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Fish Hawk TD

6K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  Baybum 
#1 ·

As many of you know I fish the big water out of a solo canoe. I also know the importance of water temperature. It’s coming into staging time, and we know salmon can be caught out of temp, but we also know and recent reports seem to indicate how lethargic salmon out of temp can be.
All I need is an extra rod with a heavy weight to get accurate temps. As a bonus feature I can also get maximum depth. It could help me figure out my diving lure lead cores better. All that for $150 not bad
 
#2 ·
I have one. Love it for the limited true coldwater fishing I do. Much better then relying on a bouy that might not even be close. Easy to get your readings before you set up your troll. Definitely not ideal but for anybody that salmon fishes when you need to know the temp break a few times a year a great value. If I used it more then 6 or 7 times a year I'd upgrade, but for now it's fine. For a yak I imagine it might be the best solution.

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#3 ·
When I decided to pursue this addiction last winter and gear up I was skeptical about the need for an $800 "thermometer" (yeah, I was pretty damn ignorant at the time) and focused my meager budget on other items. I will not even think about fishing next season without at least this TD model. I think my big problem was that I didn't really understand thermocline and how important it is to find temp at depth. My biggest problem currently is putting off any Fish Hawk purchase until I can afford a unit that gives me speed at depth as well. But $150 is an easier expense to explain to "the Boss" haha.
 
#9 ·
I have a Fish Hawk X4 that came off my old boat 3 seasons ago(new boat already had one). It has been bagged up in my storage since then. I will sell it to you if you are interested. Just send me a PM.


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#4 ·
I have bought a few of those TD. The only thing I don't Ike about those is the battery only last 3 or 4 years depending on how much use and then you need a new TD. You can't put a new battery in. Maybe they changed the design on them?
 
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#5 ·
It’s a sealed lithium battery. It has a 20 year shelve life. I hope that would translate to more than 3 or 4 years of use. On the other hand if I used it enough over 3 or 4 years that I thought I got my money’s worth, it would be a small price for lots of fishing! My trolling motor runs on a beer, a water, and some trail mix. Of course it takes a couple of beers to recharge the batteries!
 
#6 ·
Well shoot just looked them up again and it says 5 year minimum battery life guarantee. I probably could have sent it in for a new one. I do still have one in the boat that I bought in 2016. I will have to see what month I bought it. Now I'm mad at myself for not checking lol
 
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#10 ·
A nice feature of these TD’s is you can test the running depth of a running line. My use case was when I first started using slide divers. I know dipsy 3 setting was good at 225 back (this is salmon fishing I’m talking about) I needed to figure out how much lead to match that with a slide diver on 5 setting. Just let your line out and get your lure running, Clip the TD to the line and let it go. When you feel it clunk against the diver, bring it back in and look at the max depth achieved. Probably a little in accurate due to weight and drag of the TD, but gets you in the ballpark.


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#13 ·
I question how good the temperature data is. When I lower my x4d it gets an update every 20 seconds but takes a minute (3 updates) before it stabilizes. The TD goes down much faster than that but maybe they use a much faster sensor, if so, why put a crappy slow sensor on their premier product?

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#16 ·
Fish hawk has good customer service. Just call or email them about a malfunctioning TD. I thought my battery was dead after 4 years, they said send it in and they will replace it. However they said my battery was good but pressure sensor bad. Long story short, they shipped me new one for $50. Even if the unit is dead past the warranty, send it in plus $85 and you get a new one. (Better deal than $150). Fyi, the battery icon when you first power on reads reverse of what is normal. So an empty battery icon is good, shaded full icon is bad.
 
#18 ·
I've had one for 2 years now. They're great when they work. First one started flaking out just before the 1 year warranty expired. Fishhawk customer svc replaced it no questions asked. Now, the replacement unit started flaking out, ultimately not even turning on. It's been sent in, and waiting for a reply...
 
#20 ·
Mines been going good for 5 years. I don't see a battery meter on it. Maybe I'm missing something or I have an older model? I'll keep riding it until it dies then try replacing the battery. More then likely it'll die when I'm out and I'll have to get on the radio for the temp break, or just listen to the radio for 5 minutes seems somebody is asking/giving it every time I turn the radio on.
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