summer fishing with my vex ..questions

[adipose]

firstly..i fully understand that i can purchase a longer transducer cord ..brackets etc. for my boat so that i can use my vex in the summer. I have a 12 ft aluminum boat and am quite sure that if i set my flasher on the seat , the transducer will reach into the water no problem.
I am wanting to know what is required as far as the transducer goes. Does it need to be stationary? Do i need to fabricate an arm/holder for it? Does the transducer need to be below the boat bottom? Can i buy some of vex's epoxy and mount my transducer inside and onto the bottom of the boat..will the transducer shoot through alum the way it is or do i need to buy the alumaducer?
I guess im just wondering if there are any vex owners that have used their units the way they were set up for winter fishing. I love to build stuff so its no big deal for me to build an arm for over the side of the boat to mount my transducer...just need to know it will work. thanks

[esox_magnum]

Buy the softwater kit has everythig you need to put it on the boat.

[adipose]

Buy the softwater kit has everythig you need to put it on the boat.

bud....you need to read the post in its entirety

[esox_magnum]

Easiest way to make it a summer use thing. It don't fit my fishing style anymore but at one time always ran a flasher on the ow, nowadays I NEED GPS more so run combo units.

[ice dawg]

I know a guy that fishes out of a canoe. He cut the bottom out of a plastic coffee can and siliconed it to the bottom, put a couple of inches of water in it and dropped his transducer into it. As long as there is water inside of the can it shoots through the hull very well and works going fast or slow. I have seen it done in an aluminum boat also. Just put the container a few inches in front of the back of the boat. I used to do it in my old 12' boat but it leaked a bit and always had water in it so set my transducer right on the floor in the water. It was an old transducer that came off of a boat though.

[adipose]

 ...ah..finally the answer i was looking for. Ice Dawg..can you elaborate a wee bit more...what you are saying is he cut the bottom out of the plastic coffee can( the size of the ducer??) and siliconed the coffee can to the bottom of the boat then just put water inside the siliconed coffee can and drop the vex in? is this correct? hellov an idea if it works..thanks...a drawing would be nice so i can confirm what you are meaning. I wonder if this method will work and shoot through fiberglass (my other boat) also.

[Mudslide]

These transducers will definitely shoot through fiberglass. The key is to get them mounted in the boat so that they are parallel to the lake bottom. You MUST account for the dead rise angle of the hull or you will be getting an inaccurate reading.  I would be interested to see how effective they would be at shooting through aluminum. I suspect not so good. The usual way to mount a transducer inside a fiberglass boat is to use epoxy to take all the air space out but that would be more of a permanent solution. The idea of the coffee can siliconed to the bottom with water added sounds like a good one. I would think that it might be better to find a piece of PVC that closely matches the diameter of the transducer and use that as it would hold the transducer in place. That way you could also cut the pipe on an angle to compensate for the angle of the hull.

[adipose]

 I just love sites like this..so many great idea heads on here...fish heads too. I will take some pipe out with me and a level ..then once the boat is in the water with the motor in place..i will decide on the correct angle. Or....better yet come up with a way to change the angle as the angle will probably vary depending on how much gear or extra weight (persons) will be in the boat.

[GrizlyGarou]

When I fish in my kayak, I just drop the transducer over the side with the float on it. If I'm paddling with the wind, it starts to get a bit of an angle to it but not much. In the canoe, I just put it right on the floor and drip water on it with the paddle every so often. I think they'll shoot through the aluminum, but I'm not sure.

[Superpole]

I just place the regular iceducer on the floor of my aluminum boat.

[adipose]

Having the ducer float in the water would be the ultimate way to go.I guess  my biggest concern is will there be enough ducer cord to reach over the side of my 12ft. boat while the powerhead rests on the boat bench seat. I also fish with other guys and different boats so making the unit transferrable would be great too. Somebody must know if vex ducers transmitt through aluminum. Thanks for all the input thus far.

[Superpole]

I just place the regular iceducer on the floor of my aluminum boat.

