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It takes a dummy like me to really appreciate a smart fishing rod. “Poletap SmartRod TACKOBOX Slab Hunter Spinning rod with Electronic Bite Alert” is what it's officially called, I think, I'm not quite sure I got it right! But anyway, it's long name, I just call it a SmartRod. And it is smart! I say it's “Got Your Six”.
The 10ft version of the SmartRod for Crappie fishing just came out. I previously tested the heavier duty version, designed more for Catfishing, and I thought it was neat. So recently I received a few of the lighter duty Crappie rods to try out, plus a couple to raffle off on Crappie.com.
It has started to cool down here in Florida, and the fishing has just started to turn on. I've been able to get out there three times already with the SmartRod and have had some good success. It really works, it alerts you to the bite when you're not paying attention. Perfect for a dummy like me (j/k, I can't be that dumb cause I got a great family website with the best members and moderators on the planet). The SmartRod has two very useful sensitivity settings you can select from, depending on how you're fishing, and the weather conditions.
I fish a little differently here in Florida. Most people Spider Rig here, but I longline. Well, maybe I should not call it longlining, it's kinda shortline longlining, or maybe it's more appropriately called fast spider rigging! I run my lines about a half cast back behind the boat, and troll about 1 mph. I like to cover more water, and Spider rigging is too slow for my taste. Also, I like to see my jigs behind my boat on my Livescope. In the shallower waters here in Florida, if I run them too far back, I can't find them with the Livescope. But using this half cast technique, I can see them, and keep them exactly where I want them (sometimes they have to be right off the bottom to get a bite).
So back to the SmartRod. Now instead of swiveling my head back and forth looking at my rods all the time, I can focus on the side of the boat I have the Livescope pointing, knowing the SmartRods “Got My Six”. They'll beep when they get a bite. And it really works, how cool is that! Additionally, since I have four rods on that side, and only two of them are actually SmartRods right now, when a non-smartrod “got bit” the Smartrods beeped and alerted me anyway. This only would work if you have all four rod holders on a shared “bar”, which is my arrangement, but it does work. Make sure to put the SmartRods on the outside most rod holders to allow them to detect the bite on the non smart rods better.
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Now for the best part. You think my “Shortline Longlining” technique is funky, here's another of my techniques where the SmartRod really shines. Kinda opened up a whole new avenue for me. Check this out. I have a place here in Florida I call “The Wall”. It's got about 10-12 ft deep water right next to a shoreline. I mean the deep water is right next to shore. Kinda unusual for Florida, as most lakes are natural bowls. No real man made reservoirs here, and nothing really deep. Anyway, I like to cast to this wall, and slowly move along the wall with my trolling motor on super duper slow speed. I move at probably .1 - .2 MPH. What I did using the SmartRods is, I put them in the rod holder behind me, and just let the jigs hang down at a couple different depths, while focusing on casting towards shore. And dang it if the beeps didn't happen, and I caught fish on the SmartRods. I caught more on the SmartRods, than I did casting. I've used this technique before, but never for long cause I wanted to focus more on the casting than having to swivel my head all the time to check the rods behind me. Now I got SmartRods covering my back, love it.
And I have to say, the best part of this whole deal is the price of the rod. It's only $40. It's an IM6 High Quality Graphite Rod with a great feel. I guarantee you can't go wrong with this rod even without the smart part! And the Smart Part gives you so many more options. Love it.
Link to more info on the SmartRod
