Best Inexpensive Fish Finders For Kayaks

Garmin Striker 4DV

This is a very portable and powerful fishfinder. For its small size, it is packed with features and simple to install in your kayak. It comes with a 3.5-inch color display that put’s out crystal clear images that you can easily see no matter the weather. Those days full or glare often make for hard viewing but not with this model. The controls are a keypad and have been made with you in mind. You can intuitively navigate between screens and get to your data quickly.

The model comes with a built-in GPS so you can mark the awesome fishing spots you find and get back to them quickly later without having to fiddle around with bearings like you might have font in the past.

For such a small model, it has some amazing sonar features. It uses a CHIRP transducer that gives you quick imaging and Garmins DownVu which gives you great detail of the bottom. It’ll pick up anything that might be lurking under the surface.

It’s made with a built-in flasher function that enables you to see your lure, the fish and the bottom at the same time. This is very useful if you’re jigging in deep water.

The unit comes with a transom/trolling motor mounting but its screen/keypad is not water-resistant and you’ll need to be careful with it. Also, you’ll need a power source onboard for it to work.

Lowrance HOOK2 4X

This is a top-quality fish finder that is perfect for use when fishing from a kayak. It comes with a 4-inch color display that is clear, easy to see from all angles and is still easily visible in all weather conditions.

It comes with CHIRP and DownScan sonars builtin that give you highly detailed images of the world below. It’ll pick up all the fish, structure, cover and contour changes you might float over.

One of my favorite things about this unit is the options for display views it makes available. You have the option to split-screen, zoom, use traditional views and you can check out three different data points at a time. Pretty awesome for such a portable unit.

The system is easy to set up and navigate around, so instead of fiddling with technology so you can keep your line in the water.

The Hook 4x includes Lowrance’s Advanced Singal Processing technology that automatically adjusts display parameters for you, again saving you some time which is better-spent fishing.

The unit does come with alarm systems, but the shallow water alarm has been known to fail on some units. There is no GPS included which is a little sad, you’ll have to find another way to mark your fishing spots to find them again the next day.

HawkEye Fishtrax 1C

This fish finder comes in the 3 different models, two of which include different black and white displays, but we are not going to mess around with them, we’re going straight to the color option, featuring a high-def VituView display. If you fancy spending a little less on the black and white display models, not one will think less of you. The color option is still very well priced though.

The display is crisp and clear, no matter the weather and it’s water-resistant too. In fact, if you grease the battery compartment, the whole thing becomes waterproof. But that is up to you, I’m not recommending it.

One of the top features of this fish finder is the dedicated flasher mode. This is great for vertical jigging and live-baiting, especially if you’re ice fishing or in your kayak.

The transducer is easy to install and can be mounted on the side of your kayak or towed behind with the included float. You can also connect it to a broom handle and point it in any direction.

The sonar runs on a dual-frequency and gives you very clear imaging of the bottom but it can be a bit hit or miss on accuracy when it comes to fish. It comes with a zoom function and alarms but unfortunately no GPS or mounting bracket. It does chew battery and you’ll need to replace them every trip.

LUCKY Handheld Fish Finder

This is one of the best value fish finders out there but you do sacrifice features and accuracy as the price comes down in this world.

The setup from this unit is flexible and allows you to set up your transducer on the side of the kayak, towed behind or on a pole so you can point and shoot in any direction. It comes with a 25ft transducer cable, so you’ll have some range to put it pretty much anywhere on your kayak.

The display is in color but shows minimal detail. It can read up to 328 feet and if you’re just wanting to know the depth, this is a good choice but if you want the detail and bottom structure, then maybe spend a little more.

The unit comes with fish and fish school alarms but is not so accurate at pinpointing fish but it is accurate when it comes to depth.

The unit is not waterproof and doesn’t come with GPS.

Humminbird Buddy MAX Fishfinder

Humminbird are known for their quality when it comes to fish finders and this little Buddy MAX is no different. It holds the Humminbird name high and its made for a kayak.

It comes with a portable clamp that holds the display unit at one end of a 24-40 inch telescopic pole and the transducer at the other. This means its preinstalled, all you have got to do is mount it onto your kayak and off you go. There are no wires to connect, nothing to fiddle with. Just clamp it on and you’re set. be sure to order one with the poles and be careful if you’re using it at speed as it could pop off. Make sure you attach a float and safety line to it.

It comes with a 3-5 inch color display that is crisp and shows you what you need. It is very easy to use, switch between screens and see the data that you need.

The sonar uses better technology than most of its competitors as it operates dual-beam as well as down imaging scanning. This means it will show a clear image up to 600ft deep. It also reads the temperature, so you’ll be able to start seeing if fish are biting more or less depending on temperature.

Raymarine Dragonfly Fishfinder

This is the most expensive kayak fish finder in the review but it’s also the best. Raymarine has always made good gear and this one will take your kayak fishing to another level. With the extra price, you’re getting a lot more features that you won’t find models with a lower price.

The Dragonfly comes with a built-in GPS that lets you plot and save your course as well as mark spots when you need to. The screen is crystal clear, in color, easy to see in all conditions and gives you the sharpest of images with a lot of detail thanks to the sonar.

The unit uses CHIRP and DownVision sonar to collect the most amount of data possible and translate it back to the crisp display. The sonar optimizes itself, so you don’t have to fiddle around and can concentrate on catching fish.  It includes a temperature sensor so you can see how fish are behaving depending on the water temperature.

Deeper Chirp Smart Sonar

This is a setup in technology from your normal mounted fish finder. The Deeper Smart Sonar Pro+ utilizes your smartphone or tablet as the screen and connects the light, portable, transducer through wifi or Bluetooth. It connects to all platforms, so don’t worry if you don’t have an iPhone or Android.

This ‘tennis ball’ transducer floats in fresh and saltwater while giving you a detailed image of what’s going on underwater on your phone. You can simply tow the unit behind your kayak or cast it out and retrieve it slowly back in. This will give you images of the whole area between you and the end of your line and what sets it apart from other fishfinders.

This kind of data tells you how far to cast, what depth and what structures are in a 360-degree direction around your kayak.  It also comes with a fishing log, diary, and maps. It plugs into your GPS, so you can mark spots and know where you are too.

The drawbacks are that it’s a little expensive and the battery life is only 5.5hrs.

Vexilar SP200 T-Box Smartphone Fish Finder

The transducer on this unit acts similarly to the one mentioned above. It creates its own Wifi hotspot so you can connect your smartphone or tablet to it, to make it a fish finder. This does drain your tablet/phone battery to be prepared for this, either take a power bank or use a dedicated tablet for it.

The transducer comes with pre-drilled holes for easy installation on to your kayak and the wi-fi hotspot means it’ll work anywhere in the world. It comes with an app that is simple to use and also plugs into Navionics which is very useful.

The best thing about this unit is its portability. It’s so easy to take anywhere and simply connect to your phone for an instant view of the bottom. The sonar beams to 240 feet and is quite accurate. It has a water temperature indicator, depth indicator, fish alarms, and the detail is pretty good too.

The connection can drop out some times which gets annoying and it can be hard to set the gain right.