Tried Out My Christmas Gift

[Preytorien]

My wife got me really the only thing I had listed as my Christmas wish....which was the Vexilar Sonarphone.

 

I'm mostly shore-bound, with some trips out in my Sea Eagle inflatable when time and weather permits. So the castable/troll-able sonar fits my needs very well.

 

I admit I was at best only slightly skeptical of the Sonarphone since it's somewhat of a deviation from the standard fishfinder setups, I figured it might be a bit gimmicky and lack truly useable functionality. Being castable, I was also worried about the range of the unit's signal as well.

 

I took it out and tried it on a basic retention pond near my house. There's not much in the way of structure or cover, and I didn't even take an actual fishing rig with me, I just wanted to try out the Sonarphone in a clean no-worried environment. Needless to say, I was quite impressed. I've used other fishfinders, and in terms of accuracy, ease of use, and gathering your basic info, the Sonarphone hits the nail on the head. The app is very easy to use and has quite a nice assortment of functionality. The unit's signal range was very good as well, I didn't have any lost connections the entire time I used it, which included times the sonar was over 100' away from me. 

 

So all in all, if anyone's looking at castable/troll-able sonar, the Sonarphone works great. Keep in mind you'll want a very heavy rod with VERY heavy line on it (nothing less than 65lb made me comforable) to cast it with since it's over 4oz, unless you'll be using it on a kayak/inflatable.

 

I researched several kinds, and while they all basically do the same thing, I liked the fact that the Sonarphone used the Wi-Fi which increased its range. But other brands will certainly fill the need of a portable fishfinder.

 

Give it a try, might be just what you need this year. 

[Senko lover]

That sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing.

[lectricbassman]

Ive been tossing around the idea of getting a castable fishfinder for some time now but am kind of skeptical of their capabilities. Please keep us informed as you use it!

[a1712]

I used the Vexilar several times. My only complaint was my Wi-Fi signal kept dropping out, might have been my phone, but after several days of this happening I returned it. But it did show an impressive amount of detail when it was working. Hummingbird released one and I might try that one out. Brian.