Phil. W Kayak Fishing.: January 2014

The weather lately has been terrible. Temperatures dropping into the teens and wind gusts up to 20 mph have kept me inside and not on the water. I reorganized my tackle boxes and then decided to do something constructive. I have been waiting on drilling any holes into my kayak until I was sure where I liked everything and since the Trident came with rod holders and storage I didnt really need to. I did alot of research on different locations and ways to install a fish finder on a kayak and decided that the standard and designed way would be best. I started out by getting the correct transducer for the Trident series. Luckily the fish finder I already had for use on jon boats and rental boats was compatible, Humminbird PiranhaMAX 175 which came with the standard transom mount transducer. I could have installed it in the hull and got accurate readings of depth and structure but I wanted to take full advantage of the different features like temperature so I purchased the thru hull transducer that fits directly in the port side scupper hole and is secured with a plastic nut. Also ill still have the ability to use the standard transducer should I go out on a jon boat or rental boat in the future.
Materials I used and made sure I had handy.
1 tube of marine grade Goop
Antiseize grease
Cordless drill +bit set
Exacto knife
Zip ties
Shrink wrap
Wire strippers/cutters
Lighter
Solid core copper wire 20
Battery terminal clips M/F

The first thing I needed to do was install the bracket for the head unit of the fish finder. The Trident series kayaks have a compartment designed with a splash guard at the bow and after playing around with different positions I decided this is where I would install mine. I started out by tracing the base centered and marking where the holes would be. I drilled the 4 screw holes smaller than the bolts for a tighter fit. Then I put a drop of goop on each screw hole, and around the base to create a seal, to keep any water out of the kayak. I then installed the 4 stainless screws. On the back side I coated the bolts with antiseize grease and tightened down nuts with lock washers. This will keep the bolts from corroding in the future.

Fish finder mount under splash guard.

Once the bracket was installed I began drilling for the cords, I was trying to fit both of them in 1 hole in the center of the mount but this didnt allow free movement of the display so I drilled 2 holes about 2 inches away from the base. Once the holes were drilled I cleaned them up with an exacto knife.

I had to take a break here to build a power cable for the fish finder. The original cable was designed for the batter to be right beside the unit, and I wanted to use the battery box in the hull of the kayak so I had to add about 3 feet of wire. Luckily as an electronics technician this was a pretty simple task.
First I got the wire adapters that fit on the batter and the existing power cord. I measured the necessary distance and cut the 2 pieces of wire. I slid shrink wrap onto the wire and crimped on the adapters. Then I slid the shrink wrap over and melted it with a lighter.
Once the cable was built I continued by installing the transducer and tightening down the plastic nut. Unfortunately this transducer is also used on power boats so it includes a very long cable. I routed the cable through the hole drilled and wrapped up the excess and secured it with zip ties above the battery box. I next routed the power cord and zip tied it out of the way of the hatch.
With the cables routed and secured I installed the head unit and connected the cables. I then applied goop to the holes to seal them. I didnt do a pretty job on the sealant but its water tight and thats all that matters!