Portable fish finder - does anyone here fish with one?

catfish kenny · #1 10-08-2007, 09:19 AM

This weekend me and my brother bought a portable digital fishfinder.I intend to use mine on the canoe at ponds and lakes. We got em for about 40 bucks on sale and I was wandering if anyone uses them and did I get a good deal ? How well they work etc. I probably will not use it alot but I had to have it ....

Jedi007 · #2 10-09-2007, 12:48 AM

I got one of those Hawkeye Portable Fish Finders for Christmas last year. They are around $100. I have used it multiple times from shore, but I have never had any success directly related to using it.

It has an alarm and shows fish swimming across the screen. It has a 25 foot cord with a floater and a sensor attached to it. You throw it out and a lot of times it just drifts back to shore. I have tried it from the dock and it will give a reading of XX feet deep. As it spins around, the depth continuously changes. You can see fish swimming by, but I have never had a bite when the alarm is going off.

I was not very happy with it. So I hadn't used it in a while. I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago to try it again from the dock. Same thing.

Supposedly there is one that you can cast out with one rod and fish with a seperate rod. It is called the Hummingbird Smart Caster. I have read the review and one of the guys said that after he throws it into the water he has to wait for about ten minutes for the fish to show back up. He said it could be due to the huge splash it makes when it hits the water.

I like the concept that you can cast it out and with any luck at least figure out where the deep spots are for later on or on another trip.

bilyjojimbob · #3 10-09-2007, 01:06 AM

I have a hummingbird castable and I like it. It shows depth and the deep holes and the fish. first time i used it caught a fish right where I saw it with the ffinder. I have also used it on the boat. I hang it out the back and it works pretty good. I have not had a moments trouble out of mine and I have had it about 2 yrs. The picture is not as good as most but it gives you a better idea about where they are and where to throw.