Northwest Fishing Reports

Please some feedback.
I'am putting together my 1st little fishing boat since selling my larger boat 13 years ago, things have changed a lot.
I just installed a sonar only lowrance, Elite 4X, I can get a plug in stern mount paddle unit for it nearly 100.00 bills.
Question is this, I intend to add Gps Map unit also. Will the indicated surface speed displayed by the Gps be accurate
at slow trolling speeds IE 1.2 to 3.5 or should I put out the $100.00 for the outher sensor.
Thanks for any advice, confused in Puyallup.

It depends but generally I think the GPS will be more accurate and consistent. Paddle wheel and vacuum tube style speedometers are know by design to have a large inherent error. At slow speeds the error is greater. GPS sensors may take a few seconds to a minute to calculate, based on the number of satellites in view and speed of the processor. If your really interested in knowing your true troll speed,go GPS. I use an in-dash GPS speedometer and swear by it.

Michael Bell, ME/EE/EEE

fcheyney wrote:Please some feedback.
I'am putting together my 1st little fishing boat since selling my larger boat 13 years ago, things have changed a lot.
I just installed a sonar only lowrance, Elite 4X, I can get a plug in stern mount paddle unit for it nearly 100.00 bills.
Question is this, I intend to add Gps Map unit also. Will the indicated surface speed displayed by the Gps be accurate
at slow trolling speeds IE 1.2 to 3.5 or should I put out the $100.00 for the outher sensor.
Thanks for any advice, confused in Puyallup.

Short answer - yes. For about 1/3 the price of the sensor you can get a Luhr Speed trolling speed indicator and is dang near as accurate as the GPS, and in some conditions, more useful. I have GPS, Luhr Speed, and paddle wheel on our boat and the GPS/Luhr Speed are what I always use to set trolling speed.

I use GPS for trolling speeds on the local lakes. I think it works great. More of a luxury than a necessity at low speed though. I find where it can be inaccurate is when trolling on the Sound where tidal currents will cause a difference between the speed of the water passing under the boat vs. the boat's speed via GPS.

gps works for me.

I would like to thank each of you for your input.
I have made up my mind to hold out for my GPS/Mapping system, I also will be picking up one of the luthr-speed indicators
saw one on the rack at sportco today, $$$$ trying to trick out a new small fishing machine.
Thanks again!

There's also an app for that on your smart phone, and as long as you have a gps connection, it works. But you need reception, so it won't work everywhere.

BentRod wrote:I use GPS for trolling speeds on the local lakes. I think it works great. More of a luxury than a necessity at low speed though. I find where it can be inaccurate is when trolling on the Sound where tidal currents will cause a difference between the speed of the water passing under the boat vs. the boat's speed via GPS.

This is precisely why I have a Luhr Speed, that and the fact it is accurate, inexpensive, and non-electronic are all good reason to have one.

hewesfisher wrote:

BentRod wrote:I use GPS for trolling speeds on the local lakes. I think it works great. More of a luxury than a necessity at low speed though. I find where it can be inaccurate is when trolling on the Sound where tidal currents will cause a difference between the speed of the water passing under the boat vs. the boat's speed via GPS.

This is precisely why I have a Luhr Speed, that and the fact it is accurate, inexpensive, and non-electronic are all good reason to have one.

I'd never heard of these before, so can certainly see the benefit.

You can make your own Luhr Speed indicator with a plank, small weight, line and a marker. Just put the thing together as close to the commercial product as possible and use a gps unit to calibrate it. Mark off the speeds on the plank using the marker and you're set for any situation.

I have a Garmin i use, that seems accurate.

I just use the downrigger cables.

Bodofish wrote:I just use the downrigger cables.

In the salt I do as well. Water speed at the surface may not be the same as the water speed down below. Heck it may not even be moving in the same direction, so the downrigger cable and the rod tip tell me what I need to know.

Speed through the water and speed over land are different. Your paddle wheel and your Luhr speed indicator judge speed through the water. Your GPS judges speed over land. If you want to be going the same speed through the water with the current or against it then you will want to use your paddle wheel and your Luhr. But it will show that you are going slower over land when your heading into the current and faster when heading with the current on your GPS.

Me personally I'd rather know speed through the water than speed over land when trolling.

In waters where there is little to no movement, gps is the way to go. As a word of caution, I've found the paddle wheel that comes with most fish finders is wildly inaccurate at speeds below 5mph.

G-Man wrote:In waters where there is little to no movement, gps is the way to go. As a word of caution, I've found the paddle wheel that comes with most fish finders is wildly inaccurate at speeds below 5mph.

^^^^^^ +1.

GPS and Luhr Speed only when I'm trolling.