Castable fish finders

Post by **Jeebus** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:22 pm

Has anyone ever used one of these. They are pretty expensive still, but I do not own a boat and fish from shore or rent a boat ( they generally do not come with a fish finder). So does anyone have any input?

Post by **SkeeterJohn** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:30 pm

Well if i was purely a shore angler i think i'd seriously consdier one... however seeing as i have a boat i'd be hard pressed to talk myself into getting one. Perhaps if the price was to come down and the resolution was a bit better.. A great piece of hardware though and somethign which no other company is producing ...yet.

Post by **saskie** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 6:44 am

They do a good job of showing you the "spot depth", but do nothing to show the contour or suspended fish. Mine isn't castable but it does have a 20ft lanyard so it's "tossable".

I bought it b4 I got the rest of my gear back from Sask - now that I have my portable Hummingbird back, I haven't used it at all and don't plan to either. If you want to try it, let me know and you borrow it to see how you like it.

Post by **Walker** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 9:46 am

I have a smartcast Dick Tracey type one that the receiver goes on your wrist. The display can mark fish and structure but the only problem is it only shows what is directly under the castable/floating transmitter.There is no cone of detection like on most fish-finders.Other than that for shore fishing it works great.Depth of water,fish present or not is all I need.

Post by **Walker** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 7:07 pm

Saskie,that "tossable" fish-finder you spoke of,is it a HAWK-EYE one that has the transducer on the end of a cable,and the other end to the display.

Post by **Tony** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:58 am

They looked like a good idea to me when they came out but I didn't relize that they only showed directly below the trasducer. If you wanted to save some money all you need is a jig. Where you know the depth, drop it and count how long it takes to hit the ground. From there you know the fall rate and it'll work just like the castable fishfinder. You'd be better off buying a portable fishfinder which you could use when you rent a boat.

Good Luck!

Post by **ManInBlackForever** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 11:33 am

I was under the impression they had a 90 degree cone for shallow water. Versus the 60 degree cone of boat mount. I am considering one of those or a permanent model for the yak I am not sure yet.

Tommy

Post by **saskie** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:54 pm

Walker wrote:Saskie,that "tossable" fish-finder you spoke of,is it a HAWK-EYE one that has the transducer on the end of a cable,and the other end to the display.

I don't remember the brand, and it's not written on the finder either...but it definitely matches that description - with an adjustable float in between the transducer and the display. Crappy Tire sells them for $60.00.