Is it just us or has kayak fishing really grown more in popularity these days? And for very good reasons.. Kayak fishing is less expensive than the motorized counterparts.

Also, fishing on a kayak allows you to fish in shallow waters and get to those hard to reach locations. This does not however excuse you from using a fish finder; as a matter of fact you increase your chances of finding a fish with a good fish finder and transducer.

When mounting a transducer on a kayak, you need to make sure that it’s mounted properly in order to get accurate results.

There are different ways of installing a transducer on your kayak. There are some kayaks that have a scupper recess designed to cater to various transducer models.

However, we’ve also found out that some kayaks also have a separate transducer kit for specific transducer models.

These mounting kits will sit inside the recess for the transducer to work. If you’re not quite sure, best to check the manufacturer of your kayak if they produce such kits for your specific transducer models.

And when following instruction manuals don’t work, you can turn to popular Kayak Fishing forums! One of our faves would have to be KayakFishingNZ.co.nz (kudos by the way on the new look!). Here you can ask for help from other kayak fishermen and get in the know on the latest on kayak fishing.

So what's the difference?

Narrow beam means it covers 15 to 30 degrees, whereas wide beam means it covers 40 to 60 degrees.

Obviously this means that narrow beam transducers have a smaller coverage area so you won't see as big an area. But this also means that the clarity is much higher.

So when should you use one or the other?

The bottom line is that a narrow beam transducer is appropriate for shallow waters. Not seeing a wide area doesn't matter and you get a much better picture.
A transducer for shallow water use, is usually narrow beam and high frequency.

In this post we're going to talk about one of the most frequently asked questions we get.

Which is better - low frequency or high frequency transducers in New Zealand waters?

Folks fishing in water depths less than 100m are best to use higher frequency transducers. These provides better bottom definition, reef structure and fish detail. Lower frequencies are generally good for water depths over 100m. The basic rule of thumb is the higher the frequency the better the definition, the lower the frequency the deeper the fishfinder can read.

If you're doing most of your fishing in less than 100m of water then it's better to use a high frequency transducer like 200KHz.

If you are fishing in over 100m it's better to use lower frequencies such as the 50KHz. 200KHz is an ideal frequency for water depths shallower than 100m as it provides excellent definition of what is going on below. You are often able to distinguish between bait fish and predator fish species. Fisherman often become so familiar with their fish finder readings that they can identify specfic fish species. This is the key benefit of higher frequencies. It can take a lot of guessing away from when to start fishing or when your dropping your line on a school of bait.

The limitation to higher frequencies is their depth. As you go deeper they begin to loose signal. This is where you require lower frequency fishfinders. A lower frequency such as 50KHz is good for water depths over 100m plus, and usaully have around 4 times the depth potential. Lower frequency transducers are able to penetrate deeper and give bottom definition or fish readings in greater depths than a 200Khz transducer. The definition is not as clear as higher frequencies however if you invest in a top end Airmar 1KW transducer (with 50KHz) you will still be able to maintain a clear image almost to the level of a 200KHz transducer used in shallow water.

The most common query we get for a replacement Transducer is for the Navman fishfinder.

There must be a lot of old Navmans out there!