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| Message Subject: Imaging Transducer Mounting | |||
cyberfish |
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Posts: 43 Location: Waite Park, MN | I have been experimenting with Lowrance's Active Target. A brief use of it late fall last year pulling suckers resulted in learning a bit about it in that application. It showed me if I was finding fish, and it greatly increased frustration because now I could watch a fish follow and tease a sucker and never eat! This summer I installed it on the trolling motor via a Rytek mount. This allows me to point it to the side in Scout Mode while casting. Results include that I have occasionally watched a fish dash over to my lure, which was useful (at least I know I found a fish). I can also position the beam so I see my lure coming in the last 20-40 feet and I can see if I have a follow, but now I become a screen watcher, and that takes away the joy of fishing. If I had more dynamic control over the 'ducer position, it might be a better asset for casting. I also would like to experiment with it for trolling, but a good mount with a bit of ducer position control seems to be needed with a 15-degree band. Now to the question. I've been looking at the Cornfield Gear mount, the Brew City CT-360 and the Seefish Transducer mounts. The first is the most expensive (esp. with the electronic foot control), the Brew City seems solid as an adjustable, manual unit, and the Seefish is the cheapest. My experience I don't want to be spending time constantly adjusting a 'ducer, I want to fish, but obtain some of the general benefits of imaging w/o becoming a techie watching a screen constantly (be the master, not the slave to technology). So, I've been leaning to the Brew City unit, but now I question some granular issues that I'd appreciate some feedback: 1. Would you install a unit like this on your casting side or opposite? It would seem it could/would interfere with figure 8'ng and fighting a fish and getting it away from the fish vicinity is wise. 2. Can you put it on the side and then point it to the rear for trolling as well as to the side when casting, and not get significant interference from other ducers on the back of the boat or have the motor block the beam? 3. If you've seen or have one of these types of devices installed, did you put it on a track or some sort of detachable base so you can drive safely with it stowed, be able to put it in the boat when trailering, etc.? | ||
| nar160 |
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Posts: 408 Location: MN | I have a CT360. My boat is a tiller with casting deck in the back that I fish out of. I use the rail mounts and have one installed on both sides in the back. 1) when casting I have a strong preference for casting side. I have the mount more or less at my feet. It is sort of in the way and takes some consideration for figure 8s, but that is outweighed by the ease of pointing it directly where you are casting. In my experience, running it on the other side shooting across the boat makes it harder to stay in the beam and make any pointing adjustments mid cast. 2) Yes, this doesn't really create a problem. If I point right in the beam of the SI, sometimes I can see a small amount of interference, but it doesn't really create a problem - it's more like just a small amount of noise on the screen that you can ignore or look through. Regarding the engine blocking beam, I haven't really noticed any effect, but I haven't really checked that specific angle either. 3) I have rail mount. I stow it horizontally when boating and take it off when trailering. The stowing or taking off is very straightforward. | ||
| cyberfish |
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Posts: 43 Location: Waite Park, MN | Do you actively use it for trolling and with what results? How far forward is it from the transom when trolling? Any issues with ducer movement when trolling fast? | ||
| nar160 |
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Posts: 408 Location: MN | I have used it a limited amount for trolling. A lot of my early season trolling has been replaced by casting because of livescope. The main purposes I've used it for are: - see how deep baits are running - see if weeds on baits or leader - watch for follows - point ahead to scan for fish or bait you're coming upon It works pretty good for the first two. I have only seen a couple fish come up for a look and have yet to see a bite, but I also haven't put that much time in with it pointed right on the bait. Trolling speeds are a hair fast for scanning around but it's doable. Generally I haven't been trolling very much since installing livescope, but after watching many many many follows (and not bites) on suckers last fall, I plan to do more this fall. My pole is probably 3 ft in front of the plane of the transom when on port side, and my starboard mount is slightly closer, maybe 18-24 inches in front of the transom. When trolling the brew city shaft bends a little for sure, especially up around 5 mph. If that was my primary use I might consider a more rigid mount. | ||
| hahdawg |
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Posts: 64 | I have the brew city mounts on both sides of my deck. I use whatever side I'm casting on. They do get in the way a bit during the 8, but IMO it's worth the extra ~5' of visibility. I badly bent the pin of one of the mounts when idling between spots 3 MPH and a bunch of floating weeds got stuck on the pole, so I dunno if I'd use it for trolling. When running, I put the pole on my deck and secure it with a rod tie down. Based on my experience with the weeds, I bet it would break if you tried to stow it horizontally and run anywhere when it's choppy. | ||
| cyberfish |
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Posts: 43 Location: Waite Park, MN | A couple comments, above, caught my eye on your AT use for casting. I’d appreciate your comments on using forward versus scout mode. Forward is good for seeing the whole water column, but pulling along a weed line I don’t see it as realistic for tracking my lure, with only 15 degrees of side-to-side viewing. Scout can show me the lure (and fish/follows provided they are in the 15 degrees vertically), and with the Rytek mount I can adjust the ducer based on how deep a lure runs. Mostly, I use it for the last 30 feet of viewing so I know if I have a follow. (Is that similar to the comment above about “the extra 5 feet”?). It does mean a lure change may require a ducer move, if I want that 20-30’ of visibility. Or, is your AT use for the few feet of retrieve before the eight? | ||
| nar160 |
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Posts: 408 Location: MN | I have livescope, so your mileage may vary slightly. When casting deeper weeds or structure or open water, I use it in forward mode with range set to 100-120 ft. I can see bigger baits out around 100 ft and I do try to follow the bait in, but that's not always possible. It takes a combination of managing where you are casting, making slight adjustments to the transducer, and watching the screen carefully. Wind and waves can be an issue, and maybe not every casts stays in the beam, but I try. Personally, I don't really like perspective mode (presumably scout mode for you) for anything. It is sensitive to aiming (you can easily shoot above or below them in deeper water), fish look much smaller, I have a hard time seeing baits, you can't tell the depth of the fish, and I can't see fish nearly as far away as forward mode. I could see using it in shallowish water without any cover - let's say a 10 ft deep sand or mud flat or the area just outside a weedline. There you might be able to survey a good sized area and if you run your bait a couple feet down you're relatively close to them no matter what. I used it last fall a little bit - looking between weed edge and breakline with it pointed to hit the bottom. I can still use forward for that though, and side imaging generally tips you off if you're cruising searching such areas. When I fish shallow, it's generally either very shallow (<5 ft) sand/gravel/rocks or there is some kind of cover. I don't use livescope at all for that kind of fishing. Weeds are self explanatory, and in the shallow sand I've not been able to use it effectively. I could just be doing it wrong, but I haven't been able to see very far even pointing the transducer flat and having it submerged roughly half the way to the bottom. I don't really consider 20 ft of viewing to be of any use, as you can see follows even on dark nights in that shallow of water. If I could see a fish 60 ft away sitting there pointing a specific direction, that would be another story, but I haven't been able to do that up to this point (in shallow water). | ||
| hahdawg |
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Posts: 64 | Perspective/scout mode is neat, but you can't see very far with it, so I use forward mode. | ||
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