Portable fish finders and RediSet rod holders on a kayak.

Hey everybody,

This is my first post on NCKA.  I live in Alameda and plan on doing some sturgeon fishing off Alameda and Bay Shore Island.  I have a nautical map of the bays but I want to pick up a fish finder for my Caper.  Saw this one on Bass Pro shops and wondered what everyone else thought.

 http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=75236&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

I also saw this and thought it would be awesome to mount on my yak.  http://www.buoy33.com/

Figured I would attach the fish finder with some strong velcro taping + tying it off since I don't have a shop here in my apartment.  Thanks for any insight.  Does anyone have any experience kayak fishing Alameda/Bay Shore island?  Thanks.

Welcome to the madness SurfFisher,

Hook-up with the "East Bay Slayers" consited of members such as Insaneduane,ChuckE,Fish Hunter,JTF,Bungle and sandman...just to name a few. These guys know this area pretty well. Just keep an eye on the hook-up section.

I'm not a big fan of portable FF (been there done that) but to each his own. ChuckE uses one and seems to be happy with his set-up.

As far as the rediset rodholders, IMO: great idea for drifting for halibut or sturgeon fishing...but I'd rather not have that extra weight on the reel when jigging for rock fish.

just my 2 cents...

Hope to see you on the water soon!

A lot of us have this unit(non Portable) dual search and almost twice the power
http://www.fishfinderdiscounts.com/product/25200
Cool rod holders I have used them on a PB worked great, in the Kayak I just hold the rod for dinos.
Agree with everthing Mooch said except for drifting for Buttes those rod holders are pretty much just for use when anchored they are free swinging so they would move around a lot if you were drifting.

I am not sure I would want that pin sticking out from the reel seat. It would poke the hell out of my leg as I am always laying the rod down when landing a fish.

Here's the unit I use, but instead of using the suction cup (which can often fall off or snag kelp and weeds), I use the customary glued in foam cut-outs inside the hull to hold the transducer.  All my yaks have the same foam transducer holders, so I can use the same FF with all my yaks.


http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_91007?cmCat=CROSSSELL&cmid=PP_P2_1#reviews

The Eagle Cuda portable is probably a more reliable FF, but it's case is too bulky for me.

Hi and Welcome, SurfFisher.

You're going to be really glad you joined the group!

I use the same FF and setup as Chuck E.  It's really simple and intuitive to run.

True, it's not the most durable, but it's really accurate and if you take care of it (rinse off the salt and dry it well) it should be fine.

Cheers, -Mendocino Matt

but I'd rather not have that extra weight on the reel when jigging for rock fish.

If you can't deal with an additional 3-4 oz's I suggest putting the keyboard down and lifting the occassional weight, start small, maybe 1-2 oz's then work your way up to 4....might help with the ladies also. 


SurfFisher, most fishfinders will work fine, the typical transom mount transducer can shoot through plastic hulls without any problems and need not be permanently or semi permanently mounted. You might try running a search on the cuda here for more specific reviews, I'm pretty sure others have used them. 

Scotty also has a new quick release rod holder this year called the ORCA.

http://www.scotty.com/marine/products/product/rodholders/ORCA.html



I've fiddled with some early protos on the show floor and they work all right.  Hopefully, the production models are a little looser.  I got one in the mail the other day and hope to give it a run some time soon.

-Allen