Best Kayak Fish Finders
Every kayak angler knows that having a reliable fish finder on your kayak is essential. The best kayak fish finder will help you understand what's going on below the surface, increasing your chances of landing a fish and making you a better angler.
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Why You Should Buy The Best Kayak Fish Finders
A fish finder for kayak fishing is honestly a great tool to have. It will let you find where the fish are, track your routes, and see what lies on the bottom floor.
Making you a well-rounded kayak angler that can fish in many different environments. Having those eyes below the surface will help you land more fish and give you a better idea of what lures or baits to use.
What To Consider When Buying The Best Kayak Fish Finder
There are so many kayak fish finders to choose from. When buying the best fish finder for your kayak fishing adventures, you want to ensure that the fish finder has three features: sonar, GPS, and imaging. We will quickly review these features and a few other things to consider.
Sonar Fish Finder Feature
Almost every basic kayak fish finder will have sonar. It is a basic feature that will let you quickly locate fish lurking below. It is what most kayak anglers are looking for when purchasing a fish finder.
Sonar is one of the best ways to locate fish under the surface. It will show you the depth and temperature of the water and identify fish. All sonar works the same, but chirp sonar will show you less noise in the water column to pinpoint precisely where the fish are.
The sonar feature is a signal that is broadcasted by a transducer in a cone-like shape downward. It will show you where the fish are and at what depths. The width of the cone signal will depend on the frequency of the transducer.
The higher the frequency, the wider the cone and the lower the frequency, the more narrow the cone will be. Wider cones (high frequency) will be better in shallower water, and narrow cones (low frequency) will be better for deeper water.
GPS Fish Finder Feature
Not all fish finders for kayaks come with the GPS feature. You can get away with not having a GPS-enabled fish finder, but if you plan on fishing in large bodies of water or plan on trolling then, I highly recommend this feature.
The GPS technology on these kayak fish finders will show you the speed at which you are traveling, a map that shows your previous routes, and the location of where you currently are. You are also able to mark specific locations on the map as well.
Imaging Fish Finder Feature
The imaging feature is an awesome feature to have on your fish finder. It is similar to sonar, but it is used by kayak anglers who want to see the structure down below or off to the side in shallower waters. There are two different types of imaging. Both help you separate fish and structure.
Down Imaging (scan): This is very similar to your traditional sonar, but it will give you a much clearer picture of the structure below than the sonar. A tree underwater will look like a huge blob on sonar, but on down imaging, it will show a much more detailed image and look much more like an actual tree.
Down imaging will show fish as well, but they will only show as small little dots or dashes that can be hard to make out. It is best when used alongside sonar because if it shows up on sonar and on down imaging, it is most likely a fish.
Side Imaging (scan): This imaging feature does exactly what down imaging does, except that it shows the structure off to both sides of your kayak. This is great if you are casting along the shoreline because it will show you the structure of that shoreline and where the fish are holding.
Another cool thing about side imaging is that you can use it while out in open water because it will pinpoint fish off your kayak's sides. This lets you cast out towards the fish and not spook them by being right on top.
Different Fish Finder Displays
Kayak fish finder displays come in many sizes. The size you decide to go with will depend on how far the fish finder will be from you, how much space you have, and how many features you want to use simultaneously. Just know that a larger screen means you will need more power and tend to be more expensive than the smaller screened fish finders.
Battery For Your Fish Finder
Make sure you take into consideration the battery to power your fish finder. No, you don't need to haul around a huge car battery. Most fish finders don't need that much juice to be powered.
You can get away with a small, inexpensive 12v battery that you typically use on motorcycles. Some fish finders come in a bundle and will throw in the battery, but they usually arent the best for the price.
What Are The Best Kayak Fish Finders For Your Kayak Fishing Adventures
The best fish finders for kayaks should be reliable, tough, and capable of at least two of the three features we mentioned above. We have put together the three best kayak fish finders that you can buy to get full use of your fishing kayak. We chose these fish finders based on their features, reliability, capabilities, and user-friendliness.
Garmin ECHOMAP UHD 93sv
Why We Picked It
This is the best fish finder you can mount on your fishing kayak. It has all the features you need to spend less time finding the fish and more time catching them. Many professional anglers out there mount this beast on their small boats or the best fishing kayaks on the market.
The Echomap UHD 93sv is a 9-inch touch screen and keyed assist fish finder. It has all the features you need, like standard 2D sonar, GPS maps, ClearVü (down imaging), SideVü (side imaging), and the capability of running live scope.
Garmin's side and down imaging are the best there is. This specific one comes with a GT56UHD transducer which takes it a step further and gives you the best imaging possible.
You can take it further with the capability of running live scope on it. The live scope on this fish finder will make you feel like you're fishing in a video game because you will see how the fish react to certain baits and techniques.
This fish finder lets you save the display settings you want with the four numbered buttons on the side for quickly switching between imaging sonar, standard sonar, and maps. You can also do a combo or a three-way split to see everything simultaneously on one screen.
The larger screen size and high-end features mean that this fish finder will take up a lot of space and can suck if you will be doing a lot of casting. If you have a larger kayak, this might not be an issue, but keep in mind that you will have it within arms reach, so it will get in the way no matter what.
It is a pretty expensive and large fish finder for a kayak, but it is the best one on the market. If you are a serious angler who does lots of fishing or plans to participate in tournaments, this fish finder will be your best friend.
Specs:
- Display: 9in touchscreen w/ key assist
- Weight: 2.3lbs
- Data Cards: One 32GB maximum micro SD
- Mount: Flush or bail
- Sonar: Yes
- Down Imaging: Yes
- Side Imaging: Yes
- GPS: Yes
Pros:
- Down and side imaging sonar
- 17,000 LakeVü G3 inland maps
- Personalized fishing maps
- Three-way screen split
- Touchscreen and key assist
- Quick screen navigation
Cons:
- Expensive
- Large
Lowrance Hook Reveal 5
Why We Picked It
The Hook Reveal 5 is for those who want a high-quality fish finder for their kayak but don't want to spend too much money. This fish finder is actually the first fish finder I ever used on a kayak. It is easy to use and is great for those beginner/intermediate kayak anglers.
It has Lowarnce's SolarMax (good display quality even in direct sunlight) 5-inch display with a dedicated keypad on the side that makes it very easy to navigate. The 5-inch screen is a perfect size to mount on your kayak because it is big enough to read easily but not too big that it gets in the way. It also gives you the benefit of having a three-way screen split.
This kayak fish finder has all the features you need to catch some fish and is very user-friendly, especially for those just getting started. It has autotuning sonar, high-detailed maps, GPS, a Splitshot transducer, and down imaging. Down imaging is the best thing about Lowrance Reveal fish finders.
Their down imaging has a unique feature that Lowrance calls Fishreveal. So it is essentially a down imaging feature with an overlay of sonar. This makes it very easy to see the fish on the scan. You will see fish as curved lines like in sonar instead of dots that you see in traditional down imaging.
Specs:
- Display: 5 inches non-touch screen
- Weight: 1lb
- Data Cards: One 32GB maximum micro SD
- Mount: Gimbal flush mount
- Sonar: Yes
- Down Imaging: Yes
- Side Imaging: No
- GPS: Yes
Pros:
- Down and side imaging sonar
- 17,000 LakeVü G3 inland maps
- Personalized fishing maps
- Three-way screen split
- Touchscreen and key assist
- Quick screen navigation
Cons:
- Expensive
- Large
Garmin Striker Vivid 4cv
Why We Picked It
The Garmin Striker is the best inexpensive fish finder you can buy if you are just getting into the beautiful world of kayak fishing. Don't let the price fool you; it will definitely put you on some fish. I highly suggest this for beginner kayak anglers.
This is a fantastic kayak fish finder setup because it is super easy to set up and use. It has a 4.3-inch horizontal screen with a keypad to easily navigate the settings and features. The screen is a con for some because of its small size, and the horizontal orientation is not the best when splitting the screen.
It has features like GPS, contour mapping, 2D sonar, and down imaging, all while needing very little power. The down imaging feature is the best thing about this cheap fish finder because you will usually not find any down scanning abilities on fish finders with a price range below 200.
The quick draw map is a great feature because you get to create your own maps as you cover unmapped bodies of water. What sucks is the fact that you cant insert a map card. This means you won't be able to export or import any maps on your fish finder, so you're stuck with using the maps you create using the quick draw feature.
Specs:
- Display Size: 4 inches non-touchscreen
- Weight: 0.7 lbs
- Data Cards: No
- Mount: Flush, tilt, swivel
- Sonar: Yes
- Down Imaging: Yes
- Side Imaging: No
- GPS: Yes
Pros:
- Down and side imaging sonar
- 17,000 LakeVü G3 inland maps
- Personalized fishing maps
- Three-way screen split
- Touchscreen and key assist
- Quick screen navigation
Cons:
- Expensive
- Large
FAQ
Is a Fish Finder Worth It on a Kayak?
A fish finder is totally worth it if you want to catch the most fish possible. It is a tool that will show you what is happening in the world underneath the surface and help you understand certain fish's behavior. With that knowledge, you will become a much better angler overall.
What Is The Best Size Fish Finder for a Kayak?
The best kayak fish finder size will depend on the size of your kayak, the amount of money you are willing to spend, and personal preference. If you have a large kayak with plenty of room, I suggest going with the largest screen possible. If you have a medium or small fishing kayak, I suggest looking for a screen size that is easy to read from arm's reach distance and won't get in your way while fishing.
Can I Use a Fish Finder on a Kayak?
Why can't you?
All you need is a place to mount the fish finder and somewhere to keep your battery box or bag. Most fish finders don't need a large battery or any fancy mounting equipment. You can use a fish finder for w
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