Fish finders, which one to choose and why

I'm looking to put a fish finder on my 2015 PA14, nothing over the top but something that's realistically going to work for me and maybe with gps, any suggestions?

Raymarine Dragonfly 5 Pro. I have had this unit for about 4 weeks now. See http://www.amazon.com/Raymarine-Dragonf ... 4031KPSW4K

Pros: Dual CHIRP transducers (regular and downvision) give great resolution; Good integration with Navionics Plus charting and HD bathymetry maps; Display unit is large enough to show split screen images but small enough not to get in the way when fishing or paddling; Has built-in WiFi so you can control functions or capture screenshots on your smartphone or tablet (great feature for a larger boat, but not really useful in a yak).

Cons: Transducer is relatively long and will not fit in the Lowrance Ready hull mount without doing some plastic surgery (I use a Ram Transducer Mount over the side); Sometimes has a hard time locating the bottom if there are lots of fish around - Zooming software is set to keep the bottom in the picture, but sometimes it mistakes schools of fish for the bottom, or decides that you are in 2 feet or 1200 feet of water when you are really in 80 feet with fish stacked up beneath you; Drains my battery in about 8 hrs; GPS is off by about 20-40 ft and I don't know if this can be calibrated or not - historical trail logs show me passing through instead of around piers, for example, and fishing sudden drop-offs or hunting for submerged structure that appears on the map can be frustrating; Although the unit has WiFi capability, it will not integrate into your home network, so if you want to upload bathymetry data to Navionics or download map data you will need to remove the chip from the FF and put it in your laptop instead of just logging into the Dragonfly on the PA parked in your garage.

I have a Humminbird 385ci DI sonar/gps combo that has worked well for me. If you get a hummingbird unit for the Pro Angler, you will need to get the Humminbird adapter kit for the transducer. It's just 2 plastic arms with hardware so you can mount it in the vertical posts on the plastic Lowrance cover under the PA. They make it as the 385ci (with gps) if you don't care for the DI imaging.

I use a 12volt 9mah battery and can usually get 2 long days worth of fishing with it between charges. It's easy to use and read.



The base mounts perfectly on the H-Rail mounting pads if you cut a square of board material as a backplate. Just drill the 4 holes for the base and a hole in the middle to run the transducer and power cabling through.

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Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

Thanks for the help and I'll research both of those fish finders. One more question, do most fish finders transducers fit the Hobie transducer mount?

The Lowrance transducers fit better because the PA comes with the mounting pieces that work for most Lowrance Transducers. Hence the "Lowrance Ready" connotation. The Hobie Humminbird Adapter kit works for most (if not all) Humminbird transducers that I am aware of. Can't comment on the Ray Marine side. I'm sure you can search and find plenty of folks that have installed that brand on a PA and find out what the challenges were. As far as other brands, you probably won't know until you get the unit. It should not be hard to make a bracket to adapt to the "Lowrance Ready" cover plate on the bottom. That's what the transducer is mounting to...not the hull. That flat mounting plat attaches to the hull using three screws and the transducer shoots through the plate. Good luck

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Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

I'm +1 for the Raymarine Dragonfly, but I have the 4 pro (slightly smaller screen). However, you'll have to do some surgery to the transducer cover. There are a few how to videos out there to show what to trim.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

I went with the Humminbird HELIX 5 Down imaging GPS fish finder and revived all the mounting hardware and installation instructions from "ACK." I also purchased an adapter kit for the transducer to connect to the PA. I'll let you know how the installation goes and how well the fish finder works.
I'm going to be using my PA14 for the 1st time this weekend fishing in Utah and thanks for all the help.

Hope it works out well for you. Welcome to the PA family and the addiction!

_________________
Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

How well did the Helix 5 work for you? I'm looking at the Helix 7 SI with GPS once they're available to order for my PA17. I know the transducer will fit the PA17's Lowrance ready plate with the hummingbird adapter, and if the side imaging doesnt work, I've seen a few mods to drop it below the plate and still use the same area for mounting. Of course side imaging on a kayak almost seems like cheating.

I decided to take the side imaging plunge and will be picking up a Humminbird SI unit tomorrow. My current 385ci DI will now be on the other PA. "PDB" mentioned that side imaging on a kayak is "like cheating". I guess I want to cheat.

Drew up some ideas last night on mounting the transducer in the Lowrance ready area that will allow for the transducer to be lowered for use and retracted when not in use to protect it. I'm confident I can get this setup to work. Not a fan of hanging a transducer arm off the side/back. A good friend made a spring loaded setup on his PA for the same purpose. Not a fan of those side imaging transducers being mounted on the plastic cover plate where they would scrape the bottom, ramp, etc.

I decided to go with the Humminbird brand since it's just one transducer and plan on documenting the steps and taking pictures of the install. Will try to post results in a few days. Wish me luck!

_________________
Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

Have the same unit, took me awhile to figure the settings I like, I'm electronically challenged. The only issues I've had are not with the unit, but things to consider. I used 8AA batteries on my old cheap unit, they lasted about 2 hours with this one, so now I'm using a 7volt deer feeder battery and usually charge it after every trip. The Hobie battery holders are great, I'm using 2, the one for the battery powering my FF is mounted to the sail mast tube. Oh, I have an Outback, don't know if u have that. The other "problem", when your depth readings go flaky on you, you may need to remove the transducer mount and clean it out, I've had to do it several times, but otherwise the Lowrance ready mount is nice.

The only problem with the helix models the do not have chirp sonar until the helix 12.
I would go with the Lowrance Elite 7 TI or the Hook 7. I have mounted mine to a ram plug for the sail mast and it works great.

I have the Dragonfly 7 and like it.

My son and I both have the Dragonfly 4 Pro. I got rid of my Jackson kayak and bought a new PA12 a couple of weeks ago and going to pick up another new PA12 for my son today. I'm sure all the fish finders are great and you probably can't go wrong with any of them. I went and looked at them and just liked the layout and functions of the Raymarine. Easy to install on the Pro Anglers. I just cut the two plastic prongs off and the placed the transducer in the slot and then put the cover on. It just sits in there and works great.

I apologize for the late response but the install was a pain but the adapter for the sonar portion went in just fine and fit like a glove. So far it works great but I haven't had a lot of opportunities to take it out. Next month me and my son are are going fish once a week, twice if we can.