Help on Toon/Tube sonar

[TroutInThere]

Hello all, I'm new to the site and I'm hoping to get a bit of help on powering a humminbird 561 di fish finder to my Creek company pontoon. Im not even sure if this is the right way to post on this thread, let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

Im an avid fly fisher mainly in the Sierras of southern-ish California, I live in Costa Mesa, CA so I'm trying to get into some salt water harbor fishing in my local area to ease some the itch to drive 6 hours.

I bought the creek company sport LT for a smoking deal on Craigslist and I used a gift card at Dicks to get the humminbird 561 di fish finder, i debated between that and the fishing buddy, hopefully I made the right choice...

So, after this long boring introduction, can someone point me in the right direction (preferably a link?) to a good battery source for this unit? Also, any tips on where and how to mount that battery to my toon would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much, I look forward to ingesting all the knowledge that flows through this forum..

Thanks!
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Welcome aboard. I'm an ex Orange County angler myself. Fished all the bays and lakes all over California.

Also, coincidentally, I am using the 561 on my tube.

You will need a 7 amp/hour SLA (sealed lead acid) battery...available for about $20 wherever sonars and other electronics are sold...and a small trickle charger to keep it charged up. These are not deep cycle batteries and need to be kept charged between uses. They are sealed so you can lay them down inside a pocket without concern for acid spillage.

Attaching pics of a battery and of a 565 setup on one of my tubes. The two toughies are attaching the display and rigging the transducer.
Hopefully the attached pics will help. Feel free to get back with any questions.

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[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=50371"]PVC RAM MOUNT.jpg[/url] (322 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=50372"]INSTALLED.jpg[/url] (334 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=50373"]SIDE VIEW MOUNTED.jpg[/url] (289 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=50374"]CONNECTED.jpg[/url] (242 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=50375"]DISCONNECTED.jpg[/url] (276 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=50376"]CONNECTOR PINS.jpg[/url] (335 KB)
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[TroutInThere]

Thanks so much for the help on this, I'm going to try and order this battery and start my PVC buildout later next week. Once I get in the water, i'd love to meet up if you are up for company in the harbor. Looking to use this mainly on Crowley and a few other spots as far as fresh water goes and then in the harbors as we discussed. Do you recommend a good fresh water soak after harbor fishing? Any issues going from salt to fresh? My next purchase will be the Minn Kota and motor mount, I'm sure there are plenty of posts regarding that topic.

Thanks again!
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[albinotrout]

Welcome to BFT! You have come to the right place. Tubedude has started you off in the correct direction. I have gleaned much knowledge from him. The fish finder you purchased will work well for you.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I'd love to join you on the water, but I am living in Salt Lake area these days. Plenty of salt water but the biggest catch might be a brine shrimp.

Always a good idea to rinse all your gear in fresh water after a dunk in the salt. Just a good spray down with a garden hose will work. However, if you pick up an oil ring from fishing in a bay you will want to use some 409 to loosen it and then a blast in a car wash to finish removing the gunk. Depending on what your cover is you may also want to get some good vinyl protectant...NOT ARMORALL. The better you protect your cover against UV and grime the longer it will last and continue to look good.

Just a word of caution, MinnKota motors are not recommended for salt water and that will void the warranty.

Really miss some of my California fishing...but don't miss the "humanity". We go over to visit family and friends periodically and reinforce our decision not to live there.

I lived in Orange County (Garden Grove), San Diego, Santa Barbara and Sacramento over the course of (too) many years. Lots of good memories and some not so much.
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[flygoddess]

I was going to recommend the Float Tube Fanatics for the sonar. Everything plus battery.
But TD's is much more cost friendly.

A lot of tubers in CA I have talked to use a prop on a long shaft hooked to a cordless drill for a motor. Seems to work for them. Not constant use but from point A to point B.
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