Baby-Clicker monitor - A Strike indicator for catfishing

[dinkbuster1]

thought some of you might like to see what i come up with last year for that "far away" pole when bankfishing . all it is is a modified baby monitor. you can pick up a used baby monitor system at just about any thrift store for under two bucks. most often the monitor end has to be powered by a wall adapter but as you can see i made a 9 volt battery wire that plugs in where the cord goes. i also glued a velcro holder on the back. mine is a 9 volt system that will run about 12 to 14 hrs on two rechargeables. much more reliable and cheaper than those pager systems. i have a total of $1.85 in this.(excluding batteries)

[Catfish_Commando]

Dinkbuster,

Do you have a picture with it setup for catfishing? How do you use it exactly?

Paul

[katfshn50]

Don't try to board a plane with that. LOL!

[Whistler]

Looks like a great idea. I'd love to see how you attach it to your line, or is it for listening for clickers? If you'd post some pics and detailed instructions on how to modify it, I'll get it in the library so everyone will always have access to it. Thanks for sharing Mike!

[Katmaster Jr.]

I do it, it work's awesome. I learned it from a Catfish expert thats about 70+ yr old and has been fishing since he was a kid. He has caught blue cats up to 70 lb, and all using baby monitors.

This is how he does it:

Ok first of all he is on the bank, and he uses HUGE bait like whole 12 inch shad, I mean this guy is a hardcore guy. And he uses like penn 3/0 senators with 50 lb mono line on it, so he cant reall cast it out. So what he does is he uses a kayak to tow his bait's way out into the channel of the lake we fish and that's where the big blues usually run. Then he comes back to shore and put's the poles into poleholders......And see he lives right on the lake, so he put's a baby monitor beside his poles and walks to his house to keep warm and just listens until one takes off clicking. It work's great, I've done it when I had a little tent in the winter. I would just have one baby monitor outside and one inside the tent.

Good luck :)

[dinkbuster1]

all you do is set the monitor end next to the reel or reels you want to keep track of (see pic) and keep the receiver near you or on you. i think mine has a 100+ yard range. ive walked pretty far away and still was in range. the only modification i done was to the monitor. i just took the plug end from the wall adapter, cut it off, and attached a 9 volt plug that i ripped out of an old clock radio. these things are very sensitive and are designed to wake parents out of a deep sleep so go easy on the volume, they'll make you jump the first time a clicker goes off. try to stay with a 9 volt system, they have longer battery life and and all you need is two batteries. i'd advise getting the rechargeables.

[Deltalover]

Dinkbuster, that is really clever. I will have to give that a try. Thank you for sharing!
Katmaster, rowing your bait out to the spot is cracking me up, but I guess it would work and beats sitting in a small boat for hours! Learn something new everyday.

[metalman]

Phillip,
positioning the baits by boat is a good technique to know. I have a little inflatable dingy I have used to row them out to places that are almost impossible to cast to. A good trick is to get under overhanging trees and use a clothes pin to clip the line so the bait (live bluegill) is suspended right at the surface and making a splash. It beats wading or swimming them out, yes I've done that too...W

[Katmaster Jr.]

Phillip,
positioning the baits by boat is a good technique to know. I have a little inflatable dingy I have used to row them out to places that are almost impossible to cast to. A good trick is to get under overhanging trees and use a clothes pin to clip the line so the bait (live bluegill) is suspended right at the surface and making a splash. It beats wading or swimming them out, yes I've done that too...W

Yeah, all of those are great techniques to know. I have also done all of them, even the wading thing. And the boat thing does beat wading! :o I know guy's that do it in saltwater for shark's!!! They go out beside the pier and carry thier huge bait's way out, and I've watched them catch many 10+ footers in Florida!
I just use a ballon rig or a beachball to get my big baits out in saltwater.

good luck :)

[dinkbuster1]

funny as it may sound placing a bait by a boat is about the only option you have when bankfishing with very large baits. i have a lake i fish where the place i want the bait is about 75 yards out. try and cast a 1 or 2lb bait that far! cant be done. you can hook your bait really deep but when tyring to set the hook from that far out with a hook that deep is impossible.

[Katmaster Jr.]

funny as it may sound placing a bait by a boat is about the only option you have when bankfishing with very large baits. i have a lake i fish where the place i want the bait is about 75 yards out. try and cast a 1 or 2lb bait that far! cant be done. you can hook your bait really deep but when tyring to set the hook from that far out with a hook that deep is impossible.

Yeah your right! That's why I usually do the boat thing, or use a ballon rig. You'll just about break your pole just trying to cast huge bait out like that. :eek: :o

[Deltalover]

Makes sense to me! I use a bait boat to get my line out to 300 yards. but not 2 lbs of bait! If you use power pro or other super line, you can still set the hook pretty good, but with mono it would be impossible!

[Katmaster Jr.]

