Yeah, you'll literally pick up strands of eel grass, kelp, etc that will drag like a streamer off the arm. so far it's all migrated up the arm to the surface and hasn't been hard to clear or obstruct signal. Just annoying!

Ah - I hear ya Dave. This ought to be fun!

The rotation you mentioned.... How does that occur? Is the rod twisting? The RAM Mount shouldn't be slipping I imagine. Would you fill me in please?

My ram ball is actually a wedge mount that I put in an existing flush mount rod holder. My theory is that due to the design of the wedge mount, being held in by friction alone, there are many points along the way that allow minor degrees of "wiggle". Add up all those minor bits of "wiggle" and you end up with something noticeable. To be honest if I were to smack the arm on something stationary I would much rather prefer the arm give than my hull having to be the weak point!

It is minor though and I've often thought that if I was using a fixed ball it wouldn't happen. RAM clamps offer a little play though in general if one puts some leverage on them. If you put too much pressure on them they will also permanently indent.

Thanks Dave! I've seen what you explained and suppose a ball mount on my kayak would stay nice and tight if I went with a RAM Mount. I want to look at all options and have no problem fabricating my own too but time will tell. I'll be paddling as well; no peddling and no motor, so drag shouldn't be a big deal for mostly lake fishing.

A RAM mount will not stay in one place if there s a load put on it. I used to use those exclusively but since have changed over to the Scotty mounts as they will lock in a position.

Thanks PapaDave! Do think I need to be concerned with flex in the arm affecting the sonar being that my transducer is not tiny? Please let me know - thanks! For the Scotty 141 I've been checking out, I just need to be sure I can get that 4" track mounted so the arm will get into the water OK.

Sorry, just saw this. That transducer is a beast! Email John at Mad Frog Gear and see what he thinks. I'm sure he could help.

Yep - it's not small but I'm not sure from what I see online that the Mad Frog Gear offering will get around my gunwale and hull nicely, but then maybe it can. I'll need to get some pix of the kayak mounting areas and contact John and maybe the Scotty folks too. I'm not hearing a lot of love for the RAM transducer offerings. Thanks for the reference!

Getting past a wide gunwale is no big deal. The piece that attaches to the plate has pre-drilled holes. The arrow points to where the piece was cut. I have a Ride 135 which has pretty wide gunwales and at 2 holes is just enough. Just measure the distance you would need and let John know.

Hmmm - Food for thought thanks for posting the image!

I don't think you will be going fast enough for the arm to flex all that much, even with the larger transducer. Most transducers are made to cut through the water and not have much drag on them. The only thing that would produce drag would be weeds or kelp that got stuck on the arm or transducer.

Thanks for the reply... Fishing season opened here in NJ and I was able to talk to a couple of guys coming off a lake on Sunday. One had a RAM transducer arm with a "large" Lowrance transducer and no issues at all he stated. The guy one had a FeelFree kayak and that has a through hull configuration thingy that lifts out and all self contained (nice to have I imagine).

So I've got this small Ocean Kayak Tetra 10 to rig. Thanks for your input (and all others here too!) as it's "ALL" quite helpful! I'm thinking and leaning towards Yak Gear track (only .9" wide) because the top of my gunwales is just a pinch wider than that and mount the arm to the track. Now to figure on a length. I suppose longer is better for other mounting options while out there and not being locked into a shorter track...