Hummingbird Smart Cast

[Lake Alice]

Has anyone used this unit? It's the wirst watch-syle deal where you cast out the ducer and it floats. They market it for canoe trips and remote fishing. I spent about 15 minutes talking about it with one of the owners at Joe's today. He got one from his rep at cost and tried it out last summer. He said it was really, really effective (he was surprised) and has heard the same from others who have used it. He is sold out of them. They only cost $85 and it basically fits in your pocket. Anyone know anything?

[irvingdog]

They are what they are.....The ultimate in portability. If you are one of those metro fishermen who want to work the banks of the Miss., nothing could work better. And lord knows, if you're doing a paddle in at the BWCA, the fact that the entire unit fits in your shirt pocket is pretty sweet. Another reason I like them is for finding holes in millifoil without needing to pull my boat over them first.

If you are looking for razor sharp resolution or complete accuracy about what is down there (besides depth), go elsewhere, but if you want to know depth and contour from a distance, this is it.

[Gus]

They work ok. Waves tend to mess up the signal quite a bit. If the water is flowing too fast it can't keep up with the screen. It's a cheap gadget that can be usefull but don't expect the world from it.

I've used it mostly on rivers so that is the bulk of my experience. (Smallies in MN, and trout out west.)

I honestly thought it was more work trying to float the thing over the area that I was curious about than to just blanket it with a few casts.

In the boundry waters I would think that it may work out better than on a river.

[fishdog]

I bought one at the end of last summer, I used it mostly on a small local river. I seems to give stange readings alot (Ive changed Batteries in watch). The biggest prolblem I had was the distance it could transmit a signal to the watch, even with no wind, current, or waves and with a clear "path" between the watch and transducer(part that is casted out) I would loose signal at 20-25 feet. (they advertise 50' range!! ya right. more like 50" ). When there were small waves 10'-15' max range of signak range. It would also Give readings of underwater "caves" with fish in them,in spots rhat didnt have a "cave" earlyer. It is at very best a debth finder that sometimes lies. Oh ya id dosent work when debth is under 5' like being near shore.

Also it dosent work when the water or air Temp. is too cold ( batteries loose stength.)

Save your money until it is revised to be a beter product.
Right now its more of a Dumb Cast.

Fishdog

------------------