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Castable Depth/Fish Finders? #12590897 01/22/18 11:46 PM
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TXMulti-Species Offline OP
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I'm looking into getting a castable depth finder and was wondering if anyone here had any experience with them. The only thing I'm really going to be using it for is to map the different bodies of water that I fish, and unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to shell out 200 smackers for the Deeper sonar. Are there any cheaper alternatives? I've heard of the iBobber, the FishHunter, and a few others. Just how do they stack up, mapping-wise?


Catch and release. The dream - to catch one of every species of Freshwater fish in our great state! If only I can resist Carp...
https://txmultispecies.imgur.com/
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Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: TXMulti-Species] #12590907 01/22/18 11:51 PM
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Wayne P. Online Content
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Vexilar Sonarphone T-pod has a longer range since it uses WiFi instead of Bluetooth like the others.

They are sonar units not GPS/mapping.


Helix 12 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G3N and G4N, 1198c SI, SOLIX 10 SI G3,
Helix 8 MEGA SI+ GPS G4N, SOLIX 12 SI and G3, MEGA 360, MEGA LIVE TL, RC-1
Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: Wayne P.] #12590930 01/23/18 12:09 AM
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Originally Posted By: Wayne P.
Vexilar Sonarphone T-pod has a longer range since it uses WiFi instead of Bluetooth like the others.

They are sonar units not GPS/mapping.


The Deeper Pro+ has GPS and mapping software, plus it uses wifi.
https://deepersonar.com/us/deeper-smart-sonar-pro-plus/


Catch and release. The dream - to catch one of every species of Freshwater fish in our great state! If only I can resist Carp...
https://txmultispecies.imgur.com/
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Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: TXMulti-Species] #12591042 01/23/18 01:07 AM
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Humminbird made one years back.


http://smartcast-rf30.com/


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Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: TXMulti-Species] #12593692 01/24/18 06:12 PM
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UJC Offline
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Be careful when casting. Using braid might break the unit if while in flight it is suddenly stop. Years ago I had a smartcast. Of course they were cheapo plastic. But I didn't want to lose the unit so I thought braid would be best. Well, on my first cast (a long one) I could tell I was over casting the spot so I stop the reel with my thumb. It snapped the unit in half in mid-air.

Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: TXMulti-Species] #12608321 02/03/18 06:26 AM
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Technology . sidescan is better?

Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: TXMulti-Species] #12608391 02/03/18 01:06 PM
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Using a castable sonar of any type is the most inefficient means of mapping any part of a lake. Think about it for a minute. The number of hours and casts that would be required to generate a map that is better than a Lakemaster or Navionics map would be staggering. I spend a lot of time mapping from my kayak using proper sonar and AutoChart Pro, so trust me, I understand inefficient use of time.

My suggestion is to save up, do some research on which sonars will record the sonar data and buy the unit when you are able. There are some excellent resources on this forum that can help you make those choices. WayneP comes to mind with Humminbird products.

Feel free to pm me if you have questions.

Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: Mudman63] #12608522 02/03/18 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted By: Mudman63
Using a castable sonar of any type is the most inefficient means of mapping any part of a lake. Think about it for a minute. The number of hours and casts that would be required to generate a map that is better than a Lakemaster or Navionics map would be staggering. I spend a lot of time mapping from my kayak using proper sonar and AutoChart Pro, so trust me, I understand inefficient use of time.

My suggestion is to save up, do some research on which sonars will record the sonar data and buy the unit when you are able. There are some excellent resources on this forum that can help you make those choices. WayneP comes to mind with Humminbird products.

Feel free to pm me if you have questions.


I'd agree, actually. It would take quite a while to map a lake, or even a section of one. I'd be using mine for mapping ponds and perhaps sections of rivers. I don't mind shelling out a few bucks here and there to buy a map of a lake. Thanks for the tips!


Catch and release. The dream - to catch one of every species of Freshwater fish in our great state! If only I can resist Carp...
https://txmultispecies.imgur.com/
[Linked Image]
Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: UJC] #12608525 02/03/18 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: UJC
Be careful when casting. Using braid might break the unit if while in flight it is suddenly stop. Years ago I had a smartcast. Of course they were cheapo plastic. But I didn't want to lose the unit so I thought braid would be best. Well, on my first cast (a long one) I could tell I was over casting the spot so I stop the reel with my thumb. It snapped the unit in half in mid-air.


I was considering braid at first, but after watching quite a few videos about it I've decided to go with 12ish lb mono.


Catch and release. The dream - to catch one of every species of Freshwater fish in our great state! If only I can resist Carp...
https://txmultispecies.imgur.com/
[Linked Image]
Re: Castable Depth/Fish Finders? [Re: Wayne P.] #12611740 02/05/18 04:37 PM
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Corey Stanley Offline
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Originally Posted By: Wayne P.
Vexilar Sonarphone T-pod has a longer range since it uses WiFi instead of Bluetooth like the others.

They are sonar units not GPS/mapping.

The Vexilar units will actually work with the Navionics app to allow you to run a mapping/sonar split screen on your tablet or phone,as well as let you update the map with the sonar charts program.

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