Boys Toys - II

Humminbird Smartcast RF-30

Any fisherman should be able to read the water, to recognize high probability fish holding areas. I am the most competent fisherman with the least talent I know. Everything I know I learned from Bill Dance and Roland Martin … TV shows. I rarely get skunked, but have no explanation for why or how something worked; I will never be a Kevin Van Dam, with his freight car of spinnerbaits and knowing everyone of them and which to use. But sometimes in bank fishing, I would like a bit more of an edge; I would like a fish finder.

And that has been the problem: a fish finder for people who do not spend time in boats. Now Humminbird has tackled the issue with a crankbait-sized, shock-green, submarine-shaped, sonar device that attaches to a swivel snap at the end of the line – just like a lure -- and a wrist watch receiver, with a one-inch LCD screen. Another irresistible idea for the Y-chromosome-challenged. Having received a bit of a windfall, I felt I could spring for the internet purchase at $50.

After a few false starts (returned twice for malfunctioning, a brand new but dead battery), I have been amused at the results. At first, I found it showed a number of false positives, fish where there were no fish. I know because I cast to the spot each time and didn’t catch any …

The transmitter cleverly includes another hole at the bottom to which one can attach a drop line, effectively letting the device act as a bobber as well.

Now, mid-May, it is spawn season, and blue gills and bass are very hard to entice to come out and play, but crappie and sunfish are available, as are the smaller (9-11”) bass. I let the little device that had been beeping non-stop over blue gill beds with nary a bite, just sit in one place, while I continued to fan cast with my fly rod. When the watch beeped and showed one fish – not the usual 3-5, I figured it was either a bass or a turtle – which the finder seems to confuse with fish. So I picked up the spinning rod and cast over the top of the bobber and sure enough, a 12” bass hit. I started to warm to the little device.

Two days later, I added a hook to the bobber end. I needed proof that what it was telling my watch was actually underneath it. The first day was a disaster, using a multi-hook leader that seemed to catch on everything except fish. The next day I added a gold Trout Magnet mealworm with just a nibble of Fishbites bloodworm surrogate. Now the curious thing was that fish would take the bait, but not show up as existing on the little screen. If the device showed one fish, I would guess it was either a turtle or bass, and pick up my baitcast rod; if a bunch of small fish, or the watch beeped incessantly, I would pick up the fly rod. Once it actually worked: I caught a small sunfish on the fly rod after the bobber indicated life below. The rest of the time, I caught all the other (half-dozen) large sunfish on the fish finder. A perverse turn on technology: yes, it was in fact, finding fish, but was telling me about it, by sinking below the surface – not beeping on the watch.

Will I continue to use it? Yes, after spawn, I will try it in all the usual places. The one drawback is that it requires a minimum of two feet to operate, and most of my bass, sunfish, and blue gills are in eighteen inches of water no more than eight feet from the bank, and I can see that far with my B.A.S.S. Polarized X-ray vision sunglasses. Stay tuned for another month …

Best little $50 bobber I ever bought!

It has been 2-3 days now that I have been using the Smartcast primarily as a bobber. I can’t say why it has been so successful – perhaps the sonar sounds like bait or the signal is affected by the curvature and magnetic field of the earth … I have now been catching more fish (ok, sunfish) with it than all my other rods combined (I travel with at least three).

July 23, 2007

Oh, no, not again …

Seems the sonar is on the fritz again. Sent it back and seemingly came back in worse shape than I sent it. Fourth time lucky? So far it seems to be working …

The spring was the most awesome bass fishing I have ever had, but then after almost two months of travel, absolutely nothing. Was doing better on the fly rod (ok, 6-8” bass). Talking it up with other fishermen, there does seem to be some drop offs, which I cannot see from the bank, but should be able to find with the bobber; so I began using it strictly as a depth finder. I hope it is right, because I see a steep decline, but no drop off, no thermocline, to speak of.

