Depth Raider

Thinking about getting a depth raider. How is the installation. Not the most mechanically inclined, especially with electrical. 

I bought the "Klincher" termination kit. Do you all wrap that with the fused tape to isolate all metal from the water? and do you also tape the lower connection to the ball?

X-ray I would agree it made me speed up as well. I spent a fair amount of time calibrating my fish hawk. I went to stockbridge on a on a calm summer weekday and spent an hour just getting gps surface and subsurface on the hawk to be dialed in. It was very close right out of the box, but the piece of mind of actually seeing and understanding the lag