Off Topic Port Glasgow Trolling direction and under water currents

Leaky

Leaky

Well-Known Member
I am hoping that those that use the Fishawk probe might comment. I am fishing out of Port Glasgow now and have noticed that there seems to be people that like to troll north/south and those that prefer east / west. I am beginning to notice that I catch more fish trolling from east to the west than I do from the west to the east. Makes me wonder if the under water currents at Glasgow could be a reason why. For those that use the Fishawk, could you share what you are seeing with this unit at Port Glasgow, and for those like myself, make a recommendation for a trolling direction based on under water current. Tks Rick
 
The reason you are catching more fish in one direction than the other is that the current is faster in the direction you are catching fish in compared to the direction you are not catching fish is cause the speed is either faster or slower in the direction you’re not having success.
Scrimmy posted the other day if you read the post and I’m going off memory here as I’m not going to search for it right now you can do that. In one direction GPS speed was 1.4mph but his ball speed was 3mph cause of the currents.
Without a FH the one thing I’d suggest is if you’re running riggers and even dipsey rods, pay attention to the angle of each in the direction you’re catching fish and mimic it in the other direction and that might help you catch rates in the direction you don’t seem to be as well in.
Hope this helps answer your question some and good luck.
 
I don’t use fish hawk
But I do exactly what @rockin-steelhead suggests
I take mental notes of the pull on my dipsy rods pulling too hard going too fast not pulling hard enough going to slow
I just tap the + or - on my troll control until I get the ideal bend in the rod

What’s ideal you ask? That just comes with experience using the equipment.. takes time on the water and days not catching anything, and days catching limits.
Just try to Mimic the successful days. I’ll never know the temp of the water below. But when if I’m not catching and my speed seems correct I’ll be moving the rods up and down and changing out spoons every so often until all rods are twitching
 
This is my first year with the Fish hawk, as I figured I was having the same issue. Quite the difference even N to S at times. Well worth the investment in my opinion. I believe it shortened our time on the water, not that I don't want to be out there. Just less time spent between hooking up.
 
The only thing that suck from the time I bought my first fish hawk x4d to now is the cost being 50x more than it was back then but I wouldn’t be without it on my boat. I had probe issues twice this year and thankfully I was still able to put a few fish in the boat on those trips the intel you get from one of them is critical imo and well worth the investment. There are a few charter captains on Lake Ontario that don’t use one and do very well though so there has been some great discussions with them about one.
 
These currents are constantly changing
Yesterday was bad …
Surf temp was down to 65+ and current was crazy and inconsistent.
For us it’s a feel …. Generally go with the surface current and no crabbing is where we start .
 
Maybe I'm cheap so don't have a Fish Hawk either but also have never needed one in order to catch lots of fish. When my Dipsy rods are not bending where I know they need to be I bump the speed up until they do, if bending too much when going in another direction I slow down. They tell me my downriggers are also keeping pace, it's really not rocket science. :)

Then again I'm from the days when the only tech we had onboard was a useless CB and a normal compass along with a handful of Pink Ladys. 😁
 
Fish hawk is a very nice to have piece of gear. Allot more useful when fishing for silvers on lake O to find their preferred temp. That being said, I bought another one for the new boat but haven’t had time to hook it up yet and I do feel lost at times not having down speed.
 
Another easy way to tell. Flatline a lure you are familiar with. In my case a taildancer or ripplin redfin works great. You can see if your lure is moving at the right speed based on the action you have on your rod. If the rhythm is to slow, speed up. If your rod action looks fast slow down. I always run a bodybait on a lead setup to monitor lure speed. If your holding the rod you should be able to just feel it when your in the sweet spot.
 
rockin-steelhead said:
The only thing that suck from the time I bought my first fish hawk x4d to now is the cost being 50x more than it was back then but I wouldn’t be without it on my boat. I had probe issues twice this year and thankfully I was still able to put a few fish in the boat on those trips the intel you get from one of them is critical imo and well worth the investment. There are a few charter captains on Lake Ontario that don’t use one and do very well though so there has been some great discussions with them about one.
Click to expand...
I'm on my 3rd probe in 5 years 😠 , the company been great both times replacing it for the cost of shipping 😃
Both times the temperature sensor in the probe wouldn't work , can not be fixed as its a sealed unit ,
Yes I take the batteries out and wipe the condensation and leave the cap off , also it's in their case stored
Don't know what the cause is🤷‍♂️
 
