How to Hook Up a Fish Finder

A fish finder reduces the amount of time you spend out on the water searching for fish. A fish finder must be connected to a power source before it will work; some are standalone devices that use proprietary or standard batteries, while others are devices that can be wired into your boat's battery or 12v power system.

Things You'll Need

  • Knife
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine if your fish finder device runs off standard batteries, or must be wired to a 12 volt battery. Look at the back of the finder for a battery cover; remove the cover if one is present and insert the required batteries. A 12 volt fish finder won't have a slot for batteries, and will instead have two wires coming off the body: one wire with a plastic sensor and one with nothing on the end.

    • 2

      Mount the fish finder where you want it positioned for the fishing trip. Grasp the wire without the sensor, and use a knife to strip a couple inches of plastic off its end, exposing a red wire and a black wire. Strips the plastic off the ends of these two wires.

    • 3

      Wrap the red wire to the positive terminal on a 12 volt battery, then wrap the black wire around the negative terminal. Some batteries have spring-like connectors that pinch the wires, while others have clamps. If the wires won't stay on their own, fix them in place with a piece of electrical tape.

    • 4

      Drop the sensor into the water and turn the fish finder on to verify that it works.