hey… a little late on the reply but i have the lx9 and it reads thru the hull of my aluminum no problem. reads fine at speed and only has issues reading if its real choppy while running at speed. trolling, drifting and anchoring are best, but it can be done. just try to keep some water in the back corner of the boat and rest the ducer on the hull. sand and clean the area you plan to use and try not to have anything between the ducer and the hull. you can use a ziplock bag and put some water in it as well.