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New Gadgets 2009 Close
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I
admit I’m a sucker for checking out lots of angling’s new
advancements and products every year and am in position to often see
and use them before most of you do. I appreciate and try to utilize
our big boat as much as I can, but increasingly enjoy stream-walking
and smaller boat fishing at more remote locales and hard to get to
places while the bigger boat with the more sophisticated tools and
gear stays garaged. Apparently this choice has hit a nerve and meets
with the enthusiastic approval of many of out TV show audience that
understandably feels slighted or
Some products blend technology with ease-of-use and portability and can be used by anglers at either end of the financial scale. As I’d mentioned, I much enjoy smaller boat angling and the freedom it represents compared to buying dock space somewhere and being somewhat committed therefore to fish pretty much right there. I’d hate that even without my column and TV show necessitating more freedom than that. This doesn’t mean that I give short-shrift to learning all I can about the waters I’m fishing at any given time. Years ago, one of our sponsors was Bottom Line, and I was especially enamored by their Fishing’ Buddy series of portable boat-mounted sonar's that much enabled of us to learn so much about different area lakes and ponds, especially notoriously diverse and previously mysterious Edison Reservoir. We learned so much, and disproved so many misconceptions, even with that rather unsophisticated but valuable 1100 model. Even with a very basic and limited pixel count, the unit accurately indicated depths and drop-off locations accurately enough to aid immeasurably in placement of our indicator buoys, regardless of what species we were pursuing. The built-in temperature gauge showed us how much different parts of a reservoir can vary. The weakness of the Bottom Line units included the relative fragility, especially when on the move, and the aforementioned lack of sophistication in the reading. Now the good news. Many of you know that Bottom Line was bought out some time ago by Humminbird. The Fishing’ Buddy Line has been overhauled and the difference in stability and body integrity is dramatic. The one they sent me is a 140c unit that features a stunning 320v x 240v pixel display, like the ones on the bigger boats. The temp gauge is still there and the unit now incorporates the “Sidewinder’ mode, so nice for reading along those Mogadore weed lines or, when mounted on the Gorge Pier –an easy stroll to carry it from my home-it is fun to watch the other pier anglers discover just how deep it is off there, and finally adjust their bobbers accordingly. Also great there for simply pinpointing with the Sidefinder those roving fall schools of crappie and perch. The biggest news might be that the unit now features a color picture that simply shows up better than any previous entry-particularly in sunlight. The handle and attachment mechanism allow the unit to easily attach to any dock or boat transom I’ve encountered. The telescopic shaft that houses the transducer adjusts from 24-40’’ and the unit draws 1000 watts of power from eight AA batteries that will run it for days. The unit retails for about 270.00 and has now done much to even the field between the big boats and the small. An added plus is that it’s a major plus on ponds and electric-only waters that have heretofore remained largely a mystery. You’ll see.
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