Best Fish Finder for Trident 13

I've had my Trident 13 for about a year now, it is completely stock as of now with no accessories. I have mostly rock fished off of it and it has been great as it is, but with all the free time due to the quarantine I'd like to start adding some accessories, firstly a fish finder. I've been looking around on the internet and have looked at several different brands, but ultimately what I am looking for is a fish finder with a small profile, CHIRP sonar, and preferreably GPS so I can mark spots. One of my big concerns is setting it up however, and I would like to make sure that my setup would still be safe to launch in surf without damaging a fish finder. If anyone has any experience with a fish finder on a trident 13 (or any kayak) I'd really appreciate the advice.

+1 to what Spiff-O wrote.

I’ve had Humminbird and Raymarine on kayaks, used Lowrance on a powerboat. Like all of them for one or another feature. Most recently using a Raymarine and would again.

Looking at them online, playing with them at a store like west marine, reading threads on this site should help narrow it down.

I have the trident 13, and use a Humminbird, mostly because the scupper transducer. I have a cheap lowrance hook 1, on my other yak, and the transducer is set up for through hull. Both work great. Slight edge to the humminbird. My opinion.

I have a trident 13 and use an inexpensive Garmin Stryker.  I have the transducer rigged through the scupper hole, but it definitely required some Gerry, rigging but it now works well.  I also installed the Garmin in hull mount for the transducer, but have never tried it, although, I hear it works. 

Don’t spend too much energy, time or money on a ff. <120.00 for something used will get you what you need for rockfish,salmon. Protect the connections and don’t be surprised if it breaks on you in a year or so.

I have a trident 13 and use an inexpensive Garmin Stryker.  I have the transducer rigged through the scupper hole, but it definitely required some Gerry, rigging but it now works well.  I also installed the Garmin in hull mount for the transducer, but have never tried it, although, I hear it works.

I think I'm going to go with the Stryker 4 3.5" display. As far as mounting the transducer, is there any way I could see some pictures of how you did it (I'd really appreciate it)? I was also curious where you mounted the fish finder itself or if you have any recommendations? 

I have the Stryker 5, my eyes are not the best as I have grown not so young so I went with the 5, I might look at the 7 next time. I put my transducer in a water bath inside the hull and leave a water bottle in the hull just in case it needs a little more water. You can see some pics here: https://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=82805.0 Duct Seal is great stuff! I haven't had to mess with it in two years... Have fun rigging!

I have the Stryker 5, my eyes are not the best as I have grown not so young so I went with the 5, I might look at the 7 next time. I put my transducer in a water bath inside the hull and leave a water bottle in the hull just in case it needs a little more water. You can see some pics here: https://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=82805.0 Duct Seal is great stuff! I haven't had to mess with it in two years... Have fun rigging!

Thanks for the ideas, I really like the way you have yours set up, I was planning on doing an in-hull mount using duct seal. I haven't seen anyone use a container like that though and thought that was a pretty good idea. Just to clarify (this is my first time mounting a fish-finder) the duct seal is placed on the bottom of the container between the boat to prevent air from interfering with the signal? And inside the container you have the transducer in a water bath held in place by duct seal? That looks like it could be a lot more permanent than a well or simply placing duct seal on the hull.

I notice that someone on the thread you linked said they simple attached the transducer to the hull with the in hull mount from Garmin with duct seal between the transducer and the hull. That might be simpler for me, and that way I would have no need for a water bath.

One thing to keep in mind when using a water bath is that a lot of lakes will not allow you to launch. They are worried about quagga and zebra mussels.

If your just going in the bay and ocean it won’t be an issue.

I used that container and made a ring of duct seal and pressed the container into it and mushed up the sides. Then I made a couple of Duct Seal "straps" and attached the transducer with the straps to the other duct seal. The pictures show it. I can't really speak about the other mounting style with the prefab mount. I already had duct seal so I went with that. The small amount of water takes care of air bubbles.

A couple of things... 1. I don't even attach the top of the container anymore, it holds plenty of water without the lid. You don't need much water.

2. If you plan on crabbing leave slack in the power and transducer cord so you can move the FF to other locations, when I am crabbing I move the FF to the mod pod with a different mount. That gives me room to keep one trap in front of the yak and one on the back with a goal post.

I never thought about going in a lake and the mussel problem but I only go in the ocean.

The kayak is presently hanging upside down on the roof of my packed garage but I’ll see if I can get some photos tomorrow.