finding fish

[anthonyjb]

any one tryed that fish finder thingy

[Peter Waller]

I've got a fish finder whatsit & its brillient. But the fish finder thingy might not be so good.

[anthonyjb]

is it the 1 you cast out

[anthonyjb]

trying 2 find the name of it

[Andrew Burgess]

anthonyjb:

trying 2 find the name of it

You mean the Hummingbird SmartCast?

[Dick Dastardly]

"Smart Cast" I believe?

[Peter Waller]

No mine isn't. The cast out type is the one that I wouldn't buy either. Seems that they don't like a chop. Their range is limited and their angle of dangle a bit tight for shallow water. Plus they have a limited battery life and the readout is a bit limited. The one you mean is the SmartCast. One or two AN posters have bought them but no one has convinced me that they are worth having.

 

[ 30. October 2004, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]

[Dick Dastardly]

Sounders are required for big waters and big waters require boats.Smart Cast as Peter says is for use off the bank reducing its use to smaller waters.IMO smaller waters are quite easily checked out for depth by other more traditional means.

The name fish finder is a bit of a misnomer really what they really are (regardless of bank or boat mounted) depth finders.It is with this knowledge of depths and therefore features that you can use your knowledge of your chosen species preferences to find them.NOT the gimmicky fish ID features most have.

[Steve Burke]

Blimey, I actually disagree with Budgie!

 

I've got a Smartcast and rate it highly, not for finding fish (which is does do) but for fast, accurate feature finding. In this respect it's way faster than any other method.

 

Sure it has its limitations. Firstly, the range is limited to about 40 yards in calm water, which is longer than claimed. To get the maximum range hold the unit up high to pick up a signal and then lower it.

 

In rough water the range is much less.

 

However, in all cases it can apparently be doctored to increase the range. A way was shown on, I believe, Fishing Magic. A friend of mine is coming to Wingham and he's found a way to much increase the range and will be doing mine.

 

Smartcasts may not suit some carp anglers in particular, but for those like me who seldom fish at long range it's brilliant. I found features on my own lakes at Wingham I didn't even know existed - even though I'd been over them countless times in my boat with a conventional Humminbird fishfinder!

 

[ 30. October 2004, 11:24 PM: Message edited by: Steve Burke ]

[Newt]

Blimey² (he he, first time I've ever been able to use that word but since a native speaker did, it's gotta be good in this context ) but I can't agree with Budgie either.

 

"Smart Cast as Peter says is for use off the bank"

 

If you fish from a boat at anchor, Smart Cast is very much a useful item for the boat angler. Pass over and spot something likely from the main sonar unit, move a bit away from it and anchor, use Smart Cast to pinpoint the place(s) you want to fish and leave the sounder head floating to server as a marker float until your rig is where you want it then reel it in.

 

[ 31. October 2004, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]