[dragoncloud4]

Been looking into getting a castable fish finder and I landed on 2 that have good reviews and I can't seem to decide on which one is the better choice (bank fishing). Tell me what you think and why (not including the price difference)

Amazon.com

Or

Amazon.com

Thanks for any opinions!

 

[ice cream man]

Waste of money (IMHO) .......
Spend your money on Gulp & jigheads.
Best tool is time on the water & attention to your surroundings.
Tide, water quality, bait, temps........ICM

 

[dragoncloud4]

Waste of money (IMHO) .......
Spend your money on Gulp & jigheads.
Best tool is time on the water & attention to your surroundings.
Tide, water quality, bait, temps........ICM

Waste of money (IMHO) .......
Spend your money on Gulp & jigheads.
Best tool is time on the water & attention to your surroundings.
Tide, water quality, bait, temps........ICM

I know my fishing spots pretty well I just thought it would be useful to know the water depths in certain spots. That's my main focus.

 

[ice cream man]

Water depth? Bring several weighted jigheads, throw out, count it down.
Loose a few to hang ups. Start over.
Hey we all want or think we need useless stuff that will make us a better angler.
But honestly it won't improve your catch ratio.
Mind you this is coming from a guy ( tackle hoe ) that has way to many new unused lures, that believes it will make me a better angler.
I feel your need to buy stuff............ICM

 

[DrSteveC]

Glad you're asking, I'm looking for the same thing, but for kayak fishing.

I'm looking mostly for a good way to find the holes where fish hang out. Last summer, after I paddled around Bogue Sound all morning, I learned that I'd been within 20' of a good hole near a channel marker where a friend caught several flounder later that day.

When I'm in unfamiliar water, I think it might be very handy. And if it even hints at where fish might be, all the better!

Probably a waste of money, I know - so I put it on my Christmas list, and maybe somebody in the family will choose that.

Steve

 

[OBXRealtor]

I don't know but it seems like a pretty cool little device if it actually worked well and was fairly accurate. I can think of some pretty cool uses, we fish bridges sometime in the Keys and it would be a fun device to walk down the bridge to find a hole or something. Could think of some other fun uses, I say get it, and do a product review for us ! Love new toys and for a hundred bucks how can ya go wrong, or maybe if Santa leaves it under the tree, lord knows at my age it's hard for people to find gifts to give me....I agree with Steve

 

[Drum Solo]

If you're actually going to cast it and not troll it, make sure you check the weight and take a rod heavy enough to handle the device. Someone gave me one as a gift a few years back and it was around 3.5 ounces. Just mentioning because I'd never fish for specks with a rod heavy enough to throw that, so it's sort of a special take-along.

 

[rencal1975]

Been looking into getting a castable fish finder and I landed on 2 that have good reviews and I can't seem to decide on which one is the better choice (bank fishing). Tell me what you think and why (not including the price difference)

Amazon.com

Or

Amazon.com

Thanks for any opinions!

Hello,

Thought I would chime in on the castable fish finder discussion. I went through the same thing as well. After looking over Amazon and what was being reviewed out there, I settled on the Garmin Striker Cast (non-GPS version). I got this device as I was starting to get back into fishing. I, like you, wanted a bit more intel on what was beneath the surface at my bank fishing spots. Since then, I've purchased a used canoe and mainly fish from a boat now. I'm looking to upgrade to boat mounted fish finder as they're better than what I'm getting from the Striker Cast. I troll it behind my canoe for now and again, works OK.

When I first got it, it was pretty cool. I could see the depth, water temp, see sorta what kind of structure was under the device, and of course got some hits on possible fish. I would typically cast it out with a catfish pole and leave it out there. Then, I'd watch on my phone and see what was there. They recommend you constantly keep casting it out to "maximize your information" but, I never really did that. Maybe for the first 15 minutes I got to the spot, but after that, I'd just cast it and leave it out. Figured I'd be better off fishing lol.

For me, I don't like that theres not digital imaging, but I wasn't expecting that. If you just want some basic information, its good for that. Its also most effective when the water is calm. Choppy water causes it to give false positives. Also when trolling it behind my boat, it gives false positives when I'm moving due to the wake. I'll be upgrading to the latest Striker 4 for Christmas.

If I had to do it again, I'd probably not buy a castable finder. They're OK and give you some good visibility under the surface from the bank, but ultimately you're just better off fishing. The time you'd spend "scanning the area" you're better off tossing a lure out there. But again, for depth and water temp and structure (depending on the brand you choose) they're nice for that. I'm not disappointed in my purchase of the Striker Cast, but wish I would've waited since I pulled the trigger on a boat.

 

[spidey]

What mountable finder you looking at I have a pelican boat so need something I can easily remove and mount

 

[rencal1975]

What mountable finder you looking at I have a pelican boat so need something I can easily remove and mount

Hey Spidey, I ended up going with a Garmin Striker Vivid 4cv. I'm in the same position as you. I have a Pelican Bayou 160 Squareback Canoe, and needed something I could mount and remove easily, and also move around when needed. I ended up mounting it to a piece of 2x4 for the time being which allows me to move it around. If I don't fish this weekend, I'm going to work on making a more permanent mounting spot as moving it around is a little inconvenient (not bad, but just want it looking like it has its own place in the boat lol).

Use a separate battery for the finder so you don't get any interference from your trolling motor, if you mount the transducer to it. I have a MinnKota Endura 55 which has that variable voltage for the speeds in between 0 and Max, and I heard they can cause interference if the finder is connected to the same battery. I was going to use a kayak mount for the transducer, but the arm isn't long enough to get beneath the water surface for me. Troller mount works just fine.

Overall, I love it. More than the Striker Cast but then again, the Striker Cast is very specific for bank anglers. Whlie you can use the Striker Cast on a kayak, I'd strongly recommend a mounted device. When comparing the Garmin Striker Cast to the Vivid 4cv, obviously the Vivid 4cv beats it quite a bit, simply because it has the "ClearVue" imaging, and has a transducer thats under the water surface (tons of other advantages but those are obvious with the contour mapping and dual views). I noticed I wasn't getting as many false positives because of the transducer being below the water surface. Thats the one big drawback with the Striker Cast.... if the water is choppy, you're going to get false positives. Not a huge deal really, but you'll think you have a massive school of fish under it, when all thats really happening is its reacting to being tossed around in the waves. Also need to note that I did not get the GPS version of the Striker Cast, so I didn't have mapping or anything like that when I used it.

So bank fisher, Striker Cast will work find depending on the information you want. Definitely gives good visibility beneath the surface and gives info that you wouldn't normally have from the bank.

For a boat/kayak/canoe, get something you can mount to your boat with a proper transducer; otherwise the Striker Cast is a good alternative.

That being said, the price difference was about 50$.... if you have a way to get out on the water and not be bound to the bank, the extra 50$ is worth it.