Stealth sounder setup: Installation of a fully removable sounder without cutting holes in your kayak

Most sounder installations in Stealth Kayaks involve cutting holes in the fish box and installing the transducer on the outer skin of the kayak, with the transducer either glued in place or installed in a wet mount.  The glued method makes it impossible to remove the transducer and wiring after a fishing trip while the wet mount makes it difficult and time consuming to do so. As a kayak hatch never really dries out, leaving the wiring inside increases the risk of corrosion.  My first transducer was glued in place and the wiring suffered some corrosion issues so I decided to find a way of installing a sounder that meets the following requirements:

1. Is quick and easy to install or remove the sounder plus all wiring.

2. Requires no holes to be cut or drilled in the kayak (suits those with new yaks who are reluctant to cut holes in their prized toy)

Scott McIntosh (Lazybugger) has successfully mounted his transducer under the kayak seat so I thought I would try this method (thanks Scott for the idea).  I placed the transducer in a plastic bag containing water, put the kayak in a river, connected the battery, then moved the transducer around under the seat until I found a point where the signal passed straight though the hull (i.e. the glue between the outer shell and fish box contained no air bubbles).  Having found the spot I marked it.

Using a block of high density foam (cost $5) I cut out the shape of the transducer (must be a tight fit) and glued it in place at the marked spot under the seat.  The position under the seat is ideal as it is too small to store anything else and is out of reach when you are in the kayak, so is effectively wasted space.  I used T- Rex Power Bond, but whatever glue you use the seal between the kayak and foam must be watertight as you will need to put some water in the hole before inserting the transducer.  

Hole cut in the foam to house the transducer (view from underneath)

Transducer inserted in the hole in the foam

Foam glued in place under the seat

To power the sounder I use a 12 volt 1 Amp. Hr. battery that is only 10 cm long and 4 cm wide and is sufficient to last my full fishing trip (tested up to 8 hours). I have a battery box already installed but if you do not want to cut holes in your kayak this battery could be easily installed in a small plastic box under the seat, or possibly even in another block of foam glued in place with a hole the shape of the battery (again make it a tight fit).

Small battery - with a 50 cent coin for scale

I house the sounder in a plastic box and attach this to the lid of the fish box with good strength 3M Dual Lock (similar to Velcro).  I have never had a problem with the box being knocked off when out at sea, but obviously when coming in through the surf I remove the box and place it in the hatch.  The reason I use a box is to keep the sounder away from water as far as possible and out of the glare of the sun (but it does still get water droplets on it).  One negative is that the box does take up space in the hatch so if I had to re-do this I would make it as small as possible.  Once the box is in the hatch I rest the rod buts on it which helps keep the reels away from any water or fish blood.  

Inside the hatch I have glued in two straps retrieved from a discarded back pack which I use to strap the sounder box in place while crossing the surf zone.

Sounder in the box

Sounder box mounted on the hatch lid with Velcro

Straps on the bottom of the fish hatch to attach the sounder box

Sounder box strapped in for crossing the surf zone

Strips of Velcro or some type of clips attached along the inside wall of the fish hatch are useful to keep the wiring off the floor and out of the way.  It takes me less than 5 minutes to put the sounder with wiring and transducer in (which I do the night before fishing when loading up), and less than 2 minutes to take it out after the trip. Just remember to add some water to the transducer hole before setting out or the sounder will not work.

That's it.  A method worth considering if you want to easily remove your sounder after each trip or if you don't want to take the knife to your nice new Stealth yak!

Tight lines,
Dave (tunny)

Noosa Yakkers News, October 2014

Base pic: Misty morning, Laguna Bay, 29Oct14 (pic by sunshiner)

PUBLISHED 04NOVEMBER14

Hi there yakkers

Communication, critical to success of humans working together for a common goal, is what makes Noosa Yakkers a viable group. Reading this small online publication you are reaping the benefit of the efforts of Noosa Yakkers members who have gone to some trouble to share information about kayak fishing which perhaps entertains, and certainly informs you. This information is shared primarily so that Noosa Yakkers' members have a better chance of catching fish from your kayak in the Noosa area.

So, how long since you provided useful kayak fishing information to your fellow Noosa Yakkers? Within the group we have numerous ways of sharing info. Firstly, at the most timely level, is information contributed as it is happening with your radio on our own channel while out on fishing trips. To your companions, your announcement of the capture of a snapper or sweetlip or other species is not just idle bragging (a little bragging is surely OK and gets the competitive spirit going), it's also confirmation that fish are present and biting. So pass on a little more info such as approximately where you are, the depth you're in, and the technique used to get the hookup. And of course, please turn your radio on as soon as you launch so that you can help your mates if they call for assistance and to share the fishing info. Remember also that on-water and on-beach pictures are worth the small trouble necessary so if you have a camera with you, take a few shots, as they will sometimes be even better than words to pass on the info about your fishing trip, even if it is after the event.

Once you're ashore (and for some, even while on the water) you have the ability to tell us all about your trip and experiences via your smartphone, tablet and computer. While the simplest and easiest method is to use the group email facility, accessible only to members, one problem with email is that the information conveyed is seldom stored for future reference and another is that a deluge of unwanted emails is usually not welcomed by recipients. So better to send your email about your trip to one or two of the committee members and ask that the info be published in our blog. Note that we are always happy to have ordinary members contribute to the blog (and this newsletter) and quite a few have taken up this offer and have been given clearance to post their information directly to the blog. If you are interested in doing this just contact a committee member and you'll soon be on the way to blogging directly (some useful computing skills will be acquired in the process).

Then, of course, there's our Facebook page which is available only to Noosa Yakkers (through gemini). At this time we have 46 members who are able to communicate within the group using Facebook. Some are regular contributors while others seem content just to hang around and soak up the info. It's very noticeable that timely and useful information, such as the presence of feeding pelagics in Laguna Bay as weeksie passed on during October using Facebook, is appearing very quickly on our Facebook facility. If you're a Facebook user or lurker I recommend you consider joining our Facebook page. As for me, I was not involved with Facebook at all until this page was created. I joined up just to find out how it worked and whether it is useful, and still my FB activities are restricted to that single page. So clearly you don't have to do the whole range of life-dominating Facebook stuff if you sign up with Facebook. Want to be part of it? Just contact one of the committee members (Matt, mainly).

So, to reiterate my first point, Noosa Yakkers thrives on useful yak fishing info and everyone can contribute. Next time you're out there and catch something interesting or find out something you reckon would be useful to fellow members consider passing on the info. Think about how often you've used the info passed on willingly by fellow yakkers in our blog, by email and on our Facebook page, then make the small effort to spread the word.

See you (and hear you!) on the water

Kev (sunshiner)



G'Day Yakkers,

Looks like it's been a reasonable month of fishing with six official outings and a number of decent fish caught and one incredible fish hooked but not landed by one of our members. This was achieved in a fairly windy month with a DIP average of 12.7 knots and a strongest of 50 knots.

DeeCee kicked things off with a couple of fresh water trips; one on the Maroochy River and the other on Ewen Maddock Dam. The river trip resulted in a single 35cm flathead, but the EMD trip resulted in a number of quality bass. All fish were released to fight another day.

Picturesque Maroochy River

DeeCee's 35cm flathead caught in the Maroochy River

The largest of DeeCee's four bass caught in EMD - all four were between 25-30cm

Mid month Pedro and Jimbo headed out to A-Bay and JS respectively with Jimbo landing a keeper 40cm Squire and Pedro two keeper Sweetlip two Flathead and a Squid. No pics unfortunately.

The 24th saw a small flotilla head out to Jew Shoal. The Bonito had been hanging around a while and Diesel landed a 55cm specimen, but honours of the day went to the mighty Sunshiner who landed a 65cm Snapper and a 43cm Sweetlip on his usual soft plastic rigs.

Sunshiner's 65cm Snapper caught on a soft plastic at Jew Shoal

Sweeties, Snapper and Bonito caught at Jew Shoal

With some nice fish under the belt, Sunshiner gave Jew Shoal another crack on the 29th joined briefly by Weeksie. Sunshiner again came up trumps this time with a very decent 57cm Snapper.

Sunshiner's artistic shot of his 57cm Snapper caught at JS on a soft plastic

On the last day of the month, four yakkers hit the open water in search of some fishy treats and they were not disappointed. There had been reports of small kingies around and Tunny collected some hard evidence.

Kingies has been reported in the bay. Tunny picked up this little fella.

The Bonito were still kicking around and both Diesel and Sunshiner picked one up each. Diesel came out the winner with what looks like a new NY record. No size was mentioned in the report but from the brag mat it looks to be in the high 50s. Sunshiner also bagged his third Snapper in as many trips, this one a bit smaller than the others at 47cm and Josh boated a keeper Grassie.

Sunshiner's Bonito caught at Jew Shoal on a trolled HLP.

A nice haul from Jew Shoal

Josh, Tunny, Diesel

And that's it for the official recorded trips. I think there was a trip I was involved in that did not get written up, but only Pedro came away with anything and this may have been due to the incredible number of hours he puts in but also that he takes the time to catch livies. Anyone looking to improve their catch rate should perhaps consider the livie option.

A few people including Sunshiner have tipped an early pelagic season and with some unconfirmed reports of spotties in the bay November could turn out to be a good month if the wind will play ball.

There is one more tidbit… NY member Tarzan hooked but didn't land a Marlin up at the Boneyard on the North Shore. Anyone looking for more info on this story can go here: Boneyard Marlin. Note you will need to signup before you can view the articles.

Tarzan hooked up to a leaping Marlin at the Boneyard.
Just to note the NY committee recommends wearing a PFD at all times when out kayak fishing.

That's it for this month. Good luck for November everyone.

Redwood

No new members this month (maybe we've peaked?).

Matt (gemini)



No new record claims for October, but from a read of the last TR of the month, one should be forthcoming.

Doc Dog

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The Committee (in callsign order)







From top left, doctor dog, eyetag, gemini, jaro, jimbo, pedro, redwood, sunshiner, turtleboy.