Last Updated on December 16, 2020
Best Kayak Fish Finder Quick List
- Lowrance HOOK2 5 TripleShot Kayak Fish Finder with TripleShot Transducer and Navionics+ Map Card
- Humminbird HELIX 5 CHIRP SI GPS G2 Kayak Fish Finder
- Garmin Striker Plus 5cv Kayak Fish Finder with GT20-TM Transducer
- Humminbird HELIX 5 CHIRP DI GPS G2 Kayak Fish Finder
- Garmin Striker Plus 4 Kayak Fish Finder with Dual-Beam Transducer
- Lowrance HOOK2 5X Kayak Fish Finder with SplitShot Transducer and GPS Plotter
- Garmin Striker 4 Kayak Fish Finder With Dual-Beam Transducer
- Deeper CHIRP Smart Sonar Castable Fish Finder
The best kayak fish finder is a the perfect balance of size, features and value. Our review of top picks include the best fish finder options at numerous price points. A great portable kayak fish finder includes a number of mount and battery options that we also link to.
Some of the most important features we think bring value to a kayak fish finder are:
1) GPS: GPS can lock you on to fishing locations and keep you over fish. If you fish larger bodies of water, they are also invaluable for navigation.
2) CHIRP Digital Sonar: View details that other forms of sonar won’t show you and is engineered to help you see individual fish, clearly identify bait and structure, and reach greater depths and range.
3) Side-Imaging and Down-Imaging: Side-Imaging can produce images of the bottom and scans the area on both sides of your boat for up to hundreds of feet. It allows you to quickly scan large areas of water for fish and structure. Once you find structure or fish, you can then switch to Down-Imaging which produces near photo-like images of whats under your kayak.
Lowrance HOOK2 5 TripleShot Fish Finder with TripleShot Transducer and Navionics+ Map Card
A great value and loaded with features. The perfect size kayak fish finder with a full sonar experience. Tripleshot 3-in-1 displays give you wide-angle High CHIRP Sonar and Sidescan/Downscan Imaging™ with full chartplotter and basic GPS plotter navigation options. There are tons of mounting attachment options for your kayak and many fishing kayaks include Lowrance Transducer mountings.
Features:
– High-resolution, SolarMAX display
– Autotuning sonar
– Double the CHIRP sonar coverage of most fishfinders
– Broadband Sounder, High CHIRP, SideScan and DownScan Imaging™ sonar options
– Full chartplotter and basic GPS navigation options
– Preloaded C-MAP US Inland Mapping or C-MAP® US Coastal mapping (not available on HOOK2 X models)
Humminbird HELIX 5 CHIRP SI GPS G2 Fish Finder
Choosing between Side-Imaging and Down-Imaging for your kayak fish finder is confusing, but with this unit you don’t need to, it offers both. The 5″ widescreen display on this kayak fish finder is the perfect combination of portability and visibility for a kayak. This HELIX 5 CHIRP SI GPS G2 model features CHIRP Digital Sonar, CHIRP Side Imaging, CHIRP Down Imaging, GPS mapping, AutoChart Live, the new HumminbirdⓇbasemap, DualBeam PLUS and SwitchFire.
A ton of features that make this a top pick for a kayak fish finder – details below.
CHIRP Side Imaging: Filter out noise and clutter for a clearer view of the world below. It’s the perfect blend of CHIRP Digital Sonar precision and Side Imaging detail—with 480 feet of side-to-side coverage.
CHIRP Down Imaging: Filter out noise and clutter for a clearer view beneath your boat. It’s the perfect blend of CHIRP Digital Sonar precision and Down Imaging detail.
CHIRP Digital Sonar: View details that other forms of sonar won’t show you. Humminbird CHIRP Digital Sonar is engineered to help you see individual fish, clearly identify bait and structure, and reach greater depths and range.
AutoChart Live: Create real-time maps of your fishing spots, with access to patented Humminbird® LakeMaster® features. Map depth contours, bottom hardness and vegetation as you drive your boat, with eight hours of built-in recording time.
