If you are a boating and fishing enthusiast, boating electronics may be a game changer for your hobby, just as the installation of fish finder and cellphones connected with Google Maps have changed long term driving. No longer are you lost, anyplace you go.
One of the premier leaders of boating and fishing electronics has been HawkEye Electronics an industry leader for nearly 20 years.
Hawkeye makes some of the best depth finders, fish finders, and electronic fishing scales on the market. And they back everything with an industry-leading, 2-year, guarantee that is as solid as you can get.
Here's an overview of their products
Depth finders
Depth finders are really useful tools for two reasons:- #1. They can warn you when the water is too shallow for your boat
Nothing could be worth for your boat than running into an environment that is too shallow for your boat and motor.
At the very least, you may be stuck, a truly embarrassing situation that may cause minor injury to your boat, or major damage if you run into boat crunching coral.
At the worst, you may literally puncture your boat, or damage the prop and shaft so hard they may need to be replaced. Also, in rare situations, passengers may be injured.
- #2. The water may be too deep
Let's say you are fishing fish for perch or crappie in 10 feet of water when suddenly your depth finder says the water is 30 feet deep. If you were catching fish in 10 feet of water, depending on the time of the day, the weather, and other factors, there may be relatively few fish at that depth, and your depth finder can be set to audibly alert you when the water drops too deep.
Consequently, depth finders can be a very useful tool, and with a few household tools, and some careful steps, can be installed in most boats.
One of the great things about depth finders is that they can work, even when your boat is going balls to the wall across the water.
Hooked up to your 12-volt power supply, and with the display fitting neatly into the dash of your boat, your depth finder can be preset to flash as well as send out an audible alarm when your boat approaches and area that is either too shallow or too deep.
The tricky thing about depth finders is mounting the transducer, which is what bounces the sonar signals down through the water and then back to the transducer.
There are three general types of transducer installations:
- Trnsom Mount Transcucer Installations
- Glue-in Transduser Installations
- Thrull Hull Transducer Installations
These different installation functions are related to the different kind of boat you have.
HawkEye, in April of this year, produced a nearly 30-minute video on YouTube as to how to install a depth finder on your dash, and the different essentials of transducer mounting.
This video at HawkEye Boat Mount Depth Finder Tech Tutorial is worth its weight in gold for anyone who is seriously thinking of adding a depth finder to their boat, as the procedure, while not exactly rocket science, is complicated enough that you want to seriously review it several times before attempting your own installation.
Hawkeye also has a very serious and dedicated customer service team that can help you select the right depth finder and installation for your boat.
Fishtrax Fish Finders
Although sophisticated fish finders were developed by the Japanese for industrial fishing in 1998, it was HawkEye that developed the first portable models for sport fishermen in the early 2000s.
Today, HawkEye sells three primary all-purpose Fish Finders, the Fishtrax 1, Fishtrax X and the Fish Trax C, along with several specialized models for use with Kayaks or for Ice Fishing.
The three basic models, which might be described aa a base model, an intermediate model, and an advanced color module, clue you in on where fish may be hiding, the topography of the river or lake bottom, and the water temperature.
How do fishfinders work?
Fishfinders have a central control unit, tied to a transducer, a long, coated electrical chord, and a float.
The float and the transducer can be adjusted so the transducer floats a few inches below the float, or up to several feet below the float.
The transducer sends out a sonar signal that radiates like a cone so that the signal is tight when physically close to the transducer, then spreads out below it.
If a fish is of a sufficient size, it's possible the mere physical size of the fish may be detected by the sonar signal returning to the transducer, but in addition to sonar, a fish finder also detects gas within the fish.
As a fish goes from shallow to deeper water, they have an internal membrane that contracts and expands in order to protect the fish from increased water pressure.
Fishfinders have the ability to detect these expanding bladders as they make different sounds at different depths of wanter, and thus even smaller fish are detected.
HawkEye Fishtrax transducers also detect the general temperature of the water. Fish are cold-blooded animals, meaning they cannot regulate their body temperature. so when it gets very warm, they will head for colder water in the depths.
At the same time, when ice fishing, a pocket where the temperature is a couple of degrees warmer may attract fish.
You can buy a Fishtrax Fishfinder for as little as $100, and as they are battery-operated, and last around 30 hours of use per charge, they are very functional.
Even shore fishermen use fish finders to find hidden obstructions or pockets that give fish a sense of protection from bigger predators.
SonicLaser Scales
HawkEye also produces SonicLaser fish scales that have no moving parts and last forever. Just hang the fish's talk against your boat deck, press a button, and your fish will be weighed to a fraction of an ounce, and you will also be able to instantly get an accurate reading of the length of your fish.
Is it a fish legal or not. SonicLaser Scales will tell you instantly.
The bottom line
Whether you fish from a large or use a mere kayak or even fish from shore, you can accelerate your fishing luck, and protect your boat, with electronic enhancements from HawkEye.
Check them out today at HawkEye Electronics