Fish hawk 4x

[Bassin Bob]

I ordered a Fish Hawk TD today. Next spring or if I hit the lottery I get a Fish Hawk 4. Just short cash so I went short.

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[brianm]

I will personally disagree.  Just bought the newest x4d and scrapped the depth raider which cost about half.  I find the fish hawk is not that reliable as it jumps around so often.  My biggest problem that makes me want to go back to depth raider is the difference in speed when a line is connected to the downrigger that the fish hawk is on.  Has anyone found the difference in speed after releasing a rod from the clip and while a rod is still running clipped on the rigger.  The coated cable was the only reason I wanted to get away from depth raider.  I may be the only guy on here who believe the fish hawk is overrated.  Also I love how the readout is still reading 1.7 mph after the probe has been pulled out of the water and we are flying back to port.  When its working great you will pound fish, if it is giving you a false readout all day and you believe it to be accurate you will go skunked.  It has its quirks, which nobody seams to talk about.  Customer service seems excellent, Ill give them that.

I have a new fish hawk works great your transducer has to be away from motors and other transducers and sometimes your depth finder has to be set on 200 kilohurst if in water deeper than 80-90 feet if not fish hawk will not stay steady


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[shorelunch]

The difference in speed when a line is clipped or released should not have anything to do with interference. It does work good just not great, I expected quick updates. I believe the angle of pull on the downrigger cable clipping lines tightly have something to do with the angle of paddle wheel reading speed differently. An entire .7-1 mph difference with line clipped and not clipped. I should edit my post the unit works good, interference is no issue, just the problem with running lines and not running lines off downrigger clip.


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[dawg]

The difference in speed when a line is clipped or released should not have anything to do with interference. It does work good just not great, I expected quick updates. I believe the angle of pull on the downrigger cable clipping lines tightly have something to do with the angle of paddle wheel reading speed differently. An entire .7-1 mph difference with line clipped and not clipped. I should edit my post the unit works good, interference is no issue, just the problem with running lines and not running lines off downrigger clip.


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I am with you I just installed x4d on my boat last year but have not removed my Depth raider yet and probably never will the readings are much more stable and updated if that makes sense over the fishhawk Plus it's nice to keep track of top and bottom of temp break


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[shorelunch]

If depth raider ever found a way to cure its coated cable problems and junk spring connections and expanding the depth of unit capabilities no buddy would mention fish hawk ever again. For $800 all I'm saying is I was disappointed . None of the units are by any means perfect. In my opinion having one doubles your fish numbers per day. Likewise autopilot has doubled my catches also. I would pay double for autopilot. I didn't want to spend on it to begin with but after doing it I said I would pay double. Makes fishing fun not aggravating.


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[whycanteye]

I have an 840 and a TD,. I use them both depending on what I'm doing and definitely has helped, but the autopilot without a doubt saved my marriage

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[garrymny]

I will also say as a new Fish Hawk Owner, it does jump around more than I thought it would. The Fishfinder (Lowarance elite 4 Chirp) knocks  the Fish Hawk probe reading out if I set it to Medium Chirp,which is my preferred setting, because it shows a bigger hook, and I can see the downrigger balls. In high chirp, I get small hooks, and no downrigger balls show up. So, I moved the FF transducer to the other side, and  I think it made it worse. Now my FF transducer is on the same side of the boat that my DownRigger with the Fish Hawk Probe is on. It is nice not to worry about cables (unless it breaks) but it does fluctuate and has interference problems that are difficult to eliminate with the limited area you can mount a transducer. I am actually thinking about moving the FF transducer to the front of the boat, somehow. Bracket?

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by garrymny

[whycanteye]

Garry try running the ff on one or the other settings without chirp, either the 50 or 83 on the low end or 200. If you can get it on the lower one the width of the cone may be wide enough to pick up the balls without the interference? I had an elite 7 that had those issues but seems good so far with my hds gen 3

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[shorelunch]

What will suck is when you mount the transducer up front and the interference is still there. Chirp is the second most over rated fishing invention, the x4d being the first. Picked up chirp when it first hit market only to use it for 10 minutes and switched back to the 1980's frequency for the rest of the garmins life.


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[Pa223]

Wouldn't fish with out mine. Most guys would rather go with out a fish finder on the lake then without their fish hawk. Including me.
 
I got mine five years ago and my hookup rate increased on day one. Though if u only fish a few times a year might be cheaper options out there.
 
I bought an old 840 fish hawk for cheap and bought the 4x probe which works wt the 840 display and transducer. Save u about 300 or so.
 
 
 
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X2 on this

And auto pilot is wonderful, but a fish hawk is a necessity. You will not look back

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[S * K]

I still like the sub troll better to be honest to bad out business, it's a smoother and instant speed compared to the digital world. But when.mine takes a crap I'll be a fish hawk advocate as well

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[lakebound88]

I have zero interference with my x4, I run a garmin at the helm with a thruhull transducer mounted midship, and a garmin mounted at the transom with that transducer mounted directly on next to the x4 ducer on the transom. I think people could have other possibilities as I was told fish finders should never interfere with the hawk readings. I would start with checking for proper grounding to the water and such.

Making your stories, Reel Stories, since 2011!!

[garrymny]

Thanks guys I will try that.

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