It depends on the type of fish finder you intend on buying. There exist several ways to select fish finder, it all hinges on what you intend to use it for; bass fishing, kayaking, using it in shallow water, etc. All, if not most fish finder on the market, normally come with a transducer. Especially if you have a plenty cash to spend, a fish finder that comes with a transducer is likely in your spending range.

Do Fish Finders Come With Transducers?

Like earlier stated, most fish finders come with transducers, though most time, the only time you’ll want to purchase a separate transducer is if there is need for an improvement. You are also required to know the type of transducer that will work perfectly for your situation. For instance, transom mount transducers are ideal at slow speeds but aren’t really effective when in motion. However, though, holes provide the best performance at diverse speeds simply because they won’t experience much disturbance. Despite that, they need more boat modifications to install.

Learn more on how to determine the most appropriate fish finder.

If you plan on utilizing a different transducer and not the one that came with your new fish finder device, just ensure that you check if it can work well with your fish finder, and also with your boat. Your fish finder will come alongside your transducer, in most cases, but there may exist situations where you may require a different transducer other than the one that came with your fish finder. This is the only situation where you’ll have to buy a different transducer other than that which came with your fish finder device. Mind you, it is quite rare to find a fish finder that is sold without a transducer. 

Imagine a transducer as the mouth and ears of your fish finder. It screams into the depths with its “ping,” and afterwards listens for the echo. This element of a fish finder is very crucial, and it can to an extent, determine the outcome of your fishing adventure.

What Is A Fish Finder?

This device helps to detect school of fish and offers several underwater information, like distribution of fish school, water depth, and the sea bed condition, by sending ultrasonic waves into the sea bed and receiving its reflection. A proportion of ultrasonic or sonic waves, which have been transmitted, returns back to its source when it comes in contact with an object (e.g. sea bed, school of fish). A fish finder utilizes the characteristics of this ultrasonic reflection.

The ultrasonic wave being emitted from the fish finder are sent directly under the boat. If they, peradventure, come in contact with a fish school, the reflection that will be returned to the source, will be quite feeble. The received reflection is then converted into an electrical signal and afterwards transmitted to the receiving circuit of the fish finder device. This circuit augments the feeble signals, it is then processed by the processor unit in order to generate images that will be shown on the screen. Consequently, the image will be shown on the color LCD. Intense reflection is displayed in red and orange, while feeble ones are displayed in blue or green on the screen. A fish school of intense density or rocks lying on the bottom of the sea will reflect stronger signals, so these signals will be displayed in a reddish color, while a fish school of reduced density or a little fish, will be displayed in a bluish color.

A fish finder is made up of two parts, the primary unit (with a screen) and transducer. The primary unit should be situated where it is easily accessible, in the wheelhouse or cabin, etc. The transducer should be attached to the bottom of the boat either through hull or in-hull installation. It is also important that you acknowledge the fact that the performance of your fish finder device largely hinges on whether your transducer is appropriately mounted on the bottom of your boat. An inappropriately mounted transducer may lead to failure in seizing reflected waves or other intense effects. To avoid this, ensure that your transducer is properly installed.

There are different fish finder types put there, each with special features. You can also find affordable fish finders that correctly suits your budget.

Having being briefed a little of what a fish finder entails, it’s paramount we also have an insight of what a transducer is as well.

What Is A Fish Finder Transducer?

When keen on boosting the quantity of fish you catch in a day, one of the most efficient device you can purchase is a fish finder. This device works using sound waves to discover the location of fishes including their shapes and sizes (sonar). The fish finder transducer is in charge of transmitting the sound waves into the water.

Many novice anglers will always ask ” what Is a transducer on a fish finder? Therefore, we aim to shed some light on what a transducer actually is.

Transducers converts electrical transmissions sent from your fish finder device into sound waves that are later sent into the water. This info is acquired by the sensors and shown on your fish finder in the form of different charts and images that describes the size, location, and depth of the object. In other words, a  transducer is basically an item whose job is to detect the objects underneath the water  so that the images can be sent to the monitor of the fish finder, assisting the angler to identify whether the region is ideal for fishing or not, it also helps to identify the species of fishes present in the area.

There exists five main types of transducers and they are:

• Transom mounted transducer
• In-hull transducer
• Through-hull transducer
• Tilted element transducer
• Portable transducer

Now that you have a little knowledge of what a fish finder and a transducer is, let’s take a look at a question which you find on the lips of most anglers.