# In hull transducer with Lowrance HDS



## Riverduck11 (Jul 11, 2013)

I am trying to decide on which in hull transducer to pair with a new HDS unit. Main purpose is to detect fish and bait at planing speed on Lake Erie. I was thinking of a basic transducer. Then I talked with a respected electronic expert today who highly suggested an airmar p75 M or even the new high wide Airmar. 

These transducers are $350 and $900 respectively. Are most of you that get good high speed readings running specialty transducers in shallow water like Lake Erie, less than 80 feet for sure. 

I have spent a month or more researching exactly what I want and now am perplexed over whether a base transducer will work. 

I would love to hear which transducer you are running and if you feel you can mark and translate the data while on plane.


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## My Demeyes (Aug 2, 2010)

I run a Furuno fishfinder with an airmar thru hull, I can mark fish while running so much better after switching to the thru hull. I'm not sure of the exact model, but it was around $300 I think.


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## Decoy hound (Apr 3, 2015)

I had to go with an Airmar stainless steel thru hull flush mount transducer because my boat is aluminum and I trailer so didn't want it protruding out the bottom. You can't use bronze on an aluminum boat. Also the flush mount won't get damaged on rollers or bunks. I believe the model is SS164, I'll have to check to be sure. They are costly but you do mark at high speed, especially clouds of bait. Which is very important on Lake Ontario, no bait=no fish!


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## erie mako (Jan 22, 2013)

On my fiberglass center console I installed an Airmar B60 to feed my HDS8, best thing I ever bought for the boat!


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

I have the Airmar B150M. It's a true chirp transducer and I can read bottom to my top end at 40mph and can clearly mark fish in the low 20's. I highly recommend the HDS/Airmar B150m combo.







. This pic is at 15mph and the marks are still arches


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## Rodbuster (Apr 14, 2004)

I run a B75M thru hull with a Simrad NSS evo2 About same as your HDS. I spent more time picking the transduce than the Finder. I also wanted to mark fish at speed. And you can Bet the more you spend the more you see. If the lake is flat I can mark at 25 to 30 mph
But even better is what I see now at 10 and 15 mph. I can't see me ever going back to a transom mount.
The hard part is when you have to drill that 2 3/4 hole in the boat bottom.


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

If you're willing to spend the money on the B75M, i think but am not 100% sure that it is the best thru hull chirp transducer available that plugs in to your HDS. The other one that will plug in with the blue connector is the B150M. It has less power,less sensitivity and costs around $300. I think you'll be happy with either. If you will use in water over 300 ft, I'd go with the B75m, otherwise you have to weigh whether that extra sensitivity warrants the extra cost. When I was doing my research, I found a lot of online dialog with positive comments about these transducers. I found lots of people bragging about how fast they can go and mark fish. That's the kind of stuff you want to hear. I found no one saying 'I spent all this money on a thru hull transducer and I'm disappointed'. I can confirm it worked for me with the b150m. If you're going to do the install, buy the wrench to tighten the nut on the inside and practice doing it without 5200 first. Make sure you have clearance to turn that wrench in your chosen location and make sure there are no other thru hulls or strakes in front of your chosen location. Do that and make sure the arrow points to the keel and you'll LOVE the way it works


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

Here's the main benefit of marking at speed that no one talks about. When fish are suspended 10 to 15 down, these fish don't just sit there and let the boat go over them. They scatter and you never mark them. When you can cruise along at 20mph marking fish, you get a way better idea about the real depths the fish are at because they don't have time to scatter. I believe this is the case for anything less than 20 ft. At 20ft, it seems like they scatter less and you can even target them with dipsy divers instead of planer boards. I could be wrong about this, it's just a personal theory


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## Riverduck11 (Jul 11, 2013)

Thanks guys. I have spent so much time on the units and how to network with everything. I assumed the transducer was fairly standard. I feel like I am back at square one. 

I really do not know about a that size hole in my boat's bottom. I am also now going in depth on shoot thru hull transducers. 

Thanks again. I really appreciate all the insight.


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## jeepdude64 (May 14, 2009)

i have a ranger 1850 with a thru hull that was already installed when i bought the boat. Sorry I do not know the transducer model. It is connected to a lowrance hds-8 gen 2 and i can mark at any speed really clear (up to 40 mph). I just recently installed a hds-9 gen3 with a total scan transducer and I am glad i kept the 8 it marks better than the new one with the external transducer. I run with the hds8 on sonar and the hds9 on map mostly due to not needing glasses to see the screens. I have been playing with chirp just not as confident as i am with 2d marks.


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