Hey Jim Hatch, seems like posting about pontoon boats in this forum is OK? I think it's a GREAT place to put all boat questions.
If not, then ARRR, Matey, yer forum's been hijacked by pirates! The captain of the Renegade gives no quarter (but sometimes a buck)! LOL

Anyway, here's how I have my new toon (The Renegade) rigged up, and I have some info, comments, AND questions!


The milk crate is held on with cam straps. The pirate flag needs a new mount, it's not shown (grin). The Scadden anchor hangs under the back deck, and the trolley is by my right front foot. The standing platform and lean bar were removed for this trip, a long portage to the lake.

The rod holders are the metal ones from DownEast, recommended by GnuBee. My only complaint on them is they are a bit noisy when grabbing or stowing a rod. but with practice you can do it quietly. They work great, though--best rod holders I've ever had, and will never break or wear out.. 2 holders (visible in pic) are set for storage while rowing, the third lets the rod sit accross my lap while rowing and trolling.

The sonar unit is the big Fishing Buddy 4200. I'm probably going to sell it and get something else, even though it works OK. I'm not happy with the battery life (3 D cells do NOT last all day fishing). But the big problem is having it mounted behind me, I get a sore neck turning around to look at it. A mount on the pontoon gets in the way of rowing. and in shallow water I have to remember to lift it up when I come into shore....and so on.

Which brings me to my question -- anyone here use a combination chartplotter / sonar on a tiny boat, like a pontoon, kayak, etc? I'm thinking something with a rechargable 12v battery that rides in the milk crate. I want a small, permanent transducer mount; how would I mount a transducer on the boat? Inside the pontoon? Make a PVC mount that hangs off the frame? How much battery life can I expect, and how big a battery should I get? And, lastly, are there sonar units out there that will map a lake bottom via GPS? While criusing around I'd like to be gathering data on depth, structure, etc. to have available when i return to the lake next time. I'm very new to boating electronics, but my background is in computer mapping.

Thanks for any and all advice!

DANBOB (captain of the Renegade)