Humminbird Smartcast™ Fishfinder Watch

[Heybud_e]

picked myself up the Hummingbird Smartcast Fishfinder watch today as a little easter gift to myself for my shorefishing adventures, has anyone tried this or heard anything about it? any info is greatly appreciated... thanks

[tonyb]

I'm sure ccmtcanada can chime in here, stick around for his response

 

Tony

[bpcbear2000]

I have one that I use for shore fishing to check out depth and contour. It does not pick up much structure but does show fish.

[ccmtcanada]

I use it all the time....I'm a shore fisherman as well. I use it mostly to chart depth and structure. It does find fish...tested it in a pool where I could see them at the bottom...both moving fish and stationary fish. You can turn off the fish ID to see the raw sonar returns if you want to. It's nice cause it has sensitivity settings as well.

 

Overall, I was pretty amazed at how well it worked...esp given the price. I have a steel leader attached to it...I simply attach it to a swivel and let it fly! I haven't been brave enough to use it as a float....as advertised in the instructions....LOL. It's a pretty expensive toy to have break off if you hook a big fish....haha.

 

Drawbacks....will not work well/at all in below freezing temps...so you cant use it for ice fishing unless you are in a heated hut. (I tried it in a heated hut...worked fine...and tried on the open ice...didn't work). The watch battery apparently runs out quickly (from other reviews), but I haven't had to change mine yet. My package came with an extra one. The watch isn't backlit, so you need to have a small flashlight handy if you are fishing in the dark. You cant change the battery in the castable part....but it's supposed to last a TON of hours. The cost is all in the watch and apparently you can buy replacement castable parts for around 20 bucks.

 

Good luck with it!

 

Cliff

 

Overall...for the money, it's worth every penny. I'm sure you'll find it very useful in your shore adventures!

[jediangler]

I use mine when fishing from a kayak. I attach it to a 3ft nylon musky leader and hook it to the yak. When I'm drifting it just bobs along beside me. When paddling I just flip it into the boat and dry it with a towel and the battery is saved. I found it accurate and easy to use, but I'm on my second watch battery in less than 16 hours of use.

[Dabluz]

Drying off the floating transducer is a good idea. As soon as the bottom of the transducer is dry, the battery is not being drained.

[Heybud_e]

thank you so much fellas, i knew i could rely on someone here.... i plan to try it out tomorrow, going to spend a few hours fishing tomorrow with my sister boyfriend in a near by reservoir, the wire leader is a good idea.... i need some more anyhows...

but once again, thanks to you folks for your information...

[wolfville]

Funny, I was just thinking to ask about these smartcast toys... What about the actual range? and does it work well in shallow water (less than 5')? Does it show bottom structure (weed, rocks... etc)? I read the specifications but would rather hear from real users. I think they now have RF10, 15, 20, 30... which one do you have?

[Heybud_e]

well i just picked up the RF30 model, had a few extra bucks and i been eye balling this thing for some time now heh, so i asked permission from my financial advisor (common law wife) lol i got the go ahead....

[wolfville]

Thanks H.B. for this thread, does anyone else care to write a review?

[Heybud_e]

anytime i was all ready to go this morning to try it out, i got outside with a few flurries and as i was leaving, would u believe the snow fell like #$%, back to flurries now, so im hoping it stays like this till about 1 o clock then im gonna go...

 

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[Heybud_e]

well, tried out my new toy today, was quite impressed with the clarity and pick up, showed me the water temp, depth, bottom, and fish...... now to learn how to catch them fish overall im impressed with the Hummingbiord Smartcast!!! thanks for all your info... Bud