Hey Delta, where did you get your bait boat from? and how much did it cost?
Thank's! :)

[Whistler]

Dinkbuster, your posts were copied into the library today. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Deltalover]

Hey Delta, where did you get your bait boat from? and how much did it cost?
Thank's! :)
I paid about 80 bucks for it!
Its called a "bait shuttle". They use to have a website, but I dont think it's up anymore. There is a sticker on mine with the number and address.
Bait shuttle
P.O. box3052
Richmond W.A. 99352
Toll Free 1888 224 8347
A lot of guys where I fish are making there own from "niko" r.c. boats and dumping the servos and radio, adding outriggers and a disconnect. These boats are faster and more powerful then mine. A couple of the guys had to go back to the drawing board because the boats were getting up on plane and making the bait dizzy :rolleyes: If you want a "bait Shuttle" and cant connect with the bait shuttle people, get back to me and I will help you get one. I will try to get some pictures up soon!

[Katmaster Jr.]

I paid about 80 bucks for it!
Its called a "bait shuttle". They use to have a website, but I dont think it's up anymore. There is a sticker on mine with the number and address.
Bait shuttle
P.O. box3052
Richmond W.A. 99352
Toll Free 1888 224 8347
A lot of guys where I fish are making there own from "niko" r.c. boats and dumping the servos and radio, adding outriggers and a disconnect. These boats are faster and more powerful then mine. A couple of the guys had to go back to the drawing board because the boats were getting up on plane and making the bait dizzy :rolleyes: If you want a "bait Shuttle" and cant connect with the bait shuttle people, get back to me and I will help you get one. I will try to get some pictures up soon!

Thank's man! I will contact that company and see if I can order a "last minute Christmas fishing gift"....LOL...Thank's again, good luck :)

[flatheadhunterx]

i have often thought about the rc boat but havent tried it because now i fish mainly from a boat but there have been alot of times i wish i had gotten one because casting in and around trees is a real chore.

[dinkbuster1]

the 9v rechargables died on me a couple months ago so i done a test the past 2 days to see how long a regular Energizer lasted. those rechargeables go bad really fast if you do not use then a lot and i really didnt want to invest $20 on 2 new ones. well, i checked the monitor part (receiver was on wall adapter) at 6:30 this evening and it was still picking up the slightest sound, just checked it again at 11:45 and the poer light was still on but iw barely picked up me yelling. it had been on since tuesday at 6pm, so a regular $2.45 energizer will last approx 48+ hrs straight on my model.

[Salmonid]

Hey Mike, thats a great idea, I dont normally leave my rods that far apart and unlike Mellon, Im able to stay awake past 9:00 PM so I doubt I would use it but, it still is a great idea, thanks for the idea if and when I get to that point, Ill be sure to hook one up.
Pendog likes to set his rods up a half a mile down the bank and then come to where I am and talk,its enjoyable watching him stumble run down the bank in the dark when he sees his rods bouncing!!

Salmonid

[KC Jayhawk 78]

This sounds like this would also work , just to make your clicker louder. I know some people say that they're clickers are not very loud. I think I will try this just to be able to hear my clickers better. Great idea though. Thanks. :)

[Deltalover]

That is such an excelent idea! That is a perfect idea for a house boat when you have fishing rods out, but are inside eating, playing cards, watching the game, or have fishing rods out on the dock!

[Fishgeek]

Wow! That's a great idea Dink! Too bad I'll be digging ours out of the closet for the new boy! I would have tried that this year!

[beeheck]

I've been using a unit I bought on the internet designed for fishing and you clip a line with a blade to your line and when you get a bite it sends a signal to the pager your wearing. I like it because I can put the pager by my bed, go to sleep and it won't bother me unless something pulls the plunger out of the slot and it signals me that I'm wanted. I bought two of the units that go on the line for two poles and have only one pager/receiver and it works just great with no background noise like the baby monitor would. I think I paid around $45.00 for the unit complete and $25.00 for the additional sender. Not cheap but mine sits out in all kinds of weather and has yet to fail me. I like items that you can make to do something other than what they were intended but sometimes it's just worth it to go with a proven item.

[KanHeadhunter]

I use a rig called the "Night Hooker." It was design by a guy in my home town. I don't think he is still alive now. It dosen't work very well in current.
I will try and desribe how it works.

It has a rod holder shaped in a number 7 with long forks that go in the ground. There is a light on it that has a red lens & white lens, it is ran on 2 C batteries. The conections/or swicth to turn the light on goes out to 2 clips just below where the rod sits. You cast your line out, pull about 1ft of line out the top of the reel and place it between the 2 clips.......The light will go out when you seperate the clips.

When you get a run/bite the fish will pull the line out from the clips and turn on the light. You can see the light from a long ways off. We usually set these up around a lake and run from rod to rod. The first 1 there gets the fish. It works really good.

[Netmanjack]

Hey Dink, I just found a pair of baby monitors for $2.00. at the thrift store! They are in very nice condition. It is a 9 volt system too. I have been waiting a long time to find some. Question. they both have power cords and the receiver has a battery in it. Will I need two battery packs?:smile2:

[dinkbuster1]

yeah you will need a battery on the monitor side as well. if it doesnt have a place to install a battery then whack off the plug on the wall adapter and go back to the thrift store and try to find something for like a buck or so that has a wire that hooks into a 9v battery and cut if off as well. attach the plug and 9v plug together and your in buisness. warning though, the 9v system that i replaced my older C-battery system with last winter was WAY less sensitive and i ended up pitching it, it would barely pick up the clicker when i used it this summer. hopefully yours is different, if not your only out $2.