[twade]

I was thinking about the Humminbird 525 for the Kayak. It seems to have what I want including being waterprof and priced just about where I wanted.

The problem is I want to remove the unit to use with my buddies jon boat and then I saw this review on cabela's.


Humminbird 525 has its weakness, December 23, 2008
from Modesto California


"I returned my first one because the power would shut off on the unit. They gave me a new one and it worked well for about 2 weeks. 2 Weeks means 14 days of fishing in a row and removal of the finder each night to prevent theft. The support staff returned my email suggesting they had a problem with these units. The problem is the connection pins where the power supply goes into the unit. They have no strength to rebound flush tight after being disconnected a few times. They need a better quality supply because it is frustrating to have to constantly turn it on every time you hit a wake on the water."

Everyone else liked it. Is there another one that might better suite me? I am willing to pick up a 2nd transducer... I also don't want some thing too big on the yak.. and wouldn't mind something "simple".

Any thoughts? Any complaints?

[kayakangler]

I would check out the Lowrance x67c

[Musky Mauler]

Every manufacturer kicks out a faulty unit every so often. You only hear about the faulty units. If you look hard enough you'll find someone complaining about Lowrance. Get what fits your needs. Humminbird and Lowrance both make good products.

[Bearsfan]

My portable unit is a Lowrance M68c. I like it a lot. This is the same as the X67C, but with GPS too. It works well for ice fishing. I'd save my money and go with a color unit that has the highest vertical resolution you can afford. On a yak you may or may not want a separate handheld GPS? I don't know a lot about it.

[Fishin D]

TWade,

I have a sonar that i easily transfer from the Canoe to the pond prowler. With my simple design, it won't make a hill of beans difference which one you use.

I used a 2 x 6 board cut to about 11" or so. Size is dependent on the size of your base and your battery. I mounted the sonar base to the board. then I got a small 12 volt battery, same kind used in aquaview cameras, and ice flashers. I put that on the board right behind the sonar. I attached it to the wood with velcro tape. Strong, and holds the battery tight. Now this little unit is compact, and you never really have to disconnect it to move it around. I just put the female terminals on the wire ends that fit onto the battery, and bam!! You are in business. I'll try to get some pics up here to illustrate the simplicity. Took me all of 10 minutes to get this done!

Now, for the transducer, I only use one, and I have that mounted to a 17" piece of pvc pipe, with a clamping handle at the top. This was more challenging as I had to accommodate 2 different mounting areas between both boats. So I had to cut some extra grooves in the pvc, and it works great. This way I just take the entire thing: ducer, unit and battery into either boat. Total weight is maybe 7-8 lbs.

So I say, who cares what brand you use? The unit will be permanently mounted to the block of wood, and you will not need to pull out the connector, ever!! Only connections you will pull out are the ones you put onto the battery to charge it every once in a while.

I'll work on some pics.....

D

[twade]

My main purpose is for local lakes and rivers and not something like Lake Michigan so I am not sure if I am ready for the GPS and or large units. Outside of fish I am more concerned about depth and temperature and I would like to find the thermocline line but not necessarily commented to it. I guess that is way I am not to concerned about the black/grey models. Plus it will be mounted directly in front of me so the screen size is a non-issue. (As far as I am concerned mr jon boat can buy his own fish finder) but hey I am the one getting him into this fishing stuff so I feel responsible.

D,

The board is great idea however with the kayak there is no where to really put it. I have a rod pod in the middle that and nice little storage area that I will be using and need to get to. So I want to mount the unit on top close to that area. With the way my legs my legs are in it might be uncomfortable. I also have a suspended battery bag on the inside to keep it dry and a transducer hole in the haul that I would like to utilize. Send the pic I might be missing something..

[Fishin D]

Well, the footprint of the board is not much bigger then the unit itself, and u can certainly make it smaller, I just made it this size as if fits into a nook in the prowler perfectly. U could also just use velcro tape to put it anywhere on the yak that you want. That stuff strong.

I'll go snap some pics now.

