Hummingbird Smartcast FF - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

hooked · 05-12-2003, 04:15 PM

Has anyone tried one of these secret squirrel watches?

My plan was to get one of the FR10 units as a kayak accessory but this looks interesting too.

http://www.humminbird.com/hb_Products.asp?ID=317

mrmacey · 05-12-2003, 04:47 PM

I can see it now, it says attach to line and cast, i can see that thing sailing out into the ditch never too return!!!

Buzz-erd · 05-13-2003, 04:41 AM

I agree MrMacey.
Hell and people wonder why the fish are disapearing.A fish finder one can cast from shore,imagine that.

Addicted · 05-13-2003, 06:20 AM

I watched someone using one on the Providence River about a month ago. He would cast it out and then watch the monitor,he would have to retrieve it until it was about 40 ft. from shore before he would get any readings. He said it was supposed to be able to pick up and transmit data from 100 ft. The sensor was very light and ended up back on the edge of the river in a very short time. It was feeding back depth/fish info,and was entertaining to watch,problem for me was I stopped fishing to watch.......(for about 5 mins)he spent the next hour casting it and watching the data,I spent that hour hooking up, further down river.He was outdoors and having fun

Fishpart · 05-13-2003, 08:13 AM

Like to find a school of Bluefish with that thing, better get two

hooked · 05-13-2003, 11:07 AM

I don't plan on casting it. My thought was to tie the sensor to a short length of heavy line and tow it a foot or two behind a kayak. Operating range shouldn't be an issue and if I'm in a blitz, I could pull the sensor in (or add a treble and use a steel leader

).

As a castable fish finder, I think that it's more suitable for freshwater or still water and I don't often find myself in those conditions. The watch display seems like a gimick and wouldn't be as useful to me as the larger screen (same as the Piranha 1 & 2 models).

It seems that this would be easier than mounting a transducer that would shoot through the hull and it would be one less hole to drill.

I'm curious to know if anyone has any feedback on how well the smartcast or the Piranha portables work.

Thanks

MountainBreeze · 05-13-2003, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hooked
I don't plan on casting it. My thought was to tie the sensor to a short length of heavy line and tow it a foot or two behind a kayak.

The watch display seems like a gimick and wouldn't be as useful to me as the larger screen (same as the Piranha 1 & 2 models).

Hooked,

I was thinking the same thing about riggin' it up to the yak'!

My sister-in-law bought one to "play with" when she and her boyfriend head out for LMB. They haven't been out yet but I'm on em' as I want a report!

Tight Lines,
Rob

EDIT:
Was just looking at the Humminbird site and noticed the Piranha Portables use a Suction-cup mounted transducer and runs on 8 AA Batteries!

Now, wouldn't that be schweet for the yak'?!?!?!

Fishpart · 05-13-2003, 11:37 AM

Know several guys with small hummingbirds on their FW car top bass boats. They hav eth sensor mounted on a bracke they then clamp on the side of the boat. Seems to work well for them.