Transducer Ready Kayak from Malibu Kayaks
Transducer placement on a kayak has always been one of the things heavily debated in kayak fishing communities. It has been an industry standard to goop the transducer to the inside of the hull and let it shoot through the plastic. There are number of other variations - some people avoided marine goop all together and preferred "wet mounts". They would build a special custom base attached on the inside of their kayak, and fill it with water or other fluid. Other folks took it to another extreme in effort to get the best possible sonar reading - they would make a precise cut at the bottom of their kayak to fit the transducer and make it flush with the bottom of their kayak, and then carefully seal it to make it waterproof.
Kayak Fishing Supplies had another idea - change the kayak mold to provide protected location for a transducer. Brent Torgeson at Kayak Fishing Supplies thought that mounting the unit underneath the hull of the kayak would be the safest, cleanest, and the most efficient approach. We approached Malibu Kayaks with the idea to take most Lowrance units, from the X-4 through the Elite series including the DSI units, and be able to take it right out of the box and mount the transducer right to the bottom of the hull. The rest is history - nothing like a good idea turning into reality!
Lowrance has proven that designing a fish finder unit specifically with kayak anglers in mind has been one of their top priorities. There is no doubt that any fish finder transducer greatly benefits from non-obstructed access to the water, the fish, and the structure below the boat - the reading is basically as good as it gets. That is especially the case with the newest DSI units from Lowrance. Providing indented location on the bottom of the kayak also protects the transducer from catching on something, or even breaking free from running aground. With this new modification done by Malibu Kayaks, the hull allows a perfect spot for the transducer to be mounted and recessed into the hull of the kayak to keep it free from debris and objects.
You can run it right up on the beach without worrying about breaking it free. Brass inserts in the mold of the kayak line up perfectly with the included transducer mounting brackets from Lowrance.
After a few turns of the screws your transducer is mounted.
The placement of the recessed transducer ready area in the hull is next to the scupper and makes it easy to run the transducer cable through it.
To run your wires to the head unit and power, you will want to run them through the inside of the hull to keep from being a nuisance on your deck. Use a wire seal or wire cap for a professional look. In most cases you will use 2. Since the recessed area is to the stern of the kayak, you will want to run the wires forward. 1st seal or cap will be installed near the scupper that the cable comes out from the bottom of the hull.
Easy place would be on the side gunnel of the kayak.
From this entry point you can now run the cable to the front of the kayak and come out with another cap or seal where your head unit will be mounted.
Starting in Fall 2012, all fishing models from Malibu Kayaks will have the recessed transducer ready modification. This is one step closer to making Malibu Kayaks the ultimate kayak fishing machine! Taking the leading manufacturer of Fishfinder units from Lowrance and being able to install the transducer right to the bottom of the hull on any Malibu Kayaks fishing line worry free is outstanding!
For more info contact Kayak Fishing Supplies or OEX.