I've never used one, and am fairly new to the kayak fishing game. What are the benefits and is it worth the cost? On another note is texoma even worth trying? I live in dfw and just wondering if the main lake is even worth the drive? Any help would be appreciated. thanks!

I'm sort of in your boat. I've only been kayak fishing for about 4 months. I am just now getting a FF. I went and bought my battery today, just have to go get a charger and mount it all up! I will be using it out this weekend for the first time. It's only a Lowrance Elite-4X, but I think it will be a big help. Granted, the information it gives is only good if the angler knows how to use it.

Also, there was an Elite-4X DSI for sale in the kayak classifieds for a pretty good price.

I think this post might answer both your questions. Not current conditions but you see some good fish and he shows why a FF is important to finding fish. The benefit is you find and catch the real good fish verses stumbling on them.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/10730540/1

You can go $100 or $1,000+, GPS or no GPS, etc. It depends on what you need and want. I use mine mostly to show depth and underwater structures. If you get one, don't forget to add in the cost of a battery and mounts for the display and the transducer.

I am also pretty new to kayak fishing, but I have found my depth finder to be very valuable.

It takes some getting used to, specifically reading what you're seeing. It helps to adjust the settings a lot.

It is very nice being able to find the structure and terrain fish relate to. You can do the same thing without a fish finder by fishing a location frequently, the way old folks used to , but it is much faster to use the sounder.

For me, the most important feature in addition to the sonar was GPS. Being able to get right back on top of a location after you find it is a huge time saver.

I find now though that being able to record my trips to an SD card and view them on my computer really has helped me learn to interpret what I am seeing. It also lets me go back over and see things I missed(which I do all the time) and mark structure on the GPS after the fact.

As for Texoma, I am very interested in other people's response to that question. I live in NDFW and would like to head up to Texoma some time with the kayak but I've never fished there, let alone fished there from a kayak.

That post was very interesting. Thanks for that.

I'm hearing that right now Texoma (Lake) is a disaster as far as catching goes. They are wacking them below the spillway, just a rumor.
As far as fish finders go there are a lot of things to consider B 4 you buy. A few things would be, what do you like to fish for, how often do you fish, what water body do you normally fish (lakes, ponds, rivers & creeks) are you mostly beating the banks or do you want to fish deeper water, do you plan on fishing tournaments, and there are other considerations.
One thing I'd recommend is get the biggest screen you can afford.
For me, Side Image and GPS are a must have.

Thanks guys. I will probably be bass, sand bass and striper/hybrid fishing the most. I'll start looking into what's best for those species. I'm not a tourny fisher, but never say never.

I have been looking, testing and researching all the brands over the past two months. I finally settled on a Raymarine Dragonfly 5pro, and I really enjoy it. My second choice was Low Elite5 HDI and Humminbird Helix.

Depending on your budget and requirements such as GPS or CHIRP technology, I suggest you take time to test the ones you like and research as much as you can! Good luck!

I went through this exercise a couple of years ago when lake levels were down, boats were stranded in their docks, and not much water in the rivers and creeks. I suppose I got some entertainment value from my Elite 4x but it never entertained me to the point where I wanted to become proficient in its use. Most days it was just a distraction and can't say it ever put more fish in the boat. That being said, fishing is always a part of but rarely my primary objective for being on the water.

Put 8 feet of water on top of your favorite fishing spots and see if you remember exactly which stumps seemed to always hold fish.