Garmin Striker Plus 5cv with GT20-TM Transducer
The Garmin Striker Plus 5CV is another 5-inch screen fish finder. When paired with the GT20-TM Transducer, it’s a great selection for a kayak fish finder. Perfect for the shallow water fisherman who want traditional and CHIRP ClearVü scanning sonar, the GT20-TM transducer consistently displays fish arches as well as clear pictures of objects, structure and fish that pass below your boat. Garmin ClearVü scanning sonar gives you a nearly photographic, wide image below your boat. With ClearVü, you clearly see structure, submerged objects and fish. For less money than our two previous picks, you get a lot of features for the money in this kayak fish finder.
Features:
– Includes transducer for built-in Garmin CHIRP traditional sonar plus CHIRP ClearVü scanning sonar
– Built-in Garmin Quickdraw™ Contours mapping software lets you create and store maps with 1’ contours for up to 2 million acres
– Built-in GPS lets you mark waypoints, create routes and view boat’s speed
– Bright, sunlight-readable 5” display and intuitive user interface
– Rugged design for every fishing environment
Humminbird HELIX 5 CHIRP DI GPS G2
If you fish deeper water or are looking for a powerful kayak fish finder that you can also use as an ice fishing fish finder, you might want to consider this fish finder. The 5″ widescreen display on this kayak fish finder is the perfect combination of portability and visibility for a kayak. This HELIX 5 CHIRP DI GPS G2 model features CHIRP Digital Sonar, CHIRP Down Imaging, GPS mapping, AutoChart Live, the new HumminbirdⓇbasemap, DualBeam PLUS and SwitchFire.
A ton of features that make this a top pick for a kayak fish finder – details below.
CHIRP Down Imaging: Filter out noise and clutter for a clearer view beneath your boat. It’s the perfect blend of CHIRP Digital Sonar precision and Down Imaging detail.
CHIRP Digital Sonar: View details that other forms of sonar won’t show you. Humminbird CHIRP Digital Sonar is engineered to help you see individual fish, clearly identify bait and structure, and reach greater depths and range.
AutoChart Live: Create real-time maps of your fishing spots, with access to patented Humminbird® LakeMaster® features. Map depth contours, bottom hardness and vegetation as you drive your boat, with eight hours of built-in recording time.
Garmin Striker Plus 4 Fish Finder with Dual-Beam Transducer
A really nice compact design for a kayak fish finder, this full color Garmin Striker Plus 4 is a great combination of size and function. The intuitive user interface makes it simple to navigate to whatever feature you need, so you are ready for anything on the water.
Features:
– Includes dual-beam transducer with Garmin CHIRP traditional sonar for crystal-clear images and remarkable target separation
– Built-in Garmin Quickdraw™ Contours mapping software lets you create and store maps with 1’ contours for up to 2 million acres
– Built-in GPS lets you mark waypoints, create routes and view boat’s speed
– Bright, sunlight-readable 4.3” display and intuitive user interface
– Rugged design for every fishing environment
Lowrance HOOK2 5X Fish Finder with SplitShot Transducer and GPS Plotter
If you’re looking to save money because you know you don’t need full-feature GPS, but still want a 5-inch screen, great features and easy usability, this might be a perfect option as a kayak fish finder. This fish finder includes traditional high CHIRP sonar plus DownScan Imaging, letting you track baits, mark fish, and identify structure under your boat.
Features:
– EASIEST TO USE: The Lowrance HOOK2 5x Fish Finder features auto-tuning sonar and phone-like menus giving you more time to spend fishing and less time dealing with settings.
– WIDER SONAR COVERAGE: The HOOK2 5 offers a wide-angle CHIRP sonar cone giving you double the coverage of traditional fish finders.
– EASY SETUP: A single transducer can be mounted on the transom, inside the hull, on the trolling motor or through a scupper hole.
– MORE SONAR VIEWS: The Lowrance HOOK2 5x comes complete with a SplitShot transducer which gives you DownScan sonar (straight down) and CHIRP sonar (fish arch) views.
