Hello all, getting closer to pulling the trigger on my kayak finally, now comes all the questions about rigging it. One of my main questions is the fish finder. As all of you know, there's a plethora of options for fish finders, I'm just trying to weed through all that. What's needed, what's not? What's nice to have, what's not necessary? And when it boils down to it, what fish finder do you use, which ones do you like?

I see older stuff where a lot of people seem to be using the Lowrance Elite 4, which seems to be discontinued now. Is that because it was taller as opposed to wider (like a lot of the ones I see in today's market), and they are less intrusive on our consoles or the side rails of our boats? Are they that good that I should try to track down an old stock one somewhere?

What would you buy or recommend in today's market and availability? Are the wider fish finders going to be in the way all the time?

I have a lowrance hook2 7 and love it because its super cheap and super easy to mount plus doesnt destroy your battery.

A lot of my kayaking friends use Dragonfly 5 pro which has top notch downscan imaging. Totally worth it for crappie fishing.

Great question OP. I am also in a similar situation as you with my recent purchase of a kayak. Im not in a rush to get a fish finder but I know I want one soon.

Get the biggest one that fits your budget. Me, I like one that has GPS, 2D, downscan and sidescan and I'm running a Garmin echoMAP chirp 73SV at the moment. If I had to buy again, I might would go to a Lowrance.

Humminbird Helix 7 with Side Image.

Lowrance ti total scan. Touchscreen

Bass Pro has a sale on lowrance elite 7 inch with gps, sonar, down scan and side scan including navionics maps. This is also a touchscreen unit. $499 Had the elite 9 for $599.
Thye had a sale on the lowrance hook 2 5 inch which has all features above is not a touchscreen and has non navionics maps. $299
Great time to save some major dollars on a finder.

I found a good price on a yak attack transducer arm at Dicks.
Could not get much of a price break on the track mounted holder .
Found the nocqua 10AH battery for $10 off at the gps store.
Do a little searching and you can find some good deals.

I am looking at getting the elite 7 for my kayak. I should have pulled the trigger and got it when it was on sale. I guess ill be waiting when its on sale again. Anyone have experience using that model?

Just looked and this is the only Lowrance Elite 7ti I could find.
Lowrance Elite-7 Ti2 Fishfinder/Chartplotter with US/Canada Navionics+ and Active Imaging 3-in-1

New
$819.99

The sale was last week. Missed it.

On the cheaper & smaller end of the spectrum, Lowrance Hook2 4x sonor/gps, Garmin Striker Plus 4 sonor/gps, or the Humminbird PiranhaMax 4 DI sonor? All around 100-150$

I would love to get a nicer unit with all the cool functions but not in the budget currently, I have been using an older Humminbird PiranhaMax 4 black & white unit so any of these will be a major upgrade for me?

Anybody have experience with these units?

Thanks Ray

I have a Hook2 5 split shot for sail in the classifieds for $225. Unit works as it should and is only 9 months old bought new from Lowrance. I needed a little larger screen for my old eyes.

I use the Garmin Striker 4 and like it. I bought it because of the small size, features and several hundred good reviews. I don't want an exposed transducer, so this ruled out a side image for me. Saying this, the Striker 4 fits my needs extremely well.

For what it's worth... If it became broken, stolen or lost, I would buy another Striker 4.

Hey Duffer, I appreciate the offer, but I am thinking i'm gonna go with the Garmin Striker Plus 4, i like the smaller size but slightly larger screen than the standard striker 4, it has a lot of great reviews like Mike mentioned above, seems super easy to function, and it is only $139.99 + tax, and I have a $20 off mailer coupon from Academy where they have it in stock so it will be pretty hard to beat at that price.