Wave Runner said:
Maybe I'm cheap so don't have a Fish Hawk either but also have never needed one in order to catch lots of fish. When my Dipsy rods are not bending where I know they need to be I bump the speed up until they do, if bending too much when going in another direction I slow down. They tell me my downriggers are also keeping pace, it's really not rocket science. :)

Then again I'm from the days when the only tech we had onboard was a useless CB and a normal compass along with a handful of Pink Ladys. 😁
Click to expand...
I dont use it on Erie, I'm worried about getting hooked up in nets , be an expensive trip
Yes I remember when I started fishing inland lakes , no electronics, judge by shoreline structure where we were before , check depth with a lead sinker ,
Now mind you I love my gadgets I call it video game fishing 😃🤣
 
Thanks guys, I will considering adding one maybe for next year,( they are expensive) but for now, I will start watching the angle of the lines more when catching as suggested. I did see Scrimmy's post with that photo showing the difference between surface speed and lure speed at depth. Thats what got me thinking. Always looking to improve and learn, even though, I have done well this year at Glasgow.
 
I’ve been using a old cannon speed n temp system for the last 10 years Still work great with no troubles 👍
 
Leaky said:
Thanks guys, I will considering adding one maybe for next year,( they are expensive) but for now, I will start watching the angle of the lines more when catching as suggested. I did see Scrimmy's post with that photo showing the difference between surface speed and lure speed at depth. Thats what got me thinking. Always looking to improve and learn, even though, I have done well this year at Glasgow.
Click to expand...
Leaky, I started out with an old Fish hawk 840 some 25 years ago. It did work but would not make an 8 hour charter without changing the batteries. I then went to the Depth Raider and I did love the ones I had. I had 3 of them on 3 different charter boats I had. The only draw back was the coated cable would wear off a lot. I did lose a couple of probes but they were like $300 as opposed to the new Fish Hawk x4D which is around $500 Canadian. Thankfully I have not lost one yet. I would rate the Fish Hawk as at least if not more important than your fish finder. It is not a requirement for Erie but for any of the other Great Lakes you would be lost without it. It does however help you put more fish in the boat no matter were you are fishing.
 
Leaky said:
I am hoping that those that use the Fishawk probe might comment. I am fishing out of Port Glasgow now and have noticed that there seems to be people that like to troll north/south and those that prefer east / west. I am beginning to notice that I catch more fish trolling from east to the west than I do from the west to the east. Makes me wonder if the under water currents at Glasgow could be a reason why. For those that use the Fishawk, could you share what you are seeing with this unit at Port Glasgow, and for those like myself, make a recommendation for a trolling direction based on under water current. Tks Rick
Click to expand...
There are many different currents in Lake Erie and without a fish hawk or depth raider you will never find them. You can troll for 5 miles and encounter 3 or more different currents.
 
My fish hawk is perhaps my favourite piece of fishing equipment. I lost a probe due to my own negligence and felt handcuffed for the month after while I struggled with Covid demand (last summer) for a new one. That being said I purchased a spare probe this spring to avoid that situation again. It’s great for finding the thermal when fishing but it’s best use by far is knowing the difference in speeds between surface and ball. Just earlier this week there were 1.2 knots differences between my trolling speed on the surface and my ball out of Port Stanley. If I hadn’t have eased back on my trolling speed there wasn’t a walleye in Lake Erie that could have caught my blueberry muffins (maybe a pickerel or two could have??)
 
Glasgow is weird with current, if you ever figure it out let me know. I struggle to get a limit there all the time and I’m pretty seasoned. One thing last time we were there we noticed was all the boats catching fish trolled north to south. Probably doesn’t help but that was my observation.
 
scrimmy said:
There are many different currents in Lake Erie and without a fish hawk or depth raider you will never find them. You can troll for 5 miles and encounter 3 or more different currents.
Click to expand...
Twice I’ve had my depth finder stop working.. came unplugged couldn’t get it back in as it’s in my dash until I got home to get it back in anyways those two trips limits + and I never run a fish hawk 🤷🏻 just luck I guess

Not saying that a fish hawk doesn’t give you a big advantage.

You can still find and catch fish without it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top