CTFishTalk.com: Tired of fishing blind - Connecticut Bass Fishing ( CT Bass Fishing ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

rxpxtx · Joined: 06 May 2012 Posts: 259

OK, so when I sold my boat and went the canoe route (which I absolutly love by the way) I lost an aspect of the hunt that I really feel I need to have. Depth!! The other thing that was nice to have was structure. Big weed gardens at 20 feet are tough to pick out while paddling a new lake. With the bass moving to points and weeds now that the temp is up, and going up to Williams Pond (up to 15 ppl now, you should join us) for this yak-together, I decided to give this portable unit a try. Hummingbird Piranhamax160 dual beam portable. $129 almost anywhere.

I know its good for temp, depth, and some structure. We'll see if it can mark fish. I really dont care if it cant. Completely self contained with a battery that is big, well reviewed, and rechargeable. The transducer is the same that comes on big money finders. I'm gonna have to hard mount it eventually, but for now, it being set up for transom mount, I'll have to rig up a way to flip it 90 degrees for a side mount, cause I'm short on transom's!

I've got these channels in the bottom of the canoe for tracking. I think this transducer will sit up forward nicely, not costing me too much efficiency, and not picking up every weed out there. I want it pretty flush so it doesnt get beat to hell, cause I'm not nice to this boat. We go in bad places. I may have to tinker with this because of the side scan (20* down scan and 60* side.) We'll see. Any opinions?

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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.

SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

Hi,

Try making yourself a swing-up transducer arm out of PVC.

An upside down L which you can secure to the coaming and rotate the long arm 90 degrees down into the vertical position with transducer attached.

Just remember to rotate the arm up when getting into bad spots.

SeaDog1 Mr. Green

Mase2020 · Joined: 15 Jun 2012 Posts: 228

I was looking at the same one. Can't wait to see how you like it. I will have to follow you around at the Yak together, just to see it work Laughing

. Not to cheat. No seriously want to see how you like it. I have only been bass fishing for a year, but know that this time of year structure location is important. see you then. Also not handy with rigging things.

Mase

Zach0208 · Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Posts: 75

I just bought a Hummingbird 190c. It's good for depth and temp, but Im still trying to figure out how to read the structure. I had a seperate battery that works well and bought a wooden beam and a metal arm from Home Depot then tied them together. Hope you love it and can share some more experience.

I may post my set-up sometime, still dont figure out how to upload pictures.

jjbassfishn · Joined: 17 Jun 2012 Posts: 209 Location: Northwestern CT.

You could try what the bassboat guys do, Bond the transducer to the hull and shoot right thru it. I'm shooting thru at least a 1/2 inch of fiberglass. Works fine.
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PB LMB 9.3LBS Winchester Lake
PB SMB 5.8LBS Colebrook Res.
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Can't catch em sittin on the sofa! Wink

rxpxtx · Joined: 06 May 2012 Posts: 259

Took a spin around Cedar Lake in Chester to give the new electronics a try. Def have to either build a swing arm or a box to shoot through the hull, because the angles of my canoe are no good for the suction cup mount. It was reading 50' in the 30 foot hole. For a cheap unit, I was very impressed with the bottom display. Found some deep grass I knew was there at 30'. It also marked deep fish where I knew they would be. Great display in heavy sun. This will be a good addition to my canoe once I get the set up correct. If I remember correctly, to shoot it through, and get the side scan to work, I need to have a box around it that will hold water. I'll research this. I'm also going to take the transducer to one of the local guys to cut the wire down. Its like 20' long.
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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

rxpxtx · Joined: 06 May 2012 Posts: 259

Thanks Phil. I'm going to check with hummingbird on the mount. It's not a 190. It's the 160 dual beam portable. What they describe as 20* down scan with 60* side scan. I'm going to build a quick swing arm set up till I figure out if it will shoot through the hull correctly with the dual beam. I have a feeling this needs to be in the water.
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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.

mikey5string · Joined: 09 May 2012 Posts: 179 Location: West Haven

I wanted one for a while but I am starting to reconsider. I like fishing blind, it requires you to really pay attention and think more, keeps me sharp!

AKA ill be getting served papers if I buy more fishing equipment this season ; )

jjbassfishn · Joined: 17 Jun 2012 Posts: 209 Location: Northwestern CT.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Hey, Dave, the Dual Beam refers to the width of the conical sonar beam from the transducer. You could definitely mount that one inside your hull. How portable it would be, I don't know. Marine Goop is thick, sticky stuff.
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

rxpxtx · Joined: 06 May 2012 Posts: 259

I understand that part of it Phil, but looking at the transducer it definitely uses more than just the bottom flat part to send out waves. I read you can build a watertight box with no bottom, goop that in, and pin the transducer to the box with a fast pin (push button and the ball bering releases) and just fill the box with water. I'd like to keep it portable, as it may come in handy on the ice. Anyway, I built an arm to get me by till I have time to work on it. A little Sanford and Son, but it will do for now.

And I know what you guys are talking about with the hairy eyeball!! I have far exceeded my fishing budget this year already
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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.

Zach0208 · Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Posts: 75

anointed130 · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 6:04 pm Post subject:

I have a 150 that works pretty well on my beach trophy, but i have no idea how to read it. Usually I use it to see how deep I am, but i still cant tell the differnce between grass, sand, mud,or rock bottom...

Iwish hummingbird would have, ade some type of chart display.
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"Come after Me, and i will make you to become fishers of men"

Can i be a fisher of fish too?

~Tony~

rxpxtx · Joined: 06 May 2012 Posts: 259

Zach...I got the mount off of an old desk mount drafting lamp and tapered a large dowel to fit, then a plumbing 90* fitting and dowel. Didn't want the wood in the water, so I continued it down with a piece of fiberglass angle I had in the shed. It makes a lot of turbulence, so I'm gonna cut part of the glass off thats in the water. Works well though.

Anointed. If you want to know if it's mud or sand, I'm afraid your gonna have to get your toes wet. As for structure, I took it to a place that I know has downed submerged tree's, deep isolated gardens, and a rock pile. Tree was impossible to see as anything but clutter, but I didnt need electronics cause the base was sticking out of the freakin water. The rock pile came up as part of the grey bottom contour, and was identifiable because it looked like it didnt belong with the surrounding layout. Deep weeds looked like a fern on the display. Fish were marked well around the tasty structure, right where they should be!
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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.