Speed at the ball

[superiorfishguy]

Can anyone really tell that having one of these things really helps you catch more fish?? Wondering about getting one, but I like to know if worth it?? Thanks

[Northlander]

I can see where it could be a useful tool but I think they are to pricey and I have talked to many guys who cant get them working right all the time. If they worked all the time I could see you catching more fish.

[tunrevir]

These are really nice but you really want something with the speed and temp at the ball. I assume that is what you were talking about. On the great lakes, it can really help to know what speed your lures are trolling along at versus what the groundspeed reading is in the boat off the GPS. There are times when the boat speed is almost twice what the speed is at the ball due to currents. The temp feature is really nice to know for thermoclines and for the preferred temps that the fish you are after like to hang in. Of course, good electronics can also show a nice thermocline but when you start fishing the deeper water you may not get an accurate reading of the thermocline off the electronics. There are a few different brands out there and each one has its ups and downs so do your homework prior to buying. A useful tool. Not necessary, but can make the difference on the water some days IMHO.

Tunrevir~

[kkahmann]

I have a friend of mine who has one--his boat is much nicer than mine so I fish with him lots. He's got about thousand bucks tied up in his so he watches it like a darn soap opera. I would like to know why the speed at the ball is always half a mile to a mile an hour slower? At the end of the day you would think the ball should be about 4 miles astern. Another thing I have seen this guy do--change the ball depths--even though we were catching fish--the temp was wrong. How the [PoorWordUsage] can the temp be wrong if you're catching fish? The only thing I have seen him do with it is to call a pop-off before I saw the rod bounce--it seems the ball speed stops just before a pop-off. It is kinda interesting to know the temps at different depths and on Lake Superior that can change by the minute but sometimes I think we make too much of all this new tecknology.

I caught my first fish on cane pole--don't know if I could do that anymore.