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How to mount fishfinder transducer to rental pontoon boat

9K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  RickC 
#1 ·
Any suggestions for a good but temporary transducer mount to a pontoon.

My transducer has a suction cup but I question how well it will hold to the back of the pontoon at any speed and not sure if I can get it far enough into the water that way.

I was thinking about attaching the transducer to a rod or angle bracket and clamping it to the deck or rails.

Any suggestions?

Thx
 
#3 ·
Chances are it`ll stick better than you think. I guess the back of the pontoon would be best ? I have a suction cup too. Use the slack line to tie it off so it won`t jerk on the unit if/when it comes loose. I use mine in several yaks and just occasionally reach over and press it down. Might work.
 
#4 ·
If the rental pontoon is kept in a marina I am sure it probably had a nice coat of scum below the water line.

You are on the right track, make something that can clamp to the boat. I made a something out of an old transom mount from a trolling motor that I will use if I ever get around to renting a jon boat at the park up the road.
 
#5 ·
Yep - they definatley have a nice coating of scum, and the water is a tad cool now to dive in and try to clean off and get the suction cup to attach, much less go back in a couple of times during the trip :eek:

I did make a rig out of a C clamp, some electrical conduit hangers and a piece of PVC pipe. It worked reasonably well, although it threw a lot of water and over the course of a while on the lake managed to really twise the conduit hangers up to twist the pipe out to an angle... I used 1.25" thick-wall PVC - perhaps I could try something smaller that would not create as much resistance..... that, or just not keep it in the water.

The pontoon I'll be getting this weekend does not look like it has as good a place to mount the clamp in the back.....

Can I mount the transducer in the front of the boat? I tried this last weekend on a pontoon that had a depth finder and my fishfinder when mounted to the front of the boat (pointing forward) was reading about 20 feet shallower than the one mounted with the boat off the rear pontoon - when I moved mine to the back of the boat they read the same.... can you not mount a transom transducer off the bow off the boat???
 
#6 ·
I tried this last weekend on a pontoon that had a depth finder and my fishfinder when mounted to the front of the boat (pointing forward) was reading about 20 feet shallower than the one mounted with the boat off the rear pontoon - when I moved mine to the back of the boat they read the same.... can you not mount a transom transducer off the bow off the boat???
I have read that you have to be careful when running multiple finders at the same time. Something about needing to be careful how they are mounted to prevent the signals overlapping and giving incorrect readings. Perhaps that is what happened to you, if they were both on at the same time. (Not that you can't run two at once - just have to watch out for interference).
 
#7 ·
thanks RickC - I just got off the phone with Humminbird and they confirmed that the transducer I have should be fine in the front or the back - perhaps the angle was slightly off causing a 20ft discrepancy in 80-100 ft of water, or, as you said, interference with the other transducer from the boat mounted unit....

I'll give it another go this weekend - this boat won't have a FF so I won't have interference issues - and I guess I won't know if my depth is right or not either :)
 
#8 ·
One suggestion - before you go out too far, drop a lure over the side and see how far it goes down. Then check / adjust your depth finder until it reads the same.

Thinking about it an achor would probably work better and be affect less by water movement. Plus it would be easier to keep track of the amount of rope you let out.

Good luck and land some lunkers!
 
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