– FISH FINDER & GPS: The HOOK2 5x provides basic navigation with a GPS plotter that allows you to add waypoints, follow trails, and navigate. No maps included.
Garmin Striker 4 Fish Finder With Dual-Beam Transducer
If you are just starting out with kayak fishing and looking for an excellent entry-level fish finder, this is a great option. Very simple to use, great value and size, and upgrade options for transducers and other features make this a great choice.
This unit is not waterproof or portable. Like all units above, you need a battery to make the unit portable. Garmin offers a Portable Kit that protects the unit and includes a chargeable battery: Garmin Portable Fishing Kit
Features:
– Clear Vu scanning Sonar shows you more of what is in the water around your boat; This high frequency sonar gives near photographic images with detailed representations of objects, structure and fish
– The power of simple offers a keyed interface with dedicated buttons; The device is easy to use and easy to install; Available in 3.5, 5 and 7 inch display sizes; Water rating IPX7
– Waypoint map: Use the way point map to easily view, mark and navigate to locations such as brush piles, stumps and docks; Maximum depth 1,600 feet freshwater, 750 feet saltwater; Current draw at 12 volt: 0.23 Ampere
– Chirp Sonar sends a continuous sweep of frequencies which provides a wider range of information; Chirp Sonar is able to create crisper fish arches with better target separation
– Built in flasher: View your sonar data in the classic flasher format; Ideal for ice fishing or vertical jigging.
Deeper CHIRP Smart Sonar Castable Fish Finder
Deeper CHIRP is the world‘s first castable, Wi-Fi enabled fish finder that utilizes CHIRP technology. The three beam frequencies, crisp clarity and extreme depth accuracy makes it ideal for quickly locating target species holding spots, pinpointing predator fish and fishing in extreme depths. It is perfect for casting or trolling and mapping (using smartphone or tablet GPS) from a small boat/kayak/SUP, shore and ice fishing.
About Deeper Chirp:
– With a target separation of 0.4” / 1cm, you’ll be able to easily pinpoint target species even when they are amongst a school of bait fish or track the tiniest lure when vertical jigging.
– With CHIRP, surface clutter and noise are minimal, so you can expect precise sonar readings in very shallow water and locate fish as close as 6” / 15cm from the water’s surface. To the other extreme, you will be able to distinguish bottom huggers in water as deep as 330 ft. / 100m.
– 3 Beam Frequencies: Discover fish holding spots faster by scanning an area with the wide angle beam, 47° (100 kHz). Use the mid angle beam, 16° (290kHz) to drill in on that hotspot you’ve located. Home in on your target species with the very detailed, 7° (675kHz) narrow angle beam.
– Charge Fast: 80% in 45 minutes, 100% in 75 minutes. Get back on the water, fast.
Compatibility: From iOS 12.0 and Android 5.0 to the latest iOS and Android devices
Sonar Type: 3 Frequency CHIRP – Narrow CHIRP 675 kHz (cone angle 7°), Medium CHIRP 290 kHz (cone angle 16°), Wide CHIRP 100 kHz (cone angle 47°)
Target Separation: 0.4 in / 1 cm. Narrow Chirp, 0.94 in / 2.4 cm. Medium Chirp, 0.94 in / 2.4 cm. Wide Chirp
Depth Range: 6 in / 15 cm.– 330 ft / 100 m.
Sonar Scan Rate: Up to 15 scans per second
Sonar Modes: Standard, Ice fishing, Boat
Bathymetric Mapping: uses smartphone or tablet GPS to map from boat / kayak / SUP
Operating Temperature: -4°F to 104°F / -20°C to 40°C
Operating Time: Up to 8 hours
Charging Technology: Fast charge, 80% in 45 min., 100% in 75 min.
Internal Battery: Lithium Polymer, 3.7V Rechargeable, 950 mAh
Power Adapter (not included in the box, recommended): Input 110V/220V. Output Micro USB, 5V 2A
Connection Type: Wi-Fi
Connection Range: Stable connection up to 330 ft / 100 m.