So I have gone back to fishing the banks, all of which are less than two feet deep. The returns to Humminbird have been annoying, but they have come back in a timely fashion, so I have to say the service is ok. For now, with the water levels so low, will put it aside and wait for September …

Boys Toys - I

Rocket Fishing Rod

I don’t believe I have ever seen a toy that so takes advantage of the vulnerability of the Y-chromosome-challenged as the Rocket Fishing Rod, a gadget that combines a fishing rod with a shotgun. Blast and cast. As the saying goes, more stuff in tackle shops is designed to catch fishermen, not fish, and the idea behind this item is irresistible. Unfortunately, I have to say, take a deep breath, avert your eyes and pass along. This is one toy not worth the $30 – the price of a pretty good combo.

The idea is to hide a lure in a cigar sized tube, insert it down the barrel, pull back on a pump action, press the top and the safety simultaneously, and off it shoots 30 feet in the air, plopping the cartridge/bobber and dropping its cargo. It is possible it might actually do just that, but don’t count on it. First, the cartridge is supposed to hold a hook or lure, a weight, and probably 12-18” of leader, which has to be rolled up and stuffed inside. Problem #1 is don’t count on being able to cram all that into the cartridge; problem #2 is that the cartridge is supposed to open and is pretty useless if it doesn’t. In trying to figure out how to fix problem #2, you discover problem #3, that the line doesn’t reel in unless you hold the line taut at the front, while resting the rod on your gut and reeling. Strikes me as a pretty awkward way to fish. The line is spooled on a spincast-like reel with a small nipple on the side that supposedly turns to reel the line back in. With good old monofilament, coming off like a slinky, the line slips off the nipple. With all that slack line, while I am trying to get the line to catch on the reel, I could never have brought a fish in – even if the cartridge had opened and actually dropped its payload.

I really tried two days to get this item to work, due to the other Y-chromosome problem of not wanting to take anything back. When the pump action refused to lock, I just had to bite my lip and say enough, back to the store.

I still miss the idea behind the rod. Maybe if the cartridge were bigger, like a grapefruit, and didn’t need to be pushed down a barrel. Maybe it could be adapted to launching carp bait. As it is, this could be the most frustrating and disappointing birthday present one could give a fisherman.

(Other names are: Fogo Rocket Rod Jet Cast Safe Fishing System, Spin Master Toys Rocket Fishing Rod – all As Seen on TV!)

Why Fish?

One of the more anomalous characteristics of the sport is that you are transfixed to a spot, for at least the time it takes to cast and retrieve. During that time, your eyes are taking in the line as it cuts through the water, the tree limbs and rocks it has to navigate, the sunlight causing you to squint, the grass and trees around you, the breeze above. It is a meditative experience. You cannot be more with nature – until you catch that fish. Then you are face to face with the primordial need for food and the silent capture of another creature, so very foreign to yourself. Yes, throw it back, free it. That rush of achievement has been bred into us through the millennia.

Sunsets

There are times in fishing where one does things that make no sense. Like casting into still waters, with the reflection of fall leaves, just to see your line slowly cut the surface. You know there are no fish to be found there. You are doing it just to be transfixed to the beauty of it, your eyes and thoughts only on what is before you.

At this time of year, I usually fish just before sunset for an hour or so. I now have a set routine for where to cast, based on fish I have caught before. Always the same lure, just different color.

Tonight the water was still, with a mix of clouds and light. I was delighted to find the end of my crescent had a 12” bass; I could retire for the night with a feeling of accomplishment. I had the lure, I had the location, I had the cast. I still had it all. My Halloween treat.

On the way back, the sun had set, but the reflections were still there. For no other reason than it was a beautiful sight, I cast. I knew there would be no fish where I was casting, but it was such an inspiring sight to see the water flat, with my line just barely cutting through it like a wire through cheese.

Something meditative about flat water, with the fall leaves mirrored. Just for the sheer joy of it, I made a half-dozen casts, just to make me stand and watch and absorb the beauty.