CTFishTalk.com: Trolling speedometer? - Connecticut General Topics ( CT General Topics ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

clinteastwood · Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 87

Does anybody make a trolling speedometer? I'm tired of playing around trolling until I find the right speed where they start hitting. We used to have a fishfinder that had one but over the years it was replaced. The one I have now doesn't take one. It had a paddlewheel. I'm wondering if anybody makes one? I can't seem to find anything googleing.

x182dan · Joined: 19 Mar 2009 Posts: 329 Location: Seymour, CT

clinteastwood · Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 87

I have an old Humminbird wide 128. I don't even see parts for it online anymore.

x182dan · Joined: 19 Mar 2009 Posts: 329 Location: Seymour, CT

Its probably not capable of running a speedo then
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fishville · Joined: 19 Oct 2008 Posts: 87

How about getting a handheld GPS. You will get the benefit of speed, ability to repeat the same path, and mark structure you find.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

angry john · Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 119

I have no idea what your money pile looks like, but you may want to consider a new GPS model with waypoints. This will let you set up tracks, and show you speed over ground. In the larger lakes i see a lot of walleye guys using these options. Black lake NY is huge for this technique. I have not done it to coment from personal experence, but may be worth further investigation if you do a lot of trawling.

NorthEastFisherman · Joined: 27 May 2012 Posts: 582

Im pretty sure most of the more expensive fish finders only have the water speed enabled on them. But those are for fishing boats (like bass boats or saltwaters) and they go for 500$+. Im not familiar with using gps but i guess thats alway an option.

TT · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 34

Got the Lowrance Elite 5 FF/GPS combo unit and love it. Reads speed below 1mph which my Lowrance H20 handheld wouldn't do. Paid 379$. Can't beat it for the price.

SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

Hi,
This question I have answered before.
SOG (Speed Over the Ground) as indicated by a GPS will be your true speed over the ground.
STW (Speed Thru the Water) is only true if on water that is perfectly still with no wind or current.

The only way to determine your exact STW is with a weight or paddle wheel indicator.

SOG and STW can vary widely!
EXAMPLE: Your GPS may indicate that your SOG is 5 mph, but if your going up stream "into" a 2 mph current your actual STW is 3 mph and if your going down stream with the current your actual STW will be 7 mph.

This is where those that troll have problems because they rely on the GPS for trolling speed which will not be correct in water that has movement caused by wind or current or both.
STW is what those trolling must use to troll at the proper speed for the fish they are targeting.
If you use GPS you will most likely be trolling either too slow or too fast.

The best and simpilest instrument that I have found to determine STW in lakes and ponds is:

..........

This is the instrument I have and use to determine my STW when trolling.
Costs only around $50.00 and will give very accurate STW speed.

Other then the above you can purchase an electronic indicator with a paddle wheel that will give you accurate STW but will be much more expensive plus mounting of the paddle wheel on your hull.

SeaDog1

angry john · Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 119

seadog is right, but most people that i have talked to use gps as a guide. They take a hit and then recreate the scenario again. If it says 2.3 and you are getting that same reading and getting more bites then just keep repeating the pattern. The ocean and rivers are much more complicated than a lake, and as such require a lot more attention. Your case may vary a lot. I find that most fish hide behind rocks in rivers or some other structure to mitigate the current. So trawling down stream should be not much faster than the current. Once you decide what tool your going to use then you will have to know how to best use that tool to evaluate and compensate for the situation and conditions. There is a perfect answer but it will cost ton. Get the wheel and the gps and know both. Problem is that knowledge will not put fish in the boat until the rest of the problem is solved, depth, speed, color action for the presentation.

TT · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 34

IMO I would chose the GPS for speed here in almost all the lakes as I doubt they are so big as to have strong sub surface currents that might give the gps a false reading. Now if you are fishing Lake Ontario or Champlain or any of the other large lakes a speedo on the rigger ball would be best. For all around trolling here in Ct. I'll stick to the GPS. Also with the GPS you can mark waypoints for structure, where fish are caught,marked schools or bait. And if the fog rolls in you can find your way home or keep fishing.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

fishville · Joined: 19 Oct 2008 Posts: 87

TT · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 34

Peco, if there are no under water currents in the body of water then whatever you are trolling will be the same as the boats speed on the surface. If you have no motor and the wind is pushing you at 1mph then whatever you have under the water will be at the same speed.