WHAT IS FISH HAWK USED FOR?

Every body of water has temperature changes throughout the water column. In many cases, larger bodies of water have more temperature “breaks” as water temperature stratifies from the surface to the bottom. Every species of fish has a preferred water temperature. Trout and salmon are no different. In fact, they are more sensitive to water temperature than just about any other fish species. Knowing where the water temperature is favorable to your target species allows you to eliminate nonproductive water and put your lures at the perfect depth to catch more fish.

Wind, subsurface structure, river flows, and temperature breaks create underwater currents that can be undetectable from the surface. Underwater currents can cause your lures to “burn out” or barely flutter depending on direction. Trolling into a current could cause your lure to spin out of control. Trolling with the current could leave your lures dead in the water. Either way, the presentation looks unnatural and you’re fishing inefficiently. Fish Hawk Electronics systems measure the speed at depth and help you troll at consistent down speeds so you can stay on the fish.

Trolling at an optimal combination of down speed and temperature catches fish and saves time and fuel. It’s why we say, “trolling without a Fish Hawk is just boating.” Can you catch fish without a Fish Hawk? Yes! But you’ll catch a lot more with Data At Depth from Fish Hawk Electronics. 

HISTORY OF FISH HAWK ELECTRONICS

When salmon were stocked in the Great Lakes in the 1970s, anglers figured out that these exciting new fish were very sensitive to water temperature, and could be found in the vast "inland ocean" by locating the fish's preferred water temperature. Fishermen also learned that underwater currents affected the action of their lures and made a big difference in their catch rates.

Using sonar expertise from the defense industry, Fish Hawk's engineers developed a wireless system that told anglers the water temperature and speed down at the depth of the downrigger ball. The first Fish Hawk systems were seen as space age technology, and as the salmon fishery boomed in the 1980s, thousands of anglers put Fish Hawks on their boats. 

Redesigned for a new generation of anglers, and thanks to fantastic customers and employees, the last decade has been the best in Fish Hawk Electronics long history. A lot has changed in forty-plus years of fishing, but the importance of knowing speed and water temperature at depth has not!