b'The Elementsand saves time setting it up when its darkElements capability to show 3D images on an early morning start. Once the finalof the bottom will be hugely important capability to show 3Dheat shrink crimp is attached on the redfor fishing in Hawkes Bay. The relatively images of the bottom will bepower wire, all I needed was one finalfeatureless bottom of my home region crimp for the earth wire.is mostly barren of fish, that is until you hugely important for fishingWith the circuit completed it was nowfind the slight depth changes in the mud in Hawkes Bay. The relativelyready to run through the front hatch. Toand sand.keep the main wires waterproof, I drilledNormally, I would paddle along and featureless bottom of mya hole into the hatch for a waterproofdont notice any difference to the bottom, home region is mostly barrenelectrical grommet. Once the wires arebut a change shown as small as 0.5m through everything is kept tidy. Nowcould mean a place for prey to shelter of fish, that is until you findattached to my hatch, it becomes anand in turn a good place for predators to the slight depth changes ineasily removable access point to the resthunt. A tiny rock in the middle of nowhere of the circuit.could hold blue cod or tarakihi, as well the mud and sand. With the wiring all sorted I moved on toas an important piece of structure for mounting the Element to the tackle pod.kingfish to hold over. The 3D imaging FITTING UNIT The unit is quite heavy and looking at howtakes all the guesswork out of translating Out of the box the Element is almostmuch flex there would be in the plastic, Ia 2D image to what I think is down there. ready to go, the only task neededscrewed the sounder bracket through theSidescan is a feature that will be is to complete some wiring in ordertop of the pod into a piece of plywood forparticularly important for my snapper to draw power from a battery. FPV- strength and to eliminate the movement.fishing on the shallow flats offshore from Power batteries come with a standardThe entire system was designed to beTe Awanga beach. The bottom is mostly waterproof outlet which leads directlyremovable, so it can be packed downmud with scattered reef occasionally into a black earth wire and a red powerinto a dry bag for navigating throughpopping up. Snapper feed on mussel wire. Although the battery has shortbig surf. Once a big day of fishing isand other types of shellfish throughout circuit protection, I wanted to put a fuseover, I can remove my transducer andthe warmer months. They can be quite into the power line as an extra formscreen to clean them independently.difficult to pinpoint throughout the of protection. The battery pops out easily for chargingseason without investing heavily with I connected the wires using heat shrinktoo. With the sounder setup all sorted, Iberley to bring them out of hiding and crimps to protect them from saltwater.could now test the complete system onwithin reach of my bait. Finding the edge Corroded terminals are somethingthe water to make sure everything wasof reefs is an important piece of the best avoided, and kayaks are prone toworking correctly. puzzle since so many species (especially saltwater spray being so low to the water.snapper), use the structure to shelter and After the fuse I placed a waterproofPOWERFUL SOUNDER hunt food. It will be interesting to see switch, this is helpful for hooking up theThe Element HV is a much more powerfulhow many fish I used to paddle past while sounder when preparing the night beforeunit in comparison to the Dragonfly 5only beaming out a sonar directly below a trip. The battery wont eat up any powerI have used for the past 5 years. Thethe kayak.The FPV battery is mounted to the hullThis image shows the cable connection with an aluminum bracket, just behindfrom the sounder bracket to the hatch the front hatch inside the kayaks body. with the battery and transducer below. /FISHINGINGODZONE57'