Eagle Cuda 300 Fishfinder BCF $99

[Gad]

Hi All,Was doing the rounds, looking for a flush mount rod holder for my yak,went into BCF Ipswich store,they have Eagle Cuda 300 Fishfinders 240x160 pixel reduced to $99,down from $189.Thought at that price,for my basic wants, I`d get one for the yak.

If anyones interested, when I left there was 3 left in store & a couple more on order,even after they first told me they were sold out.

cheers

[robin]

I brought one on thursday, and fixed it to my yak same day, Have not been out on the water to test it yet, Might do that on Friday

[Joel Eadie]

how did they go guys? they are on sale again for $99 wondering if i should get one for the yak. what are they powered by?

and do you have to buy any extras?

[Gad]

due to a bit of health probs, and other enjoyable leisure time interests(and slackness), mine is yet to be fitted,but hopefully soon.

They are basically an economy branded Lowrance. 3 guys I know who also have various Eagle models are happy with them.For me all I need is a basic outfit that gives me depth,reasonable bottom contour showings and temp(will not get an accurate temp reading from inhull mounted transducer in a yak,but after 30 mins in the water,it would be close )

I have an old Eagle FD128 that`s on it`s 2nd boat in 8 years still working A1.

I will be powering the Cuda off a SLA 12volt-7.2 AH battery.

The package comes with Unit,transducer,power cables,mounting bracket for a boat and accessories ,3amp fuse & holder to be joined into power cable.

You only need to buy power cable joiners for wiring in, the inline fuse and your battery terminals.Buy some heat shrink tube to water proof joins.You can buy joiners and terminals with heat shrink insulation, (I went cheap and got my connections and heat shrink from Jaycar as their close by for me)

Battery costs about 30-40 $ depending where you buy.

The fittings etc for joining everything together,you will get for 5-10 $ depending where and how you buy them.

If fitting the transducer into a kayak etc hull,you will need some Selleys All Clear or similar to glue/fit your sensor in.

[tangles]

I have a Cuda my yak. Like Gad, I went for a 7.2ah SLA and it was an overkill. I don't know how many hours I would get from a full battery, but it is a lot. I normally recharge it after about 3 sessions of approx 3 to 4 hrs each, and it has never dropped below 12.9v. Might get a bit hungrier if used at night with the backlight on.

I set my transducer in the hull with Selleys allclear as well (seems to be the popular method). Allclear forms a skin quickly, but cures very slowly, and it was about a week before I was confident to use it. Even after 5 days I could still move the transducer in the half cured Allclear.

The performance of the little cuda is excellent for my needs. It shows bottom definition clearly and shows bait schools and larger fish very well indeed. I'm unable to differentiate the composition of the bottom (mud, sand, rock) other than to judge by the bottom profile. (a jagged bottom must be rock?) It does have white line, which I think helps to determine what the bottom is composed of, but I'd have to read the instructions to understand that!!! Too technical, I just wanna go fishin.

Overall, I'm very happy with mine.

[neal82]

you can always use a a hot glue gun of you're mounting the transducer in the hull, the glue won't be hot enough to damage the plastic of the hull and will cure in a few minutes as opposed to hours/days for the silicon. it should hold it on just as well as the silicon. it's also pretty good to use to waterproof joints and terminals of your cables and is alot easier to clean up than silicon.

[Joel Eadie]

thanks a heaps guys, so much help. i havent ever used a sounder so that was awesome, i think ill get one i just need it to find the bass and depth and stuff so a simple unit is all i need

[Bluevien]

They're a good little unit. I picked one up this time last year for my small tinnie at the same price. My tip when using it is to turn off the fish ID mode.... it lies

[Scope]

Agree with blue vein - fish Id mode is a waste of time on most sounders as you lose alot of detail. Unless you're anchored

The cuda is not a bad little unit - I had the portable version in my zodiac before i sold it.

Worth a mention - depth sounder secrets book is also available from bcf for about 15bucks. Worth it if you wanna get the most out of your sounder.

[tangles]

They're a good little unit. I picked one up this time last year for my small tinnie at the same price. My tip when using it is to turn off the fish ID mode.... it lies

I agree whole heartedly. The first time I used mine I had the fish ID and fish alarm turned on. When you run over a school of baitfish, it attempts to show the school as a hundred individual fish and the fish alarm goes freakin ballistic.

Fish ID is hopeless. Turn it off and learn to read the arches.

One benefit you will find with a sounder in a yak as opposed to a larger vessel, is the ability to quietly slip really close to structure and read whats there. I like to brush up against the leeward side of pylons to find the fish then drop an unweighted bait or lightly weighted plastic down past the pylon with the current. Often they're just pike, but sometimes they're bream.

Sure beats fishing blind.

[Gad]

you can always use a a hot glue gun of you're mounting the transducer in the hull, the glue won't be hot enough to damage the plastic of the hull and will cure in a few minutes as opposed to hours/days for the silicon. it should hold it on just as well as the silicon. it's also pretty good to use to waterproof joints and terminals of your cables and is alot easier to clean up than silicon.

After asking some guys who have fitted transducers into kayak/yak hulls and reading on other sites about this subject, I chose Selleys All Clear because if done properly it should be a one time application only job.(so they tell me)

It should stick the transducer to the hull like baby poo to a woollen blancket and when fully cured should not lift away over time,,

it should flexibly cope(both in storage and on the water) with hot and cold temperature variations (summer/winter) , cope with bumps when being loaded on and unloaded off a vehicle and cope with vibrations when being carted around on a vehicle,trailer or trolley.

I have never used a hot glue gun for this type of application ,so I can not comment as to whether it would be as good ,better or inferior to the Selleys product.

cheers

[neal82]

you can always use a a hot glue gun of you're mounting the transducer in the hull, the glue won't be hot enough to damage the plastic of the hull and will cure in a few minutes as opposed to hours/days for the silicon. it should hold it on just as well as the silicon. it's also pretty good to use to waterproof joints and terminals of your cables and is alot easier to clean up than silicon.

After asking some guys who have fitted transducers into kayak/yak hulls and reading on other sites about this subject, I chose Selleys All Clear because if done properly it should be a one time application only job.(so they tell me)

It should stick the transducer to the hull like baby poo to a woollen blancket and when fully cured should not lift away over time,,

it should flexibly cope(both in storage and on the water) with hot and cold temperature variations (summer/winter) , cope with bumps when being loaded on and unloaded off a vehicle and cope with vibrations when being carted around on a vehicle,trailer or trolley.

I have never used a hot glue gun for this type of application ,so I can not comment as to whether it would be as good ,better or inferior to the Selleys product.

cheers

i've not used one for this application either, and the point you make with the flexiblity and bumps is a good one, the glue should hold up to the temperature variations no problems though. i have used glue for sealing terminals and joins in cables for marine applications mainly for the fact that it is alot easier to clean off if you need to alter things!

maybe use glue to find the best spot in the hull to mount it, or if you're in a hurry to get out on the water and can't wait for the silicon to cure!