What fish finder

Ok, I'm looking for a fish finder to mount in the cup holder on a Yamaha FX Crusier. I'm leaning towards the Humminbird 363 with GPS as its a small unit, has a quick fit connector (no wires to rust) and provides me with GPS, maps and fish finding. Anyone got any experience with this unit or any other recommendations?? Do I need GPS??

Hi Julian, as most will know I run a Raymarine A60 GPS/Finder our 2008 Yamaha SHO. The things you need to keep in mind are size, to suit the ski, and how well the plugs are sealed, as you will get salt water over the front of the ski at times. GPS is agreat feature, especially when at an unfamiliar area, as the mapping will help determine some potential fishing spots. The Raymarine is an awesome unit, I am learning more of it capabilities each trip, just will come down to budget, as you get what you pay for and the A60 is a high end product for a PWC. I am not sure exactly with the Humminbird product, I am sure someone on here will offer you some feedback. On our old ski we used a Garmin depth sounder, which worked really well for the purpose and coped with a lot of water, yet it wasn't a GPS model.
P.S. Make sure you keep in mind a bracket in the drinks holder, as it is nice to keep the ski as factory as possible without adding visable screw holes.

Hi Julian sorry I didn't see your question under this thread I am still learning to navigate the site, I posted some Humminbird Sounder/Gps photos under your other question relating to what type of jet ski. Incidentally the answer to that question is definitely the Yamaha in all the 3 seat-er version they are more buoyant in the stern which is a big help when you are fishing with most of the weight aft. One of our crew has a Seadoo and it is noticeably less stable particularly when the box is full of fish.

Cheers Ian

One of our crew has a large Furuno GPS-Sounder & course plotter He made a removable windscreen like you sometimes see on classic motorcycles. It looks a bit ugly but is extremely practical and is easily removed from the ski when he is not fishing.

That's some serious fish finding you guys have got going. I guess I'm looking for something a bit smaller with GPS hence the Humminbird 363. I'll see how it goes at the dealers on Tuesday.

The screens a good idea, might even stop that rogue wave that always manages to get you when motoring out. I don't mind getting wet but sometimes, when it a bit cold and early in the morning I could do without the impromptu shower the ocean seems to throw up!!!

Hi Hooter,

Thanks for the info on the 383C (sorry read your early note and replied before checking out your notes on 'what jetski'). The Humminbird unit looks like its the perfect size for a jet ski. I was going for the black and white to keep the cost down a bit, NZ$880 but, I'd prefer the colour screen. However, it'll be over NZ$1000 here!!

How did you get on sourcing the maps for an import from the local dealers? FRom my understanding, you need the right map for your area? I've seen some great deals on these in the US but just concerned about dealer support and getting the maps.

Thanks

Julian

Hi Julian
The guys at the dealers here in Australia told me the same things don't have the maps no warranty etc but I took a punt and bought one on Ebay from a dealer in America I got delivered to my door inside of 5 days and it had all the Aussie coastline displayed ,works no problem and was less than half price including freight. The only difference is its depth in feet not meters on the sounder. Remember the small models really only have the coastline showing they don't have detailed maps like in the larger course plotter type sounders the good thing is it doesn't need a separate antenna for the gps like the larger ones do.

Cheers Ian

Hi Hooter,

Thats a massive $580 saving over buying it in NZ, even at the current exchange rate!!!! No issues getting the colour finder with GPS at that price. My only issue is whether any of the local companies will fit it if it's an import. Anybody know how the local marine shops in NZ view fish finder imports?

Hi Julian
It really isn't that hard to fit all you have to do is buy some alloy or stainless steel angle to make a mounting bracket for the dash put an inline fuse holder for the positive lead and connect it directly to the positive battery terminal the same with the negative straight on to the battery terminal and mount the hinged transducer bracket onto the transom as per the photos i posted previously. You do have to drill a hole above the waterline in the transom for the plug to pass through then fill it up with silicone sealer all up takes about two hours to fit.

Cheers Ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the advise on mounting the unit, I'll have a think about it and I may give it a go although I'm not keen on drilling holes in a nearly new Jetski . I'm still trying to source the unit at the moment and my first enquiry on ebay got a 'no' for NZ maps but will keep trying.

Cheers

Julian

To Julian, I will post an image of the bracket I have for my transducer, no screwing to your ski and you will get the optimum performannce being externally mounted.
I don't think you need to pay someone to install your finder, if you are semi mechanically minded. The cable does not need to be drilled through the hull if you are using the "Ultimate Rod Holder" unless you are really maticulate like myself and have to have it A1 for shows and magazines. The cable if OK with you can run under trhe rod holder frame and into the rear storage unit, I think you would be satisfied then there is no holes drilled, you just need to purchased bracketry that fits to the rear boarding platform mounts. Your holder is leaving tomorrow afternoon.

Hi Guys, Thanks for all the help with the fish finder, I'm e-mailing a site in the US tonight and if they can get me a humminbird with the right maps I'll post their details on here.

Julian,here is the bracket on my SHO which requires no extra screwing to your ski and you can fit yourself

Hi mate
Just thought I would put in my 2cent's worth Matz gear (in Tauranga) do a good one and the sounder goes inside the hull so no drilling!
Dont know how much but be worth a look.

Hi Wayne, met Matt a few weeks ago, definetly got a great reputation in the Bay for PWC sales and service. Through hull transducer mounting is great as long as you get get someone like Makz Gears to install, who have that experience of completing to an accurate reading. The usual problem if not done right, is caused buy getting air bubbles between the transducer and the hull. Sika 291 Marine Adhesive seems to work well if familar in preparing and appling to the hull.

Hi,

Getting a Humminbird 363 combo fitted on Thursday at Rutherford Marine, Tauranga. Can't wait, fingers crossed the weathers fine at the weekend! Will post some pics at the weekend.

Look forward to the pics Julian.

Hi Julian the Bloody recession hey ! had to get the 363 black and white sounder couldn't stretch it for the 383 colour hey. When I got mine from the States the exchange rate against the Aussie peso was almost dollar for dollar now its about 63 cents. I probably couldn't afford one now either. You wont know yourself when you are drift fishing just hit mark on the unit and keep motoring up and down following the breadcrumb trail back to where the bite started, Fish don't have a chance

Have fun with it cheers Hoot

Hi,

Big thanks to Winston at Rutherford Marine for doing an excellent job fitting the finder. Wasn't as easy as he thought and although I paid a little more for labour, I'm really pleased with the neat job he's done. I'm also really pleased with my choice of finder and the ability to clip it off and cover the bracket when your not using it. Note the fish finder is mounted on a bracket inside the cup holder and not on the facia





ONe slight concern is the mounting of the transducer in the hull as I'm not sure whether the internal hull is flush with the outer hull but, the guys said they'd adjust it if I had any problems. The transducer is mounted below the engine mounts, anyone any idea whether the inner hull is flush at this point??



Thanks for all the advice along the way.

And if your worried about the recession, go out and spend it up large. No point investing it in shares and watching the value plummet, infact a new Jetski is probably a better investment right now!!!

Julian

Julian, is my fish finder bracket somewhere amongst that, or could you not use it?

Hi Andrew,

Yep, your bracket is in the cup holder with the fish finder mounted on top. I'll take another picture and post it tonight.

The guys have done such a good job, it looks as though the fish finder is mounted on the dash but because it's mounted on the bracket, I'll be able to remove it with no marks on the ski. Exactly the result I wanted and I'm very pedantic.

The guys did have a few problems with the bracket due to the base on the humminbird. They had to put a spacer under the bracket to raise it and then fit a plate on top to which they fixed the fish finder.

If you wanted to make the bracket more universal, you could put a small base plate on the top (50c coin) and then supply a plastic base plate which can be cut to fit the fish finder. The plastic base plate would screw or bolt onto the bracket with the fish finder then mounted on the plastic bracket. It might also be worth making the bracket slightly higher to cater for fish finder who's base plate doesn't recess into the cup holder.

If this doesn't make sense, feel free to give me a call.

Julian

I have fitted over 20 fishfinders to jetskis now
most of the seadoo range can have the transducers fitted inside the hull,the yamahas/kawas have the transducers fitted to the transom, if you need to use self tapping screws use a good quality sealent.
Andrew is designing a nice bracket setup so you can utilise the boarding ladder mounting bolts for the transducer.
another tip use a fuse on the unit + wire as to keep your jetski electrics safe.
Jase

Hi Jase,

I take it from your comments, the transducer won't work inside the hull of the yamaha? I'll give it a test tomorrow as there's nothing else I can do at the weeknd and if it doesn't work I'll get the bracket from Andrew.

Thanks

Julian

Hi Julian
Im not saying it wont work in your hull
I have had a few issues in fitting transducers in yams and kawas inside the hull due to the way they are laid up.
some craft have air voids or little air pockets in the hull and this is where you dont want a transducer as it disrupts the signal,hopefully your transducer is not on one of these.
The new yamahas are made of "nano cell technology"that kind of looks like honeycombe so it uses these air pockets for strength i have not fitted a transducer to the inside of one of these hulls yet i wonder if it will be a problem?
Jase