Troll Speed Indicator

[Shutup N Fish]

Has anyone used the Lhur Jensen Troll Speed Indicator and if so what did you think of it?

[big john]

partner has one on his boat. seems impressive, but have no way of knowing how accrurately it is calibrated. seems likely to be fairly accurate, however, since the lead ball that provides the drag in the water appears largely unaffected by wind or waves. because of the cost, i haven't bought one; relying on my GPS

[wetonwhite]

It works darn good, mine is .2mph off of my gps..slow which is better than fast. Not that much if you are like me and drop small battery powered things in the drink when things get crazy and rods start bending :grin:

[illbfish]

My fishing buddy will not fish without it. Ignores his bottom line fishfinder speed in favor of the Luhr-Jensen. The only thing I've noticed is you have to check it for weed once in a while.

[Pitch Pocket]

A troll speed indicator measures your speed over water, not over ground. The GPS will tell you how fast you are moving over the earth from point a to point b.

If you have a paddle wheel speed indicator on your transducer, it should give you the same information as a troll speed indicator. Both are different from your GPS speed (or your speed over ground).

Speed over water (+/-) current = speed over ground

If you are in the Columbia moving upstream into a 3 knot current, the boat speed from a troll speed indicator or your paddle wheel on your fish finder will tell you that you are moving at 10 knots while your GPS will tell you 7 knots. If you are moving downstream in that same 3 knot current, your speedometer or troll speed indicator will say 10 knots and your GPS should say 13 knots.

[chummer]

One more reason to invest in a GPS unit!

[trap50]

We watch our Map76 GPS speed real lose. Use that with our Garmin F/F.

[FallRiverGuy]

I have one and think it is money well spent.

Chummer,
Water speed is more important than true speed when fishing. I've always wanted one of these but get by spitting in the water and guesstimating my speed.

[Pitch Pocket]

Yup, when trolling you want to know your speed through the water. When running to the chicken ranch, you want your speed over ground. One tells you how fast your trolling, the other how soon you're going to get there. Two entirely different animals.

You probably don't need to invest in one if you have the paddle wheel speedometer on your fish finder.

[ 01-22-2004, 11:44 AM: Message edited by: Pitch Pocket ]

[FallRiverGuy]

The paddle wheel I have does not reliably work under 2 mph. Since I mostly fish for kokanee in my boat, I need accurate speed readings between 1 and 2 mph. You may not need the indicator if you have a paddle wheel and troll at speeds where the wheel is accurate.

[Shutup N Fish]

I really appreciate the input all of you. I have a gps but also think I will invest in the troll speed indicator. It almost looks simple enough to copy. I'll have to look closely at it.
I have seen them for around $65.00.

[salmurai]

It's all relative anyway, is it not? The LJ unit justs makes it simpler.

[Empire]

The speed indicators are interesting. I thought about getting one. I have GPS and a paddle on my FF, but the most reliable indicator is the end of my fishing rod (while trolling). I set speed based on what it is doing, and it does not cost anything extra.

[FallRiverGuy]

$45 at Cabela's

[Silver Hilton]

Originally posted by FallRiverGuy:
$45 at Cabela's

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Dick Cabela didn't come up to Olympia to testify in favor of more springers for sportsmen. Dan Grogan, owner of Fisherman's Marine, did. I didn't see Sam Walton anywhere up there, either.

Let's support the folks who support us.