Speed what to believe?

[Tripleduece50]

Hey one of the new additions I added to my vessel this year was a speed wheel on my Lowrance. Years past I trolled soley off gps speed, And always caught fish. First time out this year noticed speed wheel and gps to be .5 to .8 mph out from each other. Gps would show faster speeds. Like 2.5 with gps was 1.8 to 2.0 on speed wheel. I realize that 1.8 to 3 mph is in fish catching range with 2.5 being prime. But wondered what you guys see with yours and what you guys run by. Someday I will upgrade to a down speed/temp unit but new 4 stroke kicker this year got the funds allocated to it. A man can never have to much "stuff" in this sport haha. Any thoughts? TD

[Splitshot115]

Put your faith in the GPS, I have the same results with mine.

Splitshot115

[NitroMusky]

not to say that there is not some error built into those units, but remember that what the wheel is measuring is your speed relative to the water movement whereas GPS is absolute speed so they usually shouldn't be exactly the same. try going in opposite directions if you haven't already and see if the variance is consistent or not, which will tell you whether its current movement or error.

that said, I do seem to recall something about the paddlewheels being inaccurate under 5 mph due to the resistance of the magnet used to measure the rotation hampering movement, but don't quote me on that.

[L&M]

GPS

[LongLine]

3-2-50 -

Paddlewheels mounted on the transome are not accurate due to the boat dragging water behind it. Next time you troll thru a patch of floating seaweed, take a look at the water at the transom; you'll always see some weeds that the boat drags along with it.

It is very rare that paddlewheel, GPS & down speed ever match. (actually, if they do say the same then a couple of them are out of whack) It's best to find the speed the fish want then replicate that speed with whatever way of measurement that you can.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[skipper19]

Use the Gps and visual, audible clues together to formulate the speed that collects the most fish on deck. without looking you can hear the whine of downrigger cables, and if you look you will notice the approximate angle of the cables blowing back in the water resistance. The most consistent water speed passing the boat and lure spread will be the one going across currents that naturally flow west to east in the big O, therefore north south will be most consistent. If you don't hear the whine on the cables and your cables are nearing 30 degrees or less, (depends on weight and style of rigger ball), You are likely too slow, but you will get a "feel" for whats best when the fish are jumping on the lines, Lastly if you are in the company of other boats, particularly, well known charters and happen to be going in same directions I guage myself with that as well. I have not invested in the down speed and temp probe as yet but seem to not have as much a problem with speed as I do with wondering about temp down there. I'm sure that if you have fished the downriggers for some time you have used some combination of these factors to associate the catching of fish with it. As far as the wheel goes it is useless IHO, and is susceptible to many different influences with stray currents behind the boat and junk collecting on them. As others have said they will not match to each other. I don't have the speed wheel on my boat for that reason.

mark

[Tripleduece50]

Good thing I got a killer deal on ebay for my speed wheel $14 shippped to my door new in the box, glad I did not pay full price for it.

[larry]

6-50 skipper19 has a good grasp of what's good data to use to find your best trolling direction, I agree with his observations although I can't hear the cables anymore. I usually try to match the gps and down speed to get cross current direction. Paddle wheel speed if it is all you have to go by will tell you a number for the direction your going that you can match again if you catch fish. Also, try hanging a spoon over the side of the boat and watch the action, it should wobble and snap when right, if it just wobbles you're too slow, if it spins you're too fast. 330 nw and it's reciprocal are usually good directions to cut current. If you gauge yourself against other boats or charters pick the ones only if you see them catching fish or you could imitate something that's not working. Good fishing!

[Zebedee]

I invested in the Cannon S-n-T last year and was amazed at what I saw. I tried it out during the fishing derby on Seneca (Memorial day weekend) and Saturday and Sunday I did not see much variation from my GPS (Both ran a touch faster than my speed wheel). On Monday however, On a south troll I would have to do about 3.8 GPS to get 2.5 at the ball. Then when I flipped North I had to back down to 1.5 GPS (I'm sure numbers from my memory aren't exact but there was a significant difference).

In the past I always looked at GPS and tried to hold between 2-2.5 but would notice I usually only picked up fish in one direction.

[Outdoorsman]

Believe the lures you are running and the fish you are catching.

Different lures run best at different speeds, and sometimes the fishes mood will dictate whether to go faster or slower. Make sure you run each lure boatside before you let them out. While fishing, I like to do a lot of s-turns...that slows one side down and speeds the other side up (especially with downriggers). If I get fish on a turn (or turning around as well), I know whether I should speed up or slow down.

Once you get a pattern going, the GPS speed will do just fine. Like others have said, it depends on the direction you are going related to currents as well...since there are currents, even in lakes. It is far more pronounced where there are more currents though. The wheel is actually more accurate in places like the Hudson where I fish for stripers. The tides there are quite strong. Going with the current, I go much faster so that the lures will run (gps speed)...going against the current, sometimes I hardly make any headway (gps), even though the lures are running at a high speed. These are just a couple examples where the water wheel comes in handy because it shows water speed, even if it is not as precise as the gps speed.

One problem with using a water wheel when fishing on the deep lakes is that the currents down deep may not be the same as the currents at the surface. If that is the case, neither the gps nor the wheel will be that accurate...you would just have to pick one and find the speed you are going that the fish like on that day.

[Tripleduece50]

Hey thanks all for the input. Your answers are pretty much what I expected which is good, because that means I am not crazy....Going to get back at them here soon only been out once this year so far. Maybe this next Friday after work if the weather is good. Later TD