smart troll vs fish hawk

[Sk8man]

Great points Mark thanks.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Sk8man

[dukhnter8]

One thing I will say about the DR I got on the new to me boat last fall is that, so far, it has put me in the magic trolling speed for walleye this year. Yes it is a tool but without it I would have been way slower or faster depending on the winds and currents. I have been watching the SOG on my GPS and the DR speed is anywhere from 1-2 mph off. If I was just following the GPS speed I feel I would not be in the magic speeds.

I have been learning to deal with the coated cable and if buying a new one I would go with a fishhawk or the smarttroll for sure.

[TyeeTanic]

It has nothing to do with accuracy. Its that I believe they run higher than a copper run clean. Bite me

silverfoxcharters.net

 

Maybe the tiny probe will induce a bit more drag (definitely not a lot) but for sure these are your options:

 

Option 1) No probe - and you don't have a clue where your copper is at all. Don't try and convince me you do. You may have speed on your rigger which is normally running a lot deeper than the copper. Also, as copper has a shallower dive curve, more of the line is in shallower water than the rigger which will likely be a different current then where you are measuring speed. So, in the end it is pretty much impossible to tell where your copper is.

 

Option 2) Put on a smart troll probe and yes, maybe the line lifts like 2 ft higher, but you know exactly where it is. Put in the 300 ft, expecting it to be at 60 ft down. Oh wait, why is it only at 45 ft????  Man, maybe I should put out the 400 ft.  Or put out the 200 ft copper, oh wait it's at 51 ft, huh?  Wow, maybe I should throw out some leadcore if I want to target 35 ft.  You have the data. Option 1 you do not have a clue where the lines are.

 

I've been using smart troll for 3 years now, and I haven't even come close to losing 1 probe, not even a scare. I normally put the speed probe on my rigger, which carries the same risk as losing a Fishhawk probe. I put the cheaper and slimmer depth/temp probes on divers and board lines. Gives some good insight.

 

And a lot of people are starting to move over to smart troll. It was a slow start for them first couple of years, but in the last 4 months, I personally know 4 guys who have added it to their boat, and many on the fishing forums who are definitely using it or thinking about using it.  I didn't say it was the market leader in depth/temp - I meant to say, it's definitely picking up speed and gaining ground. I would never knock the Fish Hawk X4D - it is a great system, and very reliable.  But I can tell you that the Smart Troll can do something the Fish Hawk can't and that is measure depth/temp on up to 6 lines simultaneously including divers and copper/leadcore, and you can get speed off the rigger as well.

[Silver Fox]

I was never saying its not a good idea and maybe I'll have some one day. Good luck and have a great season!

silverfoxcharters.net