SmartRod has a bite-sensitive accelerometer. Just sit back and wait for the alarm to ring. Then reel 'em in.
(Credit: Indiegogo)
If you like a little high-tech help when fishing for dinner, leave the fishfinder at home and try this electronic rod.
The SmartRod has an accelerometer that tells you when a fish bites your line. A sound or light alarm goes off so you can try reeling it in promptly.
Billed as the first of its kind in the world, the SmartRod is the subject of an Indiegogo campaign that's aiming to amass $50,000 for development with 20 days remaining. It's got a long way to go.
As the promo vid below explains, the rod has three sensitivity settings that you select with the push of a button.
"It does all the thinking for you, so you can concentrate on catching fish," inventor Ed Hope says.
The 7-foot spinning rods, which start at $55, automatically stop bleeping as soon as you start reeling in the line. There's also a silent mode for when you don't want to disturb fellow anglers or the fish themselves.
A nice feature is that you can use any reel since the alarm is built into the rod itself.
Now if only it had a built-in laser too
The Scorpion 610 hull features 5mm bottom plates and 3mm sides. The cuddy cabin (and seat pedestals) are moulded fibreglass for smoother lines and permanent colour, and this also cuts fabrication times considerably. The cuddy is then bolted, glued and sealed to the alloy hull.
The recommended power range for this hull is 90-115hp, and the test boat was fitted with a standard Mercury 90hp two-stroke swinging an 18-inch stainless Vengeance prop. Top-end performance was 65.9kph (35.6 knots) at 5600rpm with two adults on board. Maximum revs for this engine are listed at 5500rpm, so the engine was over-revving slightly. (Sportcraft has since changed the prop to a 20-inch pitch model, dropping the maximum revs by 100, and the top speed slightly to 62kph.)
The easy access to the bow is through the hatch in the cabin top. With a short, fairly high cuddy, it is easy to duck under. A decent-sized hatchway, a chequerplate platform for the bowman to stand on, and a flat bulkhead face to brace against, make pulling the pick relatively easy. A reasonable-sized (unhatched) anchor well is set into the bow, and it is an easy reach to the fairlead set out on the fibreglass bowsprit (part of the cuddy assembly).
The concept of this hull is a 6m day-fishing boat at the best possible price. Consequently, construction and layout are kept simple. Sealed chequerplate decks run right through the hull, draining to a sump under the transom, from where any water is drained by an 1100gph bilge pump.
A decent fishing platform at a reasonable price is what this boat is all about. Beamy and with a modest deadrise, this is a reasonably stable hull, and the chequerplate deck gives good footing and a heap of work space. Flat gunwale faces give good mid-thigh support and modest toe room.
The Profile 750 HW won the award for the Best Aluminium Boat In Show at the Hutchwilco Boat Show in Auckland, and this is the hull that David – an Auckland businessman – decided answered the requirements of his fishing after a bit of investigation. David fishes a lot out of Tairua, where he has a holiday home; he wanted a robust, stable hull that could be beach launched, cope with rough conditions and longer trips, do a bit of overnighting, but still be reasonably towable between Auckland and the Coromandel.
The 750 hull features 6mm bottoms and transom, 3mm pontoons, and 4mm deck and topsides. The deadrise at the transom is 18°.
Recommended horsepower for this hull is 200-300, and Tairanui is pushed by one of Yamaha’s new 250hp V6 four-stroke outboards. Fuel is carried in a 240-litre under-floor tank with a fuel port on the outside of the transom.
Anchoring duties are handled by a helm-controlled Lewmar chain and warp winch, which feeds into an enclosed anchor locker in the bow. Access to this is through a hatchway in the forward bulkhead. A plough anchor is permanently mounted on a bowsprit and a substantial cast-alloy crucifix bollard welded to a plate on the foredeck.
The forecabin is fully lined with marine carpet and fabric. A cabin light is fitted and there are two narrow side shelves, as well as under-berth space, for stowage. (In this case a toilet has not been fitted, but this is an option.) The berths will sleep two adults, with a third possible if a berth infill is fitted, and there is full-seated head height. A hatch gives access to the wiring etc, inside the back of the console.
Helm seats are upholstered swivelling sliders with fold-up front rolls, which give more space if travelling when standing up, and provide a comfortable backrest into the bargain.
The beamy, unencumbered cockpit offers a heap of work space, while the excellent stability produced by the combination of pontoon construction and beam – added to good footing provided by Tube Mat on chequerplate – makes for a great fishing platform.
Specifications
I
have to chuckle at this comment, it’s one I hear almost every time I bring up
bait fishing amongst a group of anglers. My chuckle is that I can spend a day
fishing cut and strip baits, and arrive back on the beach with hands and gloves
far less odorous than if I’d been exclusively dipping soft-baits out of a pot.
And since I’m landing fish on the kayak to bring home for dinner, there’s no
difference with the mess being created there. To my mind, if anglers are
complaining about the smell of bait fishing, they’re not using the right
bait.
This
has been an interesting journey for me. As I mentioned earlier, I started off
with the ‘big baits’ attitude, but soon refined what I was doing upon fishing
more often with pilchards and other small, whole baits. Basically, this involved
my fishing all baits (including cut baits) more actively, considering them as
much a lure as a simple piece of meat. It didn’t take long to realise that
properly prepared and presented strips of fresh kahawai and trevally were just
as effective as pillies when targeting reasonable snapper.
As
cut baits need a little more effort when preparing them for the hooks than whole
baits like pillies or lures and soft-baits, I’ll do this before heading out on
the water whenever possible. As mentioned, preparing them prior to freezing is
an excellent option. When using frozen whole fish, I like to slow thaw them
overnight (in the garage during winter is good enough, in the fridge during the
summer – remember, these aren’t smelly baits so they won’t stink out the garage
or fridge!). Slow thawing helps stop baits going mushy.