REVIEW: BerleyPro Fish Finder Visor

We all know fisherman love their accessories, but accessories that can perform a few different and useful functions are normally harder to find, but that’s exactly what the BerleyPro fish finder visor does.

INTRODUCTION/IMPRESSIONS

Countless times I’ve been in the boat or on the kayak on a sunny day and have struggled to see the sounder screen, the sun was just in the wrong position and I was getting bad glare that could only be fixed by strategically placing a hand above or beside the sounder. So when I first heard about BelreyPro’s visor I thought, why didn’t I think of that! And I knew I needed to get one to try!

APPLICATION

In a nutshell the BerleyPro visor is going to take the place of that strategically placed shading hand, but a big hand. One that covers above and both sides of the screen giving you the best glare protection you can get without compromising the ability to move your sounder and also to view it from different locations on the boat or Kayak.
But apart from performing that basic function of glare removal the BerleyPro visor also gives some extra benefits especially for Kayak anglers.
By removing the glare from the screen, there is no need to run the sounder on full brightness. This has the ability to save some valuable battery power. And while some kayakers carry ample batteries for days and days of power for lights and their sounders, some people like myself don’t, and sounder power can be a concern while fishing comps, as a fish finder is quite a necessity sometimes. Now while I haven’t worked out exactly how much power you could save, I would estimate that on average I have been running my screen brightness at about 80% since having the visor installed, so I would see that as a significant power saving.
The other great function the BerleyPro visor performs is keeping water off the screen. Again this is probably more applicable to kayak fishermen as we are a lot more exposed to the elements and water spray, but keeping that excess water and some rain off the screen definitely makes the sounder easier to read.

CONSTRUCTION & FINISH

You can see a great deal of thought has gone into the design of the Visor, Martin from BerleyPro is a serious kayak fisherman himself so making a product that works and will last was paramount.
The visor is super light and probably a bit flimsier than I originally thought it was going to be, but once its bolted onto the sounder it helps stiffen it up and it seems a lot stronger. The black ABS seems to be the perfect material and the manufacturing and tolerances of the whole product including bolt holes etc was very good.
One other thing I’d like to mention was the instructions. An extremely basic yet very informative and professional set of instructions came with the product, a very welcome inclusion that really adds to the overall quality and professionalism of the BerleyPro products.

CONCLUSION

A great value product I think all kayak and boat owners should have. Obviously with a few more benefits for kayak anglers, but the whole glare reduction would be enough on its own for me to purchase one of these just for boat use.
Along with the Lowrance HDS7 visor that I run, BerleyPro make visors to fit most of the other major brands and models too, so check out there website for the full list.
Overall I think it is a well thought out and designed product that executes its designed function very well and gives me my two hands back for fishing, not just shielding the sounder to see the screen.

PROS & CONS

WHERE TO BUY

The BerleyPro fish finder visor can be purchased online via the BerleyPro website or alternatively through selected kayak stores.