Bow mounted fish finder

Looking for info or suggestions on a fish finder for the bow of my boat. I have a new boat and like most I didn’t buy everything I needed for it when I got the boat. So I’m trying to decide how to handle this upgrade.

My current fish finder is a Raymarine L365 which isn’t too bad. I has dual frequencies and I can’t say that I use it for much other than to see what the water temp is, my current depth, and how fast I’m going when I’m trolling.
Sure you see fish on this but for me that just tells me there are some sort of fish there, no telling what they are though.

So I was wondering if I should move this to the bow and get something better for the console or just put a nice one up at the bow. Seems to me that I spend more time up at the bow fishing than I do at the console and infact the only time I’m at the console is when I’m trolling.

The next question has to do with the transducer. I only have a minkota power drive trolling motor that doesn’t have the built in transducer and seeing how there are a limited number of sonars that work with that I don’t think I would change my trolling motor for that reason. So would you put a transducer on the trolling motor and how well does that work or would you just run the transducer back to the rear of the boat.

Thanks

Whatever you mount up front I would suggest a GPS/Sonar combination unless you want 2 units up front.
If you troll walleyes using the bow mount you know how important it is to know your speed.
I have Garmin electronics on my boat and I really like them, I have 2 Fishfinder 240 units and 2 GPS map 168 units. Since you are starting from scratch you can choose the brand. I would probably suggest staying with Garmin or Lowrance. Garmin is more user friendly but Lowrance has the bigger screens both make great units just a matter of budget and preference.

With almost any unit you can purchase an optional trolling motor transducer and mounting kit. They often come as a package deal. This is the case with the Garmin 168 for example – the trolling motor transducer comes with the mounting kit.

So this leaves you wide open as far as what to do with your electronics. It’s a matter of preference and what you want to spend.

Your Raymarine can be mounted on the bow and there is an optional trolling motor transducer available:

Raymarine Transducers

Whether you leave the Raymarine or move it to the bow, it sounds like you’ll be trying to choose a new unit. Lots to choose from and you’ll get some very knowledgeable opinions here. A GPS combo might be a good idea if you don’t have a GPS already. As stated above, a GPS is great for trolling. My favorite combo units are Garmin or Lowrance. If you have other questions, let us know. Good Luck!

The L365 is a good unit, had it on my last boat.Now I have a lowrance x97 mounted on my dash with a swivel mount just turn it forward when in the bow.Most of the time Im up there Im jigging or casting.Only problem is when windshield is dirty or wet.Or you can run extra cables and mount your present unit up front when wanted.

I guess what I was looking for was some input on whether to use a transom mount and run it all the way up to the front of the boat or if a transducer kit for a trolling motor is really worth using. I can see how having the transducer on the trolling motor would give you a better idea of the fish below the boat in shallow water but some fishfinders don’t have this as an option and certain things like speed detection like the one on my raymarine L365 obviously would not be available on a transducer that is mounted to a trolling motor. So to compensate for that a GPS combo would work but is a lot more money. Any one had a chance to check out the new Humminbird Matrix line. This has a GPS feature that currently only cost $50 to add. I was also curious about the Matrix 35 and its 90 degree feature.