The regular iceducer shoots thru aluminum very well.  The float over the side does not work because if the boat is moving the "cone" will either bob up and down or angle away from the direction of travel (likely both).  Used my regular fl-20 all last summer. Place iceducer on bottom of boat and turn it on.

[ice dawg]

It seems to work best when you have water in whatever you silicone to the bottom of the boat so it "wets" the surface of the bottom. Like water on the ice when you want to shoot through it. As far as changing the angle is concerned, a transducer mounted on the back of your boat will change angle as you add people or move things around anyway. I had a 12' glass boat with a livewell in the middle seat and the bottom of the livewell was the bottom of the hull. I used to drop my transducer in the livewell and it worked great. If you had something tall enough (PVC pipe) and fairly large in diameter, you could have the float on your transcucer to keep it plumb. It would take up some room though.

[adipose]

This is directed to Superpole....I guess Icedog and I posted near the same time.You were marking fish also? Did you have to wet the ducer??
I was thinking i would manufacture some type of arm off of the side of the boat to hold the ducer steady but if you can confirm you were marking fish and things were exactly as they should be...i will take your word. thanks

[ice dawg]

With the transducer in the boat it will read when going fast also. I'm sure you could lose a small amount of sensitivity like shooting through the ice, but not enough to matter.

[adipose]

Sounds like a hellovan idea there icedog. Im gonna march over to homedepot and see if i can find some kinda plumbing pipe with a flange that will sit flat on the bottom. Yeah..enough water so the ducer will keep itself level is all I need.

[ice dawg]

When ya get it figured out and try it, post how it turns out for us IS guys.

[Bennettc]

If you had something tall enough (PVC pipe) and fairly large in diameter, you could have the float on your transcucer to keep it plumb. It would take up some room though.

I would use the "eyehole" method and just hang the transducer by the cord.  It would swing freely in your container and it would take up much less space.

[sled-in]

I just put my iceducer in a piece of 1 1/2" abs pipe with a notch cut out of the bottom, just hose clamped it tight, then use a c-clamp to attach it to the transom.

You could just put your 'ducer in a plastic bag with water, tie the top closed, and set it on the floor too.

[kastmaster693]

I just put my iceducer in a piece of 1 1/2" abs pipe with a notch cut out of the bottom, just hose clamped it tight, then use a c-clamp to attach it to the transom.

You could just put your 'ducer in a plastic bag with water, tie the top closed, and set it on the floor too.

I used a similar method when I experimented with my FL8SE to use in my float tube.  I also used a PVC pipe to house the iceducer, but instead of a notch, I heated up one end, shaped it to conform to the shape of the ducer and ran the cord inside the pipe.  To secure the iceducer to the pipe, I used several turns of electrical tape.  It was waterproof enough and the ducer didn't slip at all.  I then installed two eyebolts (top and bottom) on the assembly and used bungee cord to attach it to my float tube.  It worked great, showed me the depth and structure below and most importantly, showed me where the fish are.  A similar setup could be used in a boat/canoe and use clamps instead.

[adipose]

sure would be nice to see some of these creations via a pic...or ....drawings

[Superpole]

This is directed to Superpole....I guess Icedog and I posted near the same time.You were marking fish also? Did you have to wet the ducer??
I was thinking i would manufacture some type of arm off of the side of the boat to hold the ducer steady but if you can confirm you were marking fish and things were exactly as they should be...i will take your word. thanks

The bottom of my boat is generally a little wet.  The iceducer will begin to "tick" quite loudly when there is no moisture between the two, a handful of water does the trick (once an hour?).  I was certainly marking fish.  When I first started using it I would move the iceducer over the side of the boat to check my readings (when over a school of fish).  No difference in the readings except for the bobbing, which is really annoying.  On a separate note, we forgot the fishfinder for the big boat once last spring when trolling Champlain.  I had my vex and we taped the iceducer to a long stick and secured it to the side of the boat.  Worked fine at low speeds, faster than that and bubbles would mess up the readings from the wake/wash.  I prefer flasher readings over fishfinder readings anyway.  Will likely purchase the alumaducer pretty soon.