Smart Strike

[Tin Man]

Has anyone here used the Hummingbird Smart Strike card ?  If so how do you like it ? Is it worth it the money ? When unboxing my new Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS G2 today I noticed that it advertises Smart Strike capability. Last year only the largest, most expensive units could use this technology. Your thoughts.

[Wayne P.]

I don't have a SmartStrike card, but have used the SmartStrike map layer with a couple of Chart Select lakes.

Used it with a Helix 5 CHIRP DI GPS G2, Helix 7 CHIRP SI GPS G2, and several larger models.

 

Other than Lakemaster mapping, SmartStrike is a fish location predictor. If you are clueless to determining a pattern, it will give you an idea of where to look based on the criteria you select.

Refer to the description on the Humminbird website.

 

[Tin Man]

Looking to use as a prefishing aid for tournament fishing. Makes sense if you do not have the time to prefish an unknown body of water. If it's good enough for Aaron Martin's it's good enough for me. The Smart Strike is much more than a location predictor. As I saw him demonstrate anyway. You feed it the features and parameters you are looking for on a given body of water and it comes back and highlights those areas on you sonar that match on the lake you are on. Huge time saver.

[riverbasser]

I just recently got the contour elite computer software with smartstrike after talking it over with @A-Jay and watching some videos. I do not have the ability to use it with my depth finder.

 

It's a tool like anything else and it seems to be pretty accurate from what I've seen so far. I use it to help me find new structure that I haven't fished or possibly overlooked. It is definitely helping me better learn my home lake and making my time on the water more efficient since I can study and mark places at home on a laptop and then when on the lake I can spend time graphing and fishing smaller areas than I normally would. The 3D viewer is also pretty cool and helps me understand the bottom of the lake better

 

I realize some of what I said only applies to contour elite but smartstrike is a key feature that helps me locate "contact points"

[Tin Man]

That's what I understand. The version I am interested in is for sonar and seems like it would be very useful. Especially for tournaments on new water. It's a very detailed search tool once you learn how to use it. Probably why they had a pro explain and demonstrate it. From what I saw on the video it seems like it was made to use in conjunction with Lake Master or Navionix. I called Hummingbird tech support but the guy I spoke with knew virtually nothing about it. How can that be ? Told me I would have to use it with the pre -loaded UNI maps on my Helix 7 Chirp sonar since It only has one port. The UNI map is not that detailed though which has me wondering about the results. As I understand it, you feed the info into smart strike and it highlights the parameters you programed onto your Lake Master chart or in m| case the UNI chart. So I am looking for someone who actually uses this system. There is a 12 minute video on it which is very interesting but it slip for the Onix and not the Helix.

[RoLo]

When I bought my Humminbird Onix, I also picked up a SmartStrike card, but I'm sorry I did.

Having coded computer programs of my own, I was expecting proprietary artificial intelligence,

not a program based on user input. Anyway, I lost interest in SmartStrike and never gave it a fair shake.

 

Roger

 

 

[A-Jay]

I have the smart strike and I like it.  I use it on Helix 10's on most every trip, depending on where & how I'm fishing.

It's another tool.  How effective it is, may depend on how it's used as well as the end user's ability, knowledge & experience.

The more one has - the more one may benefit from this software.

The basic searches offer basic possible fish locations.  Sometimes there are fish in the area, sometimes there is not. But this may offer a starting point and can give you ideas on other spots to look.

However, in the 'advanced search' mode, an angler can input much more in the way of search parameters which could help pattern fish.

After using this for about half a fishing season, I'll say that this is not a magic bullet and definitely does not guarantee fish locations. 

In the hands of a novice, the program may be less applicable. 

However, with some skill & experience in both real world fish locating & patterning, as well as how to use the program and hummingbird electronics in general, a Basshead could do a little damage.

 

** Disclaimer *** I've had friends mention that if an angler has the knowledge, skill & experience to input this data accurately, they should be good enough not to need the tool.   

I can't exactly argue with that mentality but I will still continue to use it.

YMMV

A-Jay

[Tin Man]

I hate that it's come to this. But that seems to be the way of the world now, you either get on board or you are left behind. Probably why so many musicians have decided to unplug. Tired of the tech. Everything has become so automated. It interests me though. I will be paying a premium for non ethanol gas and in maintenance for both the boat and my tow vehicle not to mention hotel stays, meals on the road and tournament fees so anything that saves me time is going to save me money as well and produce better results. Once I get a handle on it that is. Or that's my thinking anyway.

.

[riverbasser]

If you can only use it with the basic unit map then I would probably pass, or do like I did and invest in the computer software and do your research before ever getting on the water. I only have a helix 5 with lake master chip, it so much easier doing my map study on a laptop screen. This could even be done on the water if you were willing to bring your computer on the boat.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Further North]

I have a decent handle on most of my local water...but that's where I'd learn to use it so that when I go someplace like Lake of the Woods, I can use it to narrow things down a bit.

 

In a place like LOTW the shear number of places that look good can distract you from getting on a pattern, or possibly from recognizing one when you encounter it.

 

I plan on adding Smart Strike when I update my Hummingbird x98 equipment to Helix G2N units in March.

[RoLo]

As it happens, locating fish is my very favorite part of fishing (cranking fish to the boat is a distant second).

I also enjoy computer programming, so I would be forfeiting two things that I love.

On the other hand, I'd be 'extremely interested' in the algorithms employed, but since it's founded

primarily on operator input, for me at least there is no compelling attraction.

 

Roger