For your ducer, yeah, a yak may be different that the canoe for mounting purposes. Not sure if my idea works for you, or maybe inspires an alternate solution on your part.

D

[twade]

i do like the velcro tape.. yeah send away.

[Fishin D]

Here ya go:

[sinned]

i have a 525 too. its ok. not great, not bad. but it works. i set the transducer in goop to shoot through the hull and its been finicky. i am often in 0.8' of water! GRRR

if/when i do it again, i would do the little form factor fish finders. i don;t find that i use the fishfinder data as much as the depth and temp data.

i prefer to have a separate gps-if/when i use it,its for speed and general position info.

something else to think about rigging a fishfinder or transducer is the movement of fish or your poles/lines. i prefer to have the gunnels clear so my line won't get tangled or cut. i REMOVED my anchor rigging because of it.

[twade]

Lucking the trident has a transducer scupper hole and the location is pretty prime. I heard that the trick to the goop is bubbles, if you have bubbles it can throw it off.

[sinned]

yeah, the trick to goop is keeping the nozzle UNDER the puddle when squeezing it out. it gives you a nice big bubble free puddle.

1st time, the puck slid when it was curing and i think the joint got starved for adhesive. i used powerpro to saw it apart. you could see the bubble under the puck.

2nd time?? i sawed off the puck again and tried it in a bucket and it seemed to work ok. its curing as we speak and i hope to splash it this week.

dennis

[twade]

well the scupper hole that supports the transducer is so far - useless. The puck has a bracket arrangement that prevents the puck to lay flat. So I need to my put thinking cap on this one.

I think one part Fishn D and one part hull transducer scupper is going to be the trick, I like the "pole" idea however the I have nothing to clamp too ..

um....

[sinned]

is that puck a standard transom mount or is it the one that fits a through hole in the hull?

[twade]

Mount. I saw RonG's HOW TO post were he ground off the bracket.. might have to do that.

[RonG]

twade wrote:

Mount. I saw RonG's HOW TO post were he ground off the bracket.. might have to do that.

UPDATE:

I've been out fishing 5 times now with it and it's holding up fine. It's great not messing with a bracket arm, attaching and detaching it every time out or having it in the way. Loading and unloading, it's also nice not having it in the way or worrying about not bumping and breaking a bracket arm.

[sinned]

why again did you grind off the mount?

did you consider putting a foam 'receiver' in the hull to hold the transducer and then putting water or vaseline in the well and the transducer in that?

the trick is to make a foam 'donut'. the inside shape is cut snug to the outline of the transducer. the donut is gooped or glued to the hull so that it creates a well for the water, ky jelly, vaseline, or whatever you use as the couplant to transmit the signal.

when you go to go fishing, pour some water in the donut, push the transducer in and squeeze out some water so the transducer is makeing contact.

dennis

[RonG]

sinned wrote:

why again did you grind off the mount?

1) The kayak has one of the areas enlarged under a scupper hole for the mounting of a puck through the scupper.

2)I wanted to avoid drilling any holes in the boat for getting the wiring up to the locator.

3) I have rod and other storage below deck and didn't want the puck and wiring in the way.

4) It has a temperature sensor and would like to have it accurately reading the water temps.

Here's the project again:

http://www.chitown-angler.com/1fish/vie ... hp?t=40887

[sinned]

now i remember... that works!

one thing i remembered, the 525 is a single beam transducer. so you might not pic up much if you are running shallow.

i was fishing along rocks yesterday, and i could SEE smallies all around and under me. the finder would not pick them up.

[RonG]

sinned wrote:

now i remember... that works!

one thing i remembered, the 525 is a single beam transducer. so you might not pic up much if you are running shallow.

i was fishing along rocks yesterday, and i could SEE smallies all around and under me. the finder would not pick them up.

I sometimes don't pick up perch laying on the bottom and am surprised when I catch them in that spot. I sure could pick up the perch in the weeds though. Little buggers think they are hiding. lol

My Vexilar was the best at marking the bottom-hugging perch, especially when I was on the move.