the hull (though the new hummingbird mounts claim their "grease" improves the sensitivity). But do you know how much? I use the 300-600 ft range as often as I use the top half so I am going to be bummed if it only shows to 400ft. I'd end up buying an extra transducer so I could stick it directly in the water when I am jig fishing to see better. I guess I'll find out when I take it out. Waiting on a semi dry suit before I try it though.

[Kardinal_84]

Well the first test run...

I posted it in the saltwater forum but thought for the sake of archiving...

A quick video about a kayak trip to Whittier March 27, 2011. Testing the recently modified, for fishing and camera, Kayak. Ended up working great. Need to figure out the angles better. A little more water than I like through one of the rod holders. Easy fix. Shoot thru sonar did start getting some degradation at around 400ft but I could clearly see bottom at 450 which was as deep as I dared on this first trip. I hope I can see at least to 500ft.

At any rate, still learning the software and this is a point shoot camera...and I am a complete amateur...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjg0qNjFsKU&hd=1

[komocazie74]

those are some great photos

a good friend of mine was out there also on sunday and shared with me his pictures, they looked much like yours. minus the awesome looking rockfish.

on a total different note, I wanted to thank you for the fishing logs. I have learned a great deal of knowledge from them and have referred to them many times when being asked for advice.

[Kardinal_84]

Thanks komocazie! I couldn't believe how the weather just died down. Dreary to beautiful in 30 minutes. I am trying to get into fishing more. Moved out of state, came back two years ago. Kids are getting to a more manageable age so I plan to fish! I hope to update at least in blog format more and more.

[cod]

I have a question for ya. I have a pirhanamax 160. Before when i used it, I had no problems seeing down to 600 ft in clear water using the suction mount and of course the transducer directly in the water. I know it degrades some when you shoot thru the hull (though the new hummingbird mounts claim their "grease" improves the sensitivity). But do you know how much? I use the 300-600 ft range as often as I use the top half so I am going to be bummed if it only shows to 400ft. I'd end up buying an extra transducer so I could stick it directly in the water when I am jig fishing to see better. I guess I'll find out when I take it out. Waiting on a semi dry suit before I try it though.[/QUOTE]
Kard,,, I;m not familiar with the 'grease' concept, but I would suspect they would require enough to fill the void between your xducer and the hull so there was no air gap between the 2. We used to use car antifreeze poured on the ice to set the ducer on to shoot thru the ice to see how deep the water was in unfamiliar lakes b4 drilling our hole. Also, are u aware there are different "degree" xducers? Many are in the 19 or 20 degree (cone angle) shooter. However, u can get ones that are 9 degree. A 20 degree cone will generally give u a view circle of 1/3 the depth u are in. (100 ft depth would give a bottom reading view about 33 ft across.) Nine degree xducers will give u a much smaller (and more 'detailed') view. So, good for deep water use. Get one if u really need deep water reads. I can't really see why one would need to see bottom deeper than one would fish, but.... like i say they will improve your readings. Tip... REALLY get to know your locater..experiment. I own 2. One I have, an Eagle, has a setting of wide pulse or narrow (short) pulse. The difference is amazing. Narrow pulse requires slow movement and flat water. But the clarity.. wow. I can see a 4 inch bait on my hook at 100 ft down. Also, play with the 'sensitivity' setting. So Kard, are fishing over 250 ft??? And out of curiousity... Why do u wanna know if the bottom is 400 ft or 857 ft? By the way, yea, nice pics.

[Kardinal_84]

Cod, thx for the tips. I need to see deep for a couple of reasons. I want set shrimp pots from my kayak. Picked up some folding kayak pots. I want to set at 350 ft down to 600ft. I can already see this shrimping from a kayak is going to be a pain but hopefully result in a few shrimp for the effort.

Also since I tend to fish closer to port I want to explore waters that are closer and heavily pressured so I thought trying deeper might yield more structure and larger fish. If I limited myself to 300ft or less I can't help but to feel I am excluding some lesser tapped areas. It's 300 ft deep 100 yards off shore in Whittier or Seward.

[dudemandude]

Kard, I was watching your video (Sweet) and I was wondering how much was your dry suit? I have seen a few around 500 but nothing much cheaper. My wife and I just bought our first kayak last week! Looking forward to getting out! PM me if u want.

[Kardinal_84]

I think something like 525 at ak raft and kayak. I think rei has them too. Comfy with the neoprene neck. Haven't tested it yet in the water. Kokatat supernova.

[bross]

Hi I've done lots of mods to kayaks, esp my Trident 15 fishing kayak, use small stainless steel bolts w/a backing plate (usually a thin UHMW plastic), sometimes a shot of silicone on the threads just because. Never had a probelm even when I got hammered out in the chuck a few times!
Tried the puck method for transducer mounting, ( see the "northwestest kayak fishing" website for a great set of how-to photos and videos), works good even in a canoe, but with the Trident kayak the Pirhanamax transducer just screws into a scupper, safe and sound and no finicky mess.