Hummingbird smartcast Fishfinders- Feedback? Opinions?

[ahalls]

Use both a SOT kayak and a float tube and havent had a depth/fishfinder for either. Have been checking out various options and have looked at mounting a regular unit, using a Fishing Buddy model, or just starting out with the Smartcast ( wristwatch) model from Hummingbird. Part of my challenge is that my cheap Pelican kayak isnt very adaptable to mounting/ using a regular finder or even a Fishing Buddy model, so thought the Smartcast unit might be the way to start out. Any feedback on these units?

 

[efka]

i did wet mount in my kayak and use regular fishfinder, works amazing and i only need to take the head unit off. never heard anyone using fishfinder on a float tube since the space is very limited. which pelican model do you have?

smartcast will show you the depth and maybe one or two fish, but not any structure. the bad thing about smartcast is once the battery of the transducer dies you need to buy a new transducer. they do not beform as good as other fishfinder in the same price range. oh and you cannot use it ice fishing.

 

[ahalls]

Thanks for that. My real problem with doing what you did is that my 10 ft pelican kayak is very basic and has no hatches i can use to access the inside of the bottom of the hull to mount a trasnducer like u did ( assuming by "wet mount" you meant stuck on the inside of the hull). Also no decent flat area to mount a holder for the unit itself. Might be able to use one of the rod holder mounts but still have a challenge with the transducer. Would have a challenge mounting a Fishing Buddy too as all the angles are low and curved on the sides of the kayak. Just started using a kayak last summer and wasnt planning on upgrading for a bit so was looking for a ff solution that would do me for a year or two. Ive seen ff mounts for float tubes that allow you to use a regular ff along with a battery etc but was looking for a solution that i could adapt to both the tube and the kayak easily. Realizee the smartcast is pretty limited but wasnt sure if it would drive me nuts trying it.

 

[efka]

what model kayak do you have?

 

[Knuguy]

I use a ff in a canoe. I use a piece of flat AL bar from CTC that I bent to fit around the gunwale. The transducer is mounted on one end of the bar using a ss machine screw. I clamp, or even use velcro to attach the other end to the gunwale and/or thwart. You could probably dream up something similar to attach to the hatch of the kayak.. Maybe use a strap around the hatch to affix the Al bar??

 

[ahalls]

My cheapie kayak is a 10" Pelican Castaway. got it at Sail- on a great sale. it has no covered hatches like others do.

 

[efka]

you can buy 6" hatches at bass pro, they are $15.

 

[ahalls]

Thx! I'll check that out! I know a proper ff wil be better than either a fishing buddy or a smartcast.

 

[Knuguy]

My cheapie kayak is a 10" Pelican Castaway. got it at Sail- on a great sale. it has no covered hatches like others do.

I wouldn't be too concerned about drilling a couple of holes in the deck to screw on some sort of mounting brkt. Seal the holes with marine grd silicone or whatever.