Texas Transplant
Well-Known Member
Okay, here is the lowdown on the Smartcast portion of the unit.
First of all, if you want to use the Smartcast on your boat, you will wonder what that large semi-rectangular unit is that has come with it. It's the antenna. It's really not that big, but certainly had me doing the 'what's this' when I opened the box. Since the smartcast unit sends remotely, it's needs an antenna to receive transmissions. I believe that it can also be used for other things (which I presently do not have or installed).
The little smartcast remote unit, looks somewhat like a minature sub, in bright chartreuse. That makes it very easy to see. I tied the remote unit onto a spinning outfit, and it was very easy to cast. In fact, you do not want to wind up and 'chunk' it, or it will really fly. I scrambled several times to stop it in mid-flight, as it was heading towards docks and/or rip rap.
When the antenna is enabled (Matrix unit came set with 'auto sense' on), it brings up a smaller window on the screen. When it does not sense a receiving signal from the green sub, the window closes down. It will periodically 'look for' a received signal and pop up the small window.
When the green sub hit's the water, the two electrodes on the bottom, hit the water and the connection is made, putting it in transmit mode. And wallah!, the depth and returns from the green sub show up.
How I used it.
I found one really great way to use the smartcast. We were fishing off the shore/docks, about 20-30 yards off shore. I wanted to find out how shallow/deep the water was as the cove went futher in. What I determined was that I could find and identify the first breakline very easily. After casting it to two or three spots (separated by 15-20 foot spaces along the shoreline), we determined that the first breakline was about 15 feet off shore, ran parallel to the shore, and then dropped quickly off to 7 feet. I had fished this area several times, and was never aware of this fact.
That simply made it easy to understand what to use and how the structure changed.
The second place I really got a good use of it, was in a long narrow cove leading to a house in the back. The cove looked like it would not hold fish, and that it was probably too shallow. Upon casting the green sub back there, and bringing it back out, it showed to be 5-6 feet deep. We therefore cast/retrieved shallower crankbait with no concern back there. Also able to understand that I could have gone back up in there, if needed/wanted.
Since the little green sub is not a 'powerful unit' (after all, it's got a permenant battery and not intended to provide great detail), I was not able to see structure as well as the regular Matrix unit. I do think though, that I need some additional time, so that I can compare known structure to the smartcast. I think it shows some detail, but I just need more time.
I kept the rod on the front deck, and when I wanted to know something, I just cast it out. Later in the day when I really didn't need or want to use it, it was simple enough to figure out (without the manuals), how to turn the 'auto sense off - and disable it from showing on the screen.
More after the next trip.
Tex
First of all, if you want to use the Smartcast on your boat, you will wonder what that large semi-rectangular unit is that has come with it. It's the antenna. It's really not that big, but certainly had me doing the 'what's this' when I opened the box. Since the smartcast unit sends remotely, it's needs an antenna to receive transmissions. I believe that it can also be used for other things (which I presently do not have or installed).
The little smartcast remote unit, looks somewhat like a minature sub, in bright chartreuse. That makes it very easy to see. I tied the remote unit onto a spinning outfit, and it was very easy to cast. In fact, you do not want to wind up and 'chunk' it, or it will really fly. I scrambled several times to stop it in mid-flight, as it was heading towards docks and/or rip rap.
When the antenna is enabled (Matrix unit came set with 'auto sense' on), it brings up a smaller window on the screen. When it does not sense a receiving signal from the green sub, the window closes down. It will periodically 'look for' a received signal and pop up the small window.
When the green sub hit's the water, the two electrodes on the bottom, hit the water and the connection is made, putting it in transmit mode. And wallah!, the depth and returns from the green sub show up.
How I used it.
I found one really great way to use the smartcast. We were fishing off the shore/docks, about 20-30 yards off shore. I wanted to find out how shallow/deep the water was as the cove went futher in. What I determined was that I could find and identify the first breakline very easily. After casting it to two or three spots (separated by 15-20 foot spaces along the shoreline), we determined that the first breakline was about 15 feet off shore, ran parallel to the shore, and then dropped quickly off to 7 feet. I had fished this area several times, and was never aware of this fact.
That simply made it easy to understand what to use and how the structure changed.
The second place I really got a good use of it, was in a long narrow cove leading to a house in the back. The cove looked like it would not hold fish, and that it was probably too shallow. Upon casting the green sub back there, and bringing it back out, it showed to be 5-6 feet deep. We therefore cast/retrieved shallower crankbait with no concern back there. Also able to understand that I could have gone back up in there, if needed/wanted.
Since the little green sub is not a 'powerful unit' (after all, it's got a permenant battery and not intended to provide great detail), I was not able to see structure as well as the regular Matrix unit. I do think though, that I need some additional time, so that I can compare known structure to the smartcast. I think it shows some detail, but I just need more time.
I kept the rod on the front deck, and when I wanted to know something, I just cast it out. Later in the day when I really didn't need or want to use it, it was simple enough to figure out (without the manuals), how to turn the 'auto sense off - and disable it from showing on the screen.
More after the next trip.
Tex
