Fish Hawk

Epic Sportfishing · February 10, 2009

I am going to add speed and temp at the ball to my boat this year and I have a few questions. Will the 840 interfere with my fishfinder? I am looking at the 840 cause I have seen them for sale around $250-$325 where as the new ones are $600-$750.Sub-Troll is another option but again $ is an issue. What about batteries? I have heard that the 840 eats up 9v's pretty good. Any help would be great.

Erbyjoe · February 10, 2009

Depth Raider all the way. For $430 it's the best buy out there :yes:

L&M · February 10, 2009

I'll second that.

Billy V · February 10, 2009

Third!!

Legacy · February 10, 2009

SUBTROLL! sorry guys had to break the chain. personally i wouldnt mess with the fish hawk. i think your money could be better spent on a subtroll or depth raider. They are similar units and youll hear good reviews on both too. Try searching through some old posts because theres alot of topics on this subject.

Fish Magnet · February 10, 2009

I bought a Fish Hawk about 8 years ago and it did its job at the time. It does eat 9v batteries. Two years ago I bought the Depth Raider and that is much more consistent on downspeed readings, the Fish Hawk jumped all over. I do not like the coated cable on the Depth Raider but there is a down side to everything. This year I am getting one of the X4 probes for the Fish Hawk. I will run both side by side and see which one performs better for me.

Epic Sportfishing · February 10, 2009

The price of stuff north of the border has shot up alot in a year. I could have bought a Sub-Troll last year for $399 its $599 this year! I will look for the Depth Raider at the spring fishing show this weekend. Thanx for your replies

GAMBLER · February 10, 2009

Find one missing the probe and replace the probe with a new style probe. The new probe perform as good as a depth raider or subtroll. No skipping around and no longer a battery hog. The new probes are also 1/2 the size of the old.

emtystringer · February 11, 2009

am i heaing this right,that all ineed to do to my Fish Hawk 840 is to replace the probe with a new x4 probe and it will work or do i need other componets such as transducer or display.

Fish Magnet · February 11, 2009

You are hearing it right. The new X4 probe is backwards compatible with both the 800 and 840 units.

FLXTroutman · February 11, 2009

I have used Sub Troll and Fish Hawk 840, Fish Hawk 840 came installed on my boat last year. I had heard the battery stories and always removed mine from the probe after docking the boat. I also had a bad O ring and cap which the new company that owns Fish Hawk sent no problems cheap parts. I also began to remove the display when docked since I think that moisture and dew overnight, even under mooring cover, was affecting the display. Keep looking for used units I would say if you are on a budget, they do come up on this site as well as GLAngler. US price for Sub Troll at Cabelas is $459.

Good luck whichever you choose, they do improve your catch, so you can't go wrong. The Fish Hawk signal is sent to the transducer, which needs to be installed on your transom, which then has cables that connect to the display. SubTroll and DepthRaider send signal through downrigger cable to an antenna which the coated cable passes through. No holes in boat under waterline that is.

holy mackerel · February 12, 2009

My vote is for subtroll. Have owned fish hawk. The analog speed display is more consistant than the digital due to a dampening in the gauge. I also have a seperate surface speed from Moor so you can calibrate both at the surface. The fish hawk has to be below the suface so the x-ducer can detect signal.

goingagain2 · February 12, 2009

I used the new probe for the fishhawk for a couple of weeks last year, it really works very well. it uses four double A batts and lasted until I quit fishing, quite a few hours on them. a nice stable read compared to the old probe. 250.00 for the new probe.

john

Time Out · February 12, 2009

We always unplug the 9v from our probe when done fishing and we get around 100hrs out of ours. Those new probes look nice though.

chinook · February 12, 2009

Have to agree. I must have got a good probe when it comes to the battery life on the FishHawk 840. As Time Out mentioned, we as well got what I consider a fair amount of hours out of the batteries. But we as mentioned, always unplugged the 9v, turned it over, (although not really necessary when unplugging, but do so out of habit ) and always left the cap somewhat loose to air dry after daily use. I am however planning on getting the X4 probe before the season starts, and hoping that the erratic readings are a thing of the past- Duane

GAMBLER · February 12, 2009

Lastminute,

Check out this link. This is a good deal. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9294

chowder · February 13, 2009

I have an 840 in one boat, got the Depth Raider in another and there is really no comparison, the DR is much easier to use.

Hookedup · February 14, 2009

I have the sub troll and have had no problems. What ever you pick, it is a must have piece of equipment. If you get the sub troll get an extra probe, it can take some time to get a second one. And a few weeks wait in the summer might as well be a year.

emtystringer · February 16, 2009

Chowder, i see you favor the Depth Raider over the Fish Hawk but are you useing the new X4 probe with your 840 unit?

GAMBLER · February 16, 2009

With the X4 probe, it will be the best unit on the market. No coated cable. With the battery issues, and the skipping around a thing of the past, you can't beat it. The only thing they need to work on now is bringing the price down a little.

Tim Bromund · February 16, 2009

Brian, the problem is they've alreayd lost me and won't get me back. I had a FH for years and had my fill of the numbers jumping around and eating batteries, so after I lost yet another probe, I took the FH off and bought a Depth Raider and have since sold the remaining components of the FH. I couldn't be happier with the DR. I don't have any problem with the coated cable, so that's not really a negative and I use 1 probe battery a season.

If they wouldn't have waited until everyone on the planet procuced a better product to improve theirs up to the same level as the competition, they might not have lost the market share they did.

Just my thoughts on the matter. I'm sure the X4 will be a fine unit, but I'll never know firsthand (unless I happen to be on someone elses boat that owns one).

Tim

jollymon · February 22, 2009

We fish in Lake Michigan, as well and the X4 is becoming quite a hit with the charters. I took a chance and bought one. The best price on the net is a company called Waypoint Enterprises (www.waypointent.com). I have also got Cannon riggers from them. Good prices there too. We'll see how the X4 works in a couple of months, God willing.

chinook · February 23, 2009

Jolly,thanks for the link. That's as cheap as I have seen them. Just made the purchase for the X4-Duane

chinook · February 24, 2009

For those who may be thinking of ordering the the new FishHawk or the X4 probe, you may want to do it sooner rather than later. I placed an order last night, and got a message today, that due to the demand they are running at east 4 weeks behind. Just thought I'd give a heads up-Duane

GAMBLER · February 24, 2009

Chinook,

Did you try the A-tom-mik site? He is carrying them now. That is where I'm going to purchase mine in the next couple of weeks.

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