Viking Lars | Saturday, 30 December 2017
Some may remember that I mentioned the sonar I got for the pontoon boat/float tube/kayak a while back. I got the Deeper Sonar, which is a great device that lets me see depth, bottom structure and fish! I don't use it all the time, but it's always in the bag.
I'm reluctant when it comes to tricking out my "crafts" - I'm determined to keep them as simple as possible, which of course is quite hard for me as I'm a bit of a gear head, and I canøt help getting fascinated by all sorts of add-ons and gadgets. But - it's more important for me to keep the crafts as light as possible, and as quick as possible to set up and get on the water.
The kayak is the most "tricked out" of the three, and that's because it sort of makes sense, as most of the stuff can remain mounted as the kayak goes on top of the car anyway. But trust me, it's not that equipped: A rod holder, a cup/bottle holder, a beacon, anchor rope mount and that's it. I do also have a motor that goes on the back, but I don't use it that often, because I have limited battery power anyway (must look into the new, cheaper lithium batteries at some point). The pontoon boat and the float tube have no permanent "accesories" at all, part from what's they were each born with.
But's it's about the sonar, really, whuch has caused me to look into phone mounts over Christmas. So far, I've simply had the phone in my pocket and then had a look every once in a whilw, and that's OK. But - in order for the fish finding feature to make sense, I need to be able to look more often, and it's nice to get a sense of depth and bottom feature just at a glance. And also reduce the risk of dropping the phone, of course. I'm not really keen on having the phone mounted like this, but it thise case, it makes sense.
Scotty, RAM and Rail Blaza all make really good gear for mounting stuff on boats, kayaks, paddle boards etc. So - from Rail Blaza I've ordered this and this. They will mount to the oar arm of my pontoon boat and keep the phone ready at a glance. I've yet to figure out a mount for the float tube. The kayak already has a mount that'll accept the phone holder, so no worries there. It is though the same mount that holds the rod holder, so I might get another. I'll wait and see about that.
The nice thing about the Deeper Sonar is that it's so small (like a tennis ball) that just floats in the water (on a leash!) next to the craft and so it's very easy to use on all three, different crafts. And I don't have to bother with any transducer mounts. Knowing the depth is imperative I think, and let's me chose the right line right away and keeps out the guess work. And I get a constant temperature reading as well, which is nice. For instance, the pike in the PoD was caught over 3 meters of water, almost on the bottom. My estimate was 1,5 meters (murky water), but the sonar told me otherwise, so I chose a type III sinker over an intermediate.
So I look forward to getting these mounts and trying them out on the pontoon boat, and once I do and get them mounted, I'll report back.
Have a great New Year's Eve, and stay safe!
Lars