In Hull vs Transom Mount Transducer

[Reelhookedup]

I am leaning towards the transom mount. What are some pros and cons of both? I fish fresh deep water in NY Finger Lakes ( no rocks or sand to hit ). I have always used transom mount transducers, but I dont like the holes when you change out for a new transducer. Can any one recomend a good mounting plate for transom transducer to use on a Parker?

Thanks Sean

 

[Megabyte]

I had a P66 transom mount on my boat when I bought it, but switched to an Airmar 'tilted element' through-hull transducer a couple of seasons ago. It has been very good to me.

Several folks here have installed shoot-through transducers and seem to be pleased with them too. Check the Projects section for details and quite a bit of discussion on the various options available to you.

 

[B-Faithful]

I have a tilted element on my Judge but had a transom mount on my Maycraft. If I had to do it again, I may have gone with a transom mount again. You can get the paddle wheel for speed through the water for trolling for stripers. i dont have that with my tilted element. With the transom mount it is easier to replace if it goes bad too. Advantage to the through hull is that you dont have another hole through the cored transom or wires being shown along the transom. You do have to have the transom mount mounted properly to maintaining readings at speed. make the transducer is in clean water just below the hull..

Personally I would avoid the shoot through hulls as in tests they have been shown to not be as accurate for bottom fishing etc. Just me though.

 

[EDGEWATER]

Ok - I have an Airmar in-hullTransducer in one hand and a Transom mount in the other. Want to install today and fish tomorrow.

The Airmar has the temperature option so the only thing I'll be missing is water speed. I can deal with that. I do like the fact that no transom drilling is required.

If I were to install the Transom mount unit - what's the best way to route the cable? Don't think it will fit between the Bracket and
boat hull.

I'm leaning towards the Airmar in-hull. Looks like a cleaner installation with the compromise of no water speed.

Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks and Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays!

 

[jeffnick]

Disgusting bilge!

 

[mulliganb]

I have used an in-hull (shot thru) the hull transducer on two boats, both of the transducers were 1 kW transducers. The sounder on both boats was a Furuno FCV 585. My buddy has the same sounder on his boat, however he has a thru the hull transducer. We have fished both boats and were not able to distinguish a quality difference. Also I have one less penetration in the hull to leak. One disadvatange is that the in hull transducer is more expensive then the thru hull and transmount transducer.

 

[TheOtherLine]

I had a transom mount transducer and lost it to a crab trap line at night. When I replaced it, I did the thru hull and later added a shoot through.

I don't miss the speed reading as I have speed on my gps and it just takes experience to get a "feel" for the correct speed.

I have the shoot thru hooked up to a Garmin sounder and the thru hull hooked up to a Furuno 585. Without question, I get a better read with the thru hull. What I don't know, is if it's the ducer or the sounder. My guess is, it's the sounder.

 

[Capt Bill Welder]

I swiched a couple years ago to the Airmar 'tilted element' through-hull. I will never go back.

Fish Factory,
As far as the paddle wheel I never used it. Not trying to be a smartazz here but I do not understand your logic about the paddle wheel?
If you troll 4 to 12+ kts depending on conditions and watch your baits swimming what exactlly does the paddle wheel do for you?? :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[B-Faithful]

I swiched a couple years ago to the Airmar 'tilted element' through-hull. I will never go back.

Fish Factory,
As far as the paddle wheel I never used it. Not trying to be a smartazz here but I do not understand your logic about the paddle wheel?
If you troll 4 to 12+ kts depending on conditions and watch your baits swimming what exactlly does the paddle wheel do for you?? :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Pddlle wheels are great for determining how fast you are going through the water. When trolling very slow it can be difficult to know how fast you are through the water when the current is running and/or the wind is blowing. Yes there is a "feel" but a paddle wheel when trolling is a good tool, especially when speed matters and some days it means a lot more than others.

I have the tilted element and I would go transom mount to get a paddle wheel if I had to do it again.

 

[Capt Bill Welder]

Pddlle wheels are great for determining how fast you are going through the water. When trolling very slow it can be difficult to know how fast you are through the water when the current is running and/or the wind is blowing.

I still don't get it.
Are saying you troll the same speed into a heavy current as against a heavy current?

 

[B-Faithful]

Pddlle wheels are great for determining how fast you are going through the water. When trolling very slow it can be difficult to know how fast you are through the water when the current is running and/or the wind is blowing.

I still don't get it.
Are saying you troll the same speed into a heavy current as against a heavy current?

I want to troll the same speed through the water not over ground. If I am trolling 3 knots into a 2 knot current I will be travelling 1 knot over ground (gps speed) while if I troll with a 2 knot current I will travel 5 knots over ground. If I want my baits to swim that perfect 3 knots then a paddle wheel is a good tool as I dont always know how fast the current is running at a given pass or at what way it is runnnig at times (even in the bay if I am fishing the mouth of a river). When trolling baits the fish care about how fast they swim through the water, not how fast they swim over ground. Throw in wind and it makes it more difficult to know how fast the baits are swimming.. Paddle wheels are good tools for trolling.

 

[mstelmac]

This post is very interesting and I am learning a lot. I have 0 experience with in-hull (shoot through) transducers but am very curious. Right now I'm in the process of replacing older electronic equiptment with a Raymarine A65.

Raymarine has a great article on in hull transducers that the newbies (like me) might find interesting. Here it is: http://www.raymarine.com/Default.aspx?s ... 2&page=606

I'm not sure if it is biased but seems to suggest some small amount of quality will be lost because of shooting through the fiberglass.

Now im really confused. I was all set on installing a stern mounted transducer and now am intrigured with no holes in the stern and a cleaner install. What do you guys think? BTW - not at all concerned with the paddle to display speed.

-Matt

 

[mstelmac]

Optimaxfish,

The whole dilema seems to be......how much functionality/quality is lost with a shoot through transducer. Further, is it worth not drilling holes in the stern?

I fish the NJ inlets and near shore area in no more than 50 feet of water.

-Matt

 

[Megabyte]

I fish the NJ inlets and near shore area in no more than 50 feet of water.

At those depths, the type of 'ducer you select really won't matter all that much.
Pick a quality Airmar transducer, install it well, tune your sounder, and enjoy!

 

[B-Faithful]

I read an article about two years ago that tested the three types of transducers. The shoot through transducers lost detail especially on the bottom. If you fish for flounder or other bottom fish then it doesnt matter how deep you fish. They article was a couple of years ago so maybe they have advanced since then but personally I would chose that typle last.

 

[Catfish]

ReelHookedUp

I have a Airmar in hull transducer with my Raymarine E-80. There is no hole to cut, no transom to drill, and no water/speed cavitation issues to deal with. Only a clear picture at all fish finding speeds. The one draw back is you give up speed and temp.

Catfish

 

[mstelmac]

I think now is a good time to say....no yell .....I love this site. I don't have a fix box so there are no holes in my transom. The speed/temp loss does concern me but the lure of a hidden transducer might be too much!

 

[grouperjim]

Catfish: awesome install.

OK, i'll enter the discussion. i have demonstrated that there is no visual difference in presentation between an Airmar "in hull" and a "thru hull" transducer. Mounted a 600w thru hull connected to a gsd22 on a 2520, and mounted a 600w in hull connected to a gsd22 on a 2320 and there is no discernible difference to the eye. Airmar transducers compensate for the hull thickess.

see below from Airmar.

http://airmar.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/airm ... luIGh1bGw*

 

[cbigma]

I think now is a good time to say....no yell .....I love this site. I don't have a fix box so there are no holes in my transom. The speed/temp loss does concern me but the lure of a hidden transducer might be too much!

You don't necessarily have to give up on speed/temp. There is probably a compact paddlewheel/thermistor assembly available for your unit as a separate probe. Just attach a small mounting block of starboard or mahogany to the transom with 5200 and mount the paddlewheel/thermistor to it. The paddlewheel has (compared to the 'ducer) little drag.

My transducer is a huge multi-element array that was way too large (IMHO) for transom mounting so I put it in an in-hull shoot-through box. Here's the link to this set-up: In-Hull Transducer

It's essentially the DIY version of Catfish's Airmar Box. I used the datasheets from Airmar's website to fabricate my own. BTW, nice install Catfish. Looks like you're a member of Kevin's Clean Bilge Club 8) 8)

As for performance, I have no experience with deep (over 200') or fresh water applications, but in a coastal marine environment I don't think you'll see any performance loss. FWIW, our ClassicParker is used exclusively for Diving, so bottom detail is the -ONLY- thing that matters to me. If I wasn't getting razor-sharp images of the bottom with the shoot-through arrangement, the 'ducer would be over the side in a heartbeat! :wink:

 

[sslocum]

I have the Raymarine A65 with the transom mounted transducer installed by Tri-State. I lose the signal every time I go up on plane. I have fiddled with it and had limited sucess in gettting it to work at speed. So I would like to install an Xducer in the boat that shoots through the hull. I figure that if I can have both I get the best of both worlds. Any thoughts? Will I need a manual switch box?