Transducer placement on dory

[rino]

I’m building a boat with a motor well inside, like most dorys I see. Where do folk place their transducers? If it is on the back of the boat, then it is behind the motor…any issues with prop wash? Thanks for any info!

[fyshndad]

My experience has been to mount it on the corner of the boat so that it's in clear water and not affected by the propwash.
Before mounting it run the boat and look over the back to see where it will be best to put it

[Joe Evens]

Originally Posted by rino

I’m building a boat with a motor well inside, like most dorys I see. Where do folk place their transducers? If it is on the back of the boat, then it is behind the motor…any issues with prop wash? Thanks for any info!

The flare of the typical dory allows for a better location than most other boats. You will not find a very clean bit of water anywhere across and behind the stern/bottom.

High end, high wattage sonar systems, on some very clean boats can be set up for good results at higher speeds, but 90%+ of dories have trouble holding bottom and keeping a useful picture above 10 mph, +- .

After many years of experimentation and several different sonar systems on my boat, I found clean water for the transducer, not behind the boat, but alongside the boat.

By building a retractable mount that mounts near the outside top of the transom, that sets the transducer outside of the bottom, I was instantly rewarded with a big jump in performance. Now, with my entry level, $300 combo unit, I hold bottom, structure, and fish to 20 mph, a huge improvement.

Tom Fender designed a more elegant mount, that also sets the td outside of the white water behind the boat.

[KingSlew]

Can we see it Joe?