fish finder for kayak?

I'm starting my seach for a fish finder for my kayak (radar 135 pdl). What features are helpful or useless in the yak? I generally toll or cast the shoreline. Target species is a fish not just sightseeing. Looking around the Helix 7 CHIRP SI GPS G2 would work.

Hi, I have had Garmin Echomap DV for 2 years - no complaints.
I found maps, GPS and regular sonar the most useful features. I usually fish 50+ feet of water.

Any of the GPS enabled units will be good. Personally I would look for something in the 7inch range. Gives you decent screen size without being overly expensive. This is nice because you can run split screen and still see in detail. I would also look for a used higher end unit. The better units are generally higher definition, with faster processors for the GPS and mapping.

I've used all brands and I think they are all equal for the most part. I would choose the unit that has the best mapping and you can get for a good price.

I have a Garmin 75SV on my Hobie Pro Angler 12. Love the unit.
Has GPS, Side Imaging & I love that I can chart my own maps.

If price is not an issue I would personally recommend a 7 in screen. Nice when you have split screens with different options (SI, Sonar & Down Imaging or Maps).

Something to consider is how you are mounting the transducer. I 100% recommend that the transducer is in the water. Some people put it in the hull. For Sonar only that is usually fine, but other options will suffer.

Hobie has a ready mount in hull for the transducer. I had to get the Berley Pro Plate for mine with SI.

Either way, the Scotty Transducer arm is a good option. Also, are you planning on keeping the wires in the hull. If so you will need waterproof gaskets after you drill holes for the wires.

Fish Finder is important to consider based on what you want but also consider mounting the transducer and the unit on your kayak.

The WS Radar has a removeable storage pod for your battery and transducer mount that puts it in the water. With SI does the transducer need to be below the hull or flush? At present my budget is pretty open.

I have a Humminbird Helix 5 DI GPS G2 mounted to the flex pod in my ATAK. I am happy with it. While there are times a larger screen would be nice, that extra screen real estate comes at a cost - battery life. Turn down your screen brightness to extend battery life.

@4Trax - The SI transducer needs to be below the hull. You can see my my transdcuer is mounted in the Berley Pro Mount. it would fit flush inside the offset transducer mount but the SI needs to be below the hull to work properly.

Added some Gorilla tape to protect the hull a bit.

Thank you EVANXRS. I think a 7in SI is in my near future.

Not sure exactly which model you are looking for, but Cabelas.ca had the Humminbird HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G2N Fishfinder and Chartplotter with Navionics+ on sale for 699.99 twice since Christmas (regular 1,099.99).

Note that the G3 (3rd gen) has been released which has mega SI. If you are looking for a G2, you should be able to pick up a decent deal as retailers will be looking to clear out their remaining stock.

I would be very curious to know how the SI works out for you from the kayak. Looking into one myself, but likely not this year.

SI on my kayak works just like it would in a boat. I was out yesterday and again amazed of the technology. It helped me find very productive structure that otherwise I would have missed unless I traveled right over it.

Purchase has been made. I bought a Helix 5 SI gps g2. The 7 just looked too big for on a kayak. The 5 will fit inside the flex pod for transporting. I'm going to mount it on the side rail with the battery in the flex pod. Thank you for the advice guys.

SI works fine in a kayak, maybe better because you don't have the sway and speed of a boat. But don't imagine you see a lot on SI if you don't have a big screen and don't image that the SI is effective over 20-30 feet's.
It is a great feature if you target fish on sides in 10 meters max range (30 feet's).

I do have Helix 9 SI CHIRP Gen 2.