Purchasing a PA14, Had a few questions beforehand.

So i've been sifting through the forum for awhile and had a few questions before my big purchase.

To start, I plan to fish lakes and rivers, no salt water in upstate ny. Mainly Bass fish, but not opposed to trolling in the future. Im working on a simple trailer build once i find a deal off cl.

I know I won't know where ill want everything until im in the water and comfortable with the new boat but i was wondering what you guys would suggest as essential addons.

I plan on purchasing a Fishfinder and adding LED lighting for the deck and outside of the rig for night-time visibility. I specifically have questions on purchasing a battery. I have read on here that the package hobie produces with the battery holder is a good buy, but ive also read alot about people undersizing the battery per their fishfinder. Would the battery they supply be in an issue? I could see myself possibly adding a trolling motor in the future. Would it be best to oversize for the possibility of expansion?

Also if you had suggestions on a fishfinder. Ease of install, which features are best for the kayak, etc.

Looking forward to your suggestions. now back to reading through the forum.

Where in CNY are you? I am on Keuka Lake in Penn Yan. I would be happy to set up a time for you to see my boat and give it a try. It is a 2014 Pro Angler 14. I have it set up with gear tracks on the front rails that I can switch accessories back and forth depending on intended target for the day. I have the H-Bar for back water casting.

For Trolling, I just added an Attwood Downrigger. I mounted this on a Walker 25 Degree Mounting plate. I can pop it back off the boat easily. I use Ram 2000 rod holders on the front gear tracks. I run the downrigger off the Port side and a Dipsy Diver on the Starboard side.

For fishfinder, I am running a Lowrance HDS 7 Touch Screen w/Side scan sonar. I have the Hobie battery and hatch mount.

For trailer, i have a Venture PWC trailer. Fits well and tows easily.

double post

I appreciate the generosity, unfortunately im in the Saratoga area.

How do you like your HDs 7? More specifically the side scan?

On a side note im trying to decide between the Hobie H crate and the yak attack blackpak. Ive read good reviews on the blackpak and some mixed reviews on the H crate.

Essentials - a good rear 360 degree safety light and a comfortable PFD.
The rest is my personal opinion - I would not go crazy with interior lights. More lights near you, more bugs near you. Wearing a typical quality led head lamp for use only when needed seems to work fine for me. External lights for safety or shoreline viewing at night. Go simple here as well. I had some 40" 60 led strips in Blue color on my original PA14 and it lit up the water and shoreline awesome however if anybody fished near me they were blinded. You can pick if that is a problem or not. To view shoreline now I am going to use some small white LED strips or small floodlight on a RAM mount off the front handle. I typically like to pitch toward the bow so I feel some spread lighting up there will do the trick. Plus any bugs attracted will be up at the bow and not on me.

Batteries need to be sized by your current draw and time on the water. Figure out entire load / draw and multiply by the hours of your trip. Say your finder draws 1 amp and your leds draw .5 amps x the 6 hours you want to fish 1.5 x 6 = 9 amps. Plus you never want to drain a regular AGM or sealed lead battery all the way. So I would shoot for a 12-15ah battery to be safe.
Adding a TM to the mix means a way bigger battery depending on the TM you get and how fast and long you run it. If you really want to run a TM all day, then you pretty much will need a full-size marine type battery.

Fishfinders - get the biggest darn screen you can afford. Especially if you want to view side scan or double/triple panels at once. Side scan on a 5 to 7" screen sucks. I mainly use regular 2d sonar and GPS / mapping. But I am older and so are my eyes so I want these things as easy to see as possible. I miss fish on the side scan on my HDS7 all the time. I see it later looking at Sonar logs on my PC. Hard to see those little white marks out in the sun on a small screen. Plus you have to be moving consistently and fairly level(no rocking) to get the best picture for Side Imaging. Not a simple feat in a yak on a busy lake. Therefore I rarely use all the goodies I paid for. Side scan and some downscan transducers also bring the challenge on where to mount the darn ducer in the water with clear line of sight(for sidescan). There is no easy fix for this. Just pick your poison with either side mounting via some arm, or rear/ front mounting off the handles. You have to deploy it, retrieve it when beaching or exiting, deal with drag or weeds getting caught, blah blah blah.. Stick with what fits in the lowrance ready and you will have less hassle in the long run. If you waste 10 mins getting ready to launch and 10 mins getting out, you have lost 20 mins of fishing time every darn trip. Keep it simple and effective and enjoy yourself.

So my PA will arrive next friday, can't wait. So i've been looking into fish finders. I havent found any definitive proof on the forums if the hds7 gen 2 touch transducer will fit into the lowrance ready system. If anyone could chime in that would be great.

Or if anyone had some suggestions. Im looking for a FF with a 7" screen that needs little to no modifications.

one last question. Whats the major differences between the hobie fish finder battery package II vs III

I just bought the Dragonfly 7 there is a you tube video on how to modify the mount to make it work.