Smart Troll for Divers! Awesome!

[digitroll]

What have I learned in the last 13 months using Smart Troll:

 

Our Smart Troll system kept are divers in the zone and proved to be our best option on these stager salmon in 140-160 fow! Can't say enough about this system after 13 months now! It just keeps our divers busy putting them in the sweet spots! We only used two divers with Dreamweaver Deeper Diver dipsies on a 2 setting running 95-110 feet down for these Stagers on Sept. 4th and 5th. One day we spent 13 hours on the water and the two probes didn't run low on battery life.

 

We have done well with 4 divers the last two years at the Oak and the Bar in May and July. Now I am contemplating going back to 2 divers! Why? I feel I am have more confidence with 2 divers running them at precise depths above the fish many times in warmer water just above the thermocline than running 4 blind divers before I had the Smart Troll system! Efficiency over quantity of 2 divers vs. 4. We fish 2 people on my boat and I have a lot of confidence with my two divers. Less headaches and better management during a hot bite with 2 divers with Smart Troll on my 19 ft Starcraft Fishmaster.

 

 If I can become more efficient with 2 vs. 4 divers with the same amount of bites or more then it's a big win!

 

 

 

Edited September 8 by digitroll
Added photo

[Gator]

Love the idea, but I can't see spending $1000 for the system, then $300 every time a wire line gets busted. Which isn't often, but often enough that I'd surely be pulling out three bills every couple years. If I had infinite resources, then heck yeah, information is power. But with fifteen years experience running wire divers, I'm confident that I can find that sweet spot too, albeit maybe not as quickly.

 

It's great to hear that they worked well for you though! Cool idea, for sure. Thx for sharing.

[GAMBLER]

12 hours ago, digitroll said:

What have I learned in the last 13 months using Smart Troll:

 

Our Smart Troll system kept are divers in the zone and proved to be our best option on these stager salmon in 140-160 fow! Can't say enough about this system after 13 months now! It just keeps our divers busy putting them in the sweet spots! We only used two divers with Dreamweaver Deeper Diver dipsies on a 2 setting running 95-110 feet down for these Stagers on Sept. 4th and 5th. One day we spent 13 hours on the water and the two probes didn't run low on battery life.

 

We have done well with 4 divers the last two years at the Oak and the Bar in May and July. Now I am contemplating going back to 2 divers! Why? I feel I am have more confidence with 2 divers running them at precise depths above the fish many times in warmer water just above the thermocline than running 4 blind divers before I had the Smart Troll system! Efficiency over quantity of 2 divers vs. 4. We fish 2 people on my boat and I have a lot of confidence with my two divers. Less headaches and better management during a hot bite with 2 divers with Smart Troll on my 19 ft Starcraft Fishmaster.

 

 If I can become more efficient with 2 vs. 4 divers with the same amount of bites or more then it's a big win!

 

 

 

Why not dial 4 divers in?  

[digitroll]

I have run 4 divers with Smart Troll probes on my previous 2 trips to Ontario this year and it works very well in May at the Bar and the Oak in July.   Due to the fact we were fishing so deep in early September I dedicated just two divers to run that deep 95-110 ft on my divers that was in the zone above the fish and temp break.  I have been running divers for 25 years and I am confident having used these with 4 that I can achieve pretty good success with just two divers.  Doesn't mean I will abandon running 4 as I have that option in May and July to run that program if it's slow.  I have that same experience as many here that Gambler describes.  When we make turns in the currents and waves the dive curve changes quickly and adjustments are sometimes needed to keep it running where it's getting bit.  My buddies diver rod was off 50 ft compared to  mine last week.  He made the adjustment to get to 95 feet with the Smart Troll probe.  

Soon after he was getting bit and the rest of the two days!    

 

Smart Troll allows a person to quickly adjust and when you get bit on one diver you can see where it's running and adjust the other diver to that depth.  How often you have had days the fish are biting one diver and the other is dead?    

Edited September 9 by digitroll
changed some grammar.

[Gator]

I have what I think is a reasonable question, but I'm not sure that it's addressable...maybe by touching bottom.

 

How much does a Smart Troll impact your dive curve? In other words, if you are fishing a Smart Troll and find out that 210 feet of line is in the sweet spot, will that apply to your non-Smart Troll divers as well? And have you ever tested this by running out enough line to tick bottom, then removing the unit and seeing how much line you need without it?

 

Thanks!

[digitroll]

We did run into the bottom by accident as the diver rod was bouncing  at one point on our two day trip and I looked at the sonar and the readout on the diver probe and it matched!  We also have the Fish Hawk X4D Ultra on a rigger that I constantly see a match with temperature and depth when comparing to the Smart Troll probes!  When I first started using it a year ago I would sometimes get depth on the probe that didn't make sense maybe 15-20 ft higher than I previously read going in the opposite direction.  I put my Fish Hawk TD on that diver to verify what I was reading! Thats when all this clicked for me that these readings were accurate.  Using pressure sensing technology in the probes.  I used my Fishhawk on the rigger to keep that in the right spot too!  Having temperature data on the Smart Troll probes validates wherever it is running to the depth when compared to the other smart probes and Fish Hawk probe.   

 

No diver rod is the same I have found out so the short answer is not all the time is it equal to another diver with same reel same wire and same full reel.  Hard to believe but true!  However with riggers my Fish Hawk probe is very close to the other riggers around the same depth.  If you want to run a Smart Troll probe on another rigger that is an option too.  Currents and waves effect the dive curve when you turn the boat more than 30 degrees!

 

Here is a summary video of our two day trip last week:

 

 

 

Edited September 9 by digitroll

[Sk8man]

" Currents and waves effect the dive curve when you turn the boat more than 30 degrees! ". Another thing often not thought of is that even with slight turns of the boat (e.g. autopilot adjustments etc.) there can be important differences in the "lifting" of the diver/lure as well as changes in the speed and action of the lure depending on the side of the boat and currents/waves etc. It can account for differences in the action and catch results although seemingly a subtle difference.

Edited September 9 by Sk8man

[digitroll]

Very true Les!  It took me a little while to get use to seeing these differences hardly believing it and then I began just trusting the depths and temps on the screen and made my adjustments!  Felt very confident when Divers starting popping vs. riggers many times over 3 trips to Ontario this past year!  My buddies the first day on another boat without Smart Troll never had a bite on their divers.  I can relate to this prior to Smart Troll!

[Smart Troll]

3 hours ago, Gator said:

I have what I think is a reasonable question, but I'm not sure that it's addressable...maybe by touching bottom.

 

How much does a Smart Troll impact your dive curve? In other words, if you are fishing a Smart Troll and find out that 210 feet of line is in the sweet spot, will that apply to your non-Smart Troll divers as well? And have you ever tested this by running out enough line to tick bottom, then removing the unit and seeing how much line you need without it?

 

Thanks!

One Diver doesn't dive the same as another with or without a Smart Troll Probe. There are many variables and even if you try to manage them carefully...it is difficult to keep all variables the same rod to rod and side to side.

 

Two examples:

 

1) If you are not exactly squared up to the waves then the pattern of rocking back and forth on the rod tips is different on one side of the boat than the other.

 

2) If there is a cross current then that currently is pushing on the back side of a Dipsy on one side of the boat and the front of a Dipsy on the opposite side. That will definitely have an effect on the depth it runs... assuming both divers are not running exactly straight down.

Edited September 9 by Smart Troll
Additional information.

[digitroll]

Some great questions asked and some good support answers!  I honestly haven't been this excited about a new product since I installed my first autopilot in 2005 on my boat.  It's a great system to validate with my Fish Hawk Ultra and run both to play off each other with great data of temp and depth! I can move stuff around to take advantage of keeping my lures or paddles above the fish most of the time in the warmer water.  It's even worked very well in our own Lake Champlain for landlock salmon our home water with Lite Bite Slide divers.  I like both systems and they complement each other!  Fishhawk and Smart Troll!