Fishing with/without fish hawk probe.

[chasin tails]

Just got a fish hawk and remember seeing some posts where its used by itself and not attached to any lures for fear of losing the probe. I run 4 riggers and 2 dipsey rods on my boat. It comes with the breakaway cable but i'm not sure how reliable it is. Pro and cons?

 

Thanks

Edited March 31, 2015 by chasin tails

[bandrus1]

im confused by your post

[ram]

Same here..???

[chasin tails]

Sorry for confusion, restated post.

[bandrus1]

if you dont use the probe you wont know your down speed which is the point of the fish hawk

 

if you are fishing shallow for browns or are fishing bottom for lakers it isnt needed

Edited March 31, 2015 by bandrus1

[on the lam]

if you dont use the probe you wont know your down speed which is the point of the fish hawk

if you are fishing shallow for browns or are fishing bottom for lakers it isnt needed

Why wouldn't you need it if your fishing browns or lakers?

[bandrus1]

I wouldnt use a probe in 15-20 FOW

 

And if I was dropping riggers to the bottom to fish lakers I wouldn't use it either

[Sk8man]

I think you are referring the the Fish Hawk TD which is a whole different thing than the probe that is used with the Fish Hawk X4 or X4D am I correct?

[Custom Deluxe]

Some guys run a dedicated rigger for the probe, I do it during tourneys when I can use all 4 riggers bc of rod restrictions to find the temps. In a 6 rod spread you'll likely be better off clipping it in in between the downrigger weight and the release. The cable goes below the probe and attaches to the weight. The idea being that if u hit a snag it will rip off the weight, but not the probe.

Goodluck your fishing is gonna get a lot better.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[spoonfed-1]

Just got a fish hawk and remember seeing some posts where its used by itself and not attached to any lures for fear of losing the probe. I run 4 riggers and 2 dipsey rods on my boat. It comes with the breakaway cable but i'm not sure how reliable it is. Pro and cons?

 

Thanks

 

The 80 lb test break away cable is reliable as long as your rigger cable doesn't have any bad spots.

Thats what it's there for.

 

Sacrifice a weight and save your probe.

Don't matter if you have a line attached or running it alone, it's still in the water so why not drag a lure off it?

Edited March 31, 2015 by spoonfed-1

[on the lam]

I wouldnt use a probe in 15-20 FOW

And if I was dropping riggers to the bottom to fish lakers I wouldn't use it either

So if your targeting lakers 120 ft down, you can be sure your maintaining 1 / 1.5 without a probe? (We are talking lake ontario I presume?)

[Tim Bromund]

In that situation, just don't make your probe rigger your deep one.

[TyeeTanic]

I'm not sure what is being asked. If it is the Fishawk X4 or X4D, you wouldn't ever attach this to a lure.

 

If you are talking about the Fishhawk TD unit, I still wouldn't attach it to a lure, as you need to retrieve it to get the tempth/depth data. When I had a TD, I would attach it securely to a wireline rod, and put  about 10 oz of drop weights on the end of the line to get it down as I was trolling. Once I felt it touch bottom, I quickly reeled in to get it off bottom (to avoid snags) and then retrieved normally. This would tell me the water temperature profile, and I could drop it down as frequent as I wanted to. I had a dedicated rod for it as well.

[bandrus1]

So if your targeting lakers 120 ft down, you can be sure your maintaining 1 / 1.5 without a probe? (We are talking lake ontario I presume?)

If I'm dripping a rigger to the very bottom and pulling it up two feet off bottom I'm taking the probe off

[GAMBLER]

I do what Tim said.  When I troll browns along the bottom, I run the probe rigger as my high rigger.  When I drag the bottom for lakers, I run a high rod for kings and steelhead on the probe rigger.  When I'm not near the bottom, I can run it where ever. 

[on the lam]

I do the same. Run the probe high out of the way (10') bounce the other's if the bottom is sketchy. Most of the time I'm bouncing the probe with fingers crossed. Always have the spare probe handy tho.

[chasin tails]

Sorry for all confusions newbie post. I didn't know if I should dedicate a rigger to probe only. Its a fish hawk x4d and I think I will use it as spoonfed suggested and sacriface a weight if needed. I fish kings late august/september. Thanks for all the susupport.

[GAMBLER]

With the X4, you can run it off of any rigger since there is no coated cable.  I run my probe on my starboard rigger until it is time to laker fish.  I then put it on the center rigger.  Always have a rod on that rigger.  It would be a waste to have a cable in the water with nothing on it.   

[Big Dave]

Watch the little metal clevis on the breakaway cable.  Sometimes it will turn and worry its way through the cable and you lose a weight .  Its the horseshew shaped piece that makes the loop for the snaps.  I run the probe anytime the rigger is used.

[baitrigger]

Wow this thread took the long way around. I dont use the break away cable. I would be just as unhappy losing a ball. All of the precautions are a must with three hundred $ hanging on a wire cable.

Edited April 1, 2015 by baitrigger

[sanfordnson]

Nobody mentioned snubbers. Why not use a snubber between probe and dr weight instead of break away cable?

[GAMBLER]

Wow this thread took the long way around. I dont use the break away cable. I would be just as unhappy losing a ball. All of the precautions are a must with three hundred $ hanging on a wire cable.

Downrigger weights are a lot cheaper than a probe.

[TyeeTanic]

I use a snubber between the main cable and DR weight, for that exact reason and to take a load off the gunwale in bouncy seas.