I am looking to add a new fish finder to my Hobie kayak. My particular question concerns the size of the screen. I have a Hook 2 5x now and the screen can be very hard to see much detail. It has been suggested I get a 9” screen. Or, is a7” adequate for others ? Also, what brand offers the best features ? Thank tou

I have two on my PA14. I have a 10” Garmin on my right side and a 9” on the left side. Both use the same transducer together. The bigger ones are much easier to see and donot get in the way fishing. I tried smaller ones but would not go back down in size again.

I recently picked up the Lowrance Elite FS 7” and use it with a mount from https://www.fishfindermounts.com/ for club boats. I purchased the 3in1 transducer and the side imaging is great to have.  I have no issue seeing the detail on the 7” and the fish revel technology with the downscan is a nice bonus instead of running 2 screens side by side.  The Elite FS is also the lowest cost model that will work with the live sonar from Lowrance “Active Target” which is taking compettive fishing by storm. 

I have a  Humminbird Helix 7 with MEGA side imageing. I love it. 7” for the fishing I do is adequate. I would say 90% of the fishing I do from my Old Town kayak is at PWF properties with the other 10% being on either public lakes or at the grasslands. I had a cheap garmin prior to my helix 7 and I personally wasn’t a fan. I’m sure that their bigger units are better though. Although I’ve never had to use Humminbird’s customer support, I’ve heard that it is top notch. 

I have a 7” Garmin Striker with side-imaging that we use with club boats and a 5-year old 7” Garmin EchoMap permanently mounted in my Old Town kayak.  I find the 7” size to be a sweet spot (for me) in the visibility vs  “in-the-way” balancing act for a kayak.  Sure, I’d like a 9” screen, but it is more likely to get in the way of some of my sidearm kayak casts. The 7” class is a BIG step up from the 5” class. The side-imaging in the new unit makes it far better than the old down-imaging unit. The map-making feature is wonderful for club lakes. I originally chose Garmin because its menu and navigation seemed easier to use in the kayak although I think that Humminbird has somewhat better imaging.  Personally, I would choose either Garmin or Humminbird but it is a personal preference and others will certainly disagree.  I can’t offer any informed advice about any of the “live” or “360” technology but I’d certainly love to have it!

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

John and I have the same kayaks. I have the Garmin 7 inch display and it is perfect size for a kayak 

Bill Fetech