SideVison on the Jackson Liska

I enjoy my Jackson Liska fishing kayak. I have installed a Raymarine Dragonfly on a Liska that I keep up in the northern woods of New Hampshire and had to get another Liska for my home base of Charleston, SC. Since I had installed the Raymarine Element on my Jackson Big Rig (https://hub.jacksonkayak.com/blog/2019/07/26/raymarine-element-installation-ff-part-ii/); I decided to purchase another power cable and Element Transducer so I can use this fish finder on both the Big Rig and the Liska. I was not sure if the Liska with the transducer installed in the scupper designed for transducers would accommodate a transducer that has SideVision functionality. If it doesn’t I’m only out the cost of the power cable and transducer.

My first thing that I needed to do was to make a circular disc to drop into the top of the transducer scupper located under the hinged center hatch. This disc will hold the transducer in position. However instead of using a bungee to secure the transducer in place I decided to try another method. The Raymarine Element Transducer has a plate that is used to secure the transducer to the transom of a boat. If you remove this mounting plate from the top of the transducer you will notice a 5mm bushing that can be used with a threaded rod.

I did notice that the transducer when mounted still drops a little at the area that is not supported. To help level this out I used some Marine Goop at that end and let it cure; waiting to continue the installation. However prior to this I sort of played with adjusting the length of the threaded shaft to get the transducer to be level.

Since there is a power cable and a transducer cable which are big in diameter; I decided to drill two 1-inch holes through the lid and using two electrical wire covers. Run the two cables on how they correspond to the connections on the back of the Raymarine Element to element having crossing cables. Adjust to length and secure the covers in place. Next tidy all the cables neatly using cable ties. This will allow you to be able to store other items like fish grips, a stringer, and these some accessories that you might need on the water.

After completing the installation I could out the kayak to test the various modes of the Raymarine Element. As stated at the beginning of the article to determine if the Liska’s transducer scupper hole would not hamper SideVision. I was very surprised to see that it didn’t. So if you are looking for a kayak that does not involve a lot of money and would like to obtain a fish finder that has SideVision capabilities I would recommend that you check out the Jackson Liska.