Fish Hawk TD warning.

[jobsite]

Purchased a Fish Hawk TD and was very excited to use it for the first time today. Hooked the unit to the downrigger cable with the included clip. Sent the rigger ball down to 50' in 65' of water. Brought the ball back up to check what the unit would say. Unit was gone! I definitely hooked the clip correctly. Did not even come close to hitting bottom. Lot of money gone in ten seconds!! Never even got to use the thing. Not happy at all.

The reason for my post is to warn anyone that owns or buys one to NOT trust the included clip. Install a better one or at least a secondary clip. Otherwise you just might lose a $140 unit in mere seconds too.

I may someday buy another to try, as its a great idea. But I will definitely install my own clip.

Very frustrating.

[Sk8man]

I use a secondary clip that has a very heavy duty duolock on one end and a metal thing that is used for catfish trot lines on the other and it clips very stiffly to the downrigger wire itself ABOVE my release and I also use the one that came with it worst case scenario is I lose the downriggger ball and release but not the TD. I wasn't about to trust something like that to plastic of any kind....sorry about your misfortune....

 

Here is what it looks like: (the lower clip)

 

P.S. I do worry  a bit however about the plastic on the unit itself long term

Edited May 18, 2013 by Sk8man

[brettsplace]

Good Idea adding a secondary clip. The Clip that comes with unit is an Elberta Clipper from Dreamweaver which is a good clip too.

[jobsite]

I sent an email to Fish Hawk at the same time I wrote this topic here. I just received an email from them saying they were sending a replacement on Monday. They also mentioned they use a secondary clip on their personal units too. So it sounds like Im not the first to have this problem. Maybe they should add a heavy duty clip to the initial sale to save from doing replacements. I would think it would be a lot cheaper. I know the replacement I receive will have a second clip prior to use. Lesson learned.

I was surprised to get a response on a weekend... but to also be told I would be getting a replacement made my day. Great customer service.

[jobsite]

Sk8man, thanks for the idea. I have some longline clips that may work very similar to the photo you posted.

[Sk8man]

Good luck with it bud.

[tannero]

I called fishhawk when my unit kept sutting off on me. The owner got on the phone and knew exactly what it was and was very nice to deal with. As u said. Great customer service

[brettsplace]

Trevor is the Man! Glad he is taking care of his customers!! Grayden outdoors also owns deeper diver and tripsy diver. Grayden outdoors customer service is great!! I support there product lines 100% due to the above statements!!

[Sk8man]

Same here. They are first class! Trevor even took the time to send me a real nice personal email in response to mine. Folks like that are the ones you want to do business with....

[Willy-C]

That's pretty good service Jobsite, can't knock it