Lowrance 3 in 1 transducer on the bow

[marlattrr]

I just bought an Elite FS9. It has the long 3 in one transducer.

I would like to mount it somewhere upfront so I can jig fish off the bow and eventually i want to upgrade to live target sonar.

I have a Minn Kota powerdrive 70 that doesnt have room to attach a trolling motor because of the skag. Does anyone have recommendations on how to mount it?

My only thought right now is to buy another pole to mount like the one from fishingspecialties.com

 

[CRS]

I do not understand why mounting the transducer on the front would make a difference. The sonar goes out as a cone not straight down, so the transducer mounted on the stern would show all fish under the boat after 20 feet or so on down imaging. I am interested in this because I have a Humminbird Solex 10 with the same looking transducer. I mounted mine on the back.

 

[MN Fisher]

The sonar goes out as a cone not straight down, so the transducer mounted on the stern would show all fish under the boat after 20 feet or so on down imaging.

Depends on the signal - downscan isn't a cone - it's a triangle shaped slice directly under the transducer. (Green in image below)

Sidescan goes out like downscan - a slice - but to the sides. (Blue in image below)



With both - if your transducer is mounted on the stern - when you see something on your screen, you've already passed it.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

For jigging, side imaging or down imaging doesn't really help. Both are more structure locators. Consider buying a Lowrance 2D transducer, which should be small enough to mount behind the skeg. Crank up the sensitivity to see your jig.

 

[marlattrr]

2D is built into the same transducer so thats why i wanted to put it on the bow. I dont think i can run two transducers with 1 unit.

Its side, down and 2d in one transducer. Its like 10 inches long and 2 inches wide.

 

[MN Fisher]

2D is built into the same transducer so thats why i wanted to put it on the bow. I dont think i can run two transducers with 1 unit.

Its side, down and 2d in one transducer. Its like 10 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Two units with one transducer - easy...put a Y connector in line
Two transducers with one unit - hard...switch or swap cables in and out

So it can be done - it's just clunky.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I can't speak to what accessories that Lowrance offers, only what I'm familiar with from HB. My assumption would be that they have similiar. The HB units I run, are far from the latest/greatest, so maybe even HB doesn't have it anymore.

HB did have transducer switches for both, two transducers to one head unit and two heads to one transducer. They also had a Y-cable that split out the 2D for the SI/DI.

A transducer that long would have some issues mounting to just about any trolling motor, let alone the MK Powerdrive with its skeg. SI/DI are better on the transom. To get the best imaging you want to be going slow, and generally in a straight line. I've tried it on the trolling motor, and imaging gets smeared from the turning. If your Powerdrive has an anchor lock feature, you don't want SI/DI on it, because it will be rotating.

What capabilities does your unit have at the helm? If it is a more basic unit, maybe swap them.

On many HB units, swapping the transducer via plug, is not too bad. I would probably do that vs deplying a seperate transducer mount and retrieving it.

I fish allot of the same water, so don't spend much time searching for new structure anymore. I spend more time fishing.