Small Portable Fishfinder for Canoe

[deadeye]

I was just wondering if anyone has a recomendation for a small portable unit that could be packed in during a BWCAW trip and also serve duty on the river in town too. I saw a really cheesy unit at Harbor Freight that sparked my intrest but its just too jankey for me to mess with. Curious to see what people have done and whats out there.

[primetime49]

most any of small ice fishing set ups should be as small as can get

however

I use a small lowrance 2 i/2 inch thick by 8 inch wide by 6 i/2 tall,i think it is a x-29 but not sure without going to look with a small motorcycle battery[4 in tallby 3 1/2 wide by 6 in long,its a summer set up.have suction cup and small retactable aluminum rod so dont have to bulk up for storage.probaly have under 150. total in unit.lawn tractor battery also could be cheaper,but heavier

[deadeye]

I was wondering how the suction cup transducers work? I saw a PirahnaMax 230 from Humminbird that would be just about perfect for what Im doing. It had a ducer on a suction cup and a smartcast transducer too. Im just not sure if that suction cup transducer would hold to a aluminum canoe well or not.

[Duffman]

deadeye....

My LX-5 transducer shoots right through the hull(kevlar) of my canoe, a dab of water is all that's needed. If you can get good bottom of the canoe contact, I would think that most transducers signals would shoot thru a aluminum hull.

[deadeye]

Ya I have used the vexilar like that before and it worked good. In fact I have even set the ice ducer off the side and vertical jigged with good results. However, it is in a genz pack and a litte bulky for doing portages. I have to go out to the World's Foremost Outfitter tonight to pick up some canoe seats so Im gonna poke around in there and see what they got.

In the Lund we got it glued to the hull and it works great. I use the canoe for duck hunting too so Im not sure if would be good to leave in there for that, although it may make for some interesting hunt/fish trips. Hmmm, now there is a idea, ducks and walleyes, what could be better.

[goblueM]

pirahnamax are great - bought one for my uncle who lives up in Ely and only fishes from a canoe. he loves it. Runs for a while on AA batteries and is very light

[Chode2235]

I have the humminbird pirhana portable. It is great, as it folds into its own little unit, runs on AA batteries, and is a pretty solid unit for what it is used for.

Mine has the suction transducer, and the smartcast.

The suction cups hold very well to the side of the canoe. I got it for this purpose and have loved it.

[opsirc]

there is one out there, think it is called the Fishing Buddy. It's all one unit clamps onto the side of the canoe, runs off of C cell batteries.

[deadeye]

Thanks for the input. I am thinking that the pirhanna is the way to go. The more I see it the better it looks. The one with the suction cup 'ducer and the smartcast is probably going to be the ticket. From what i can see they pack up pretty tight so hinking it a mile or two into a lake shouldnt be a problem. I have always wanted that smartcast fishfinder too, so I guess it kills two birds with one stone.

[MILLELACMANIAC]

I have a Hummingbird also and love it.Use it on my duck boat on the smaller lakesin south.MN

[HeavyD]

Just one more reason why I bought a Lowrance X67c Ice Machine. It triples as my BW unit as well as my ice and boat unit, but I do have to sneak in an extra battery to get through a week in the bush. Those Piranhas are nice for the price and very functional. Similar to my Vexilar Boundary Waters Edition (no longer made), but about 200 bones cheaper and neither cheesy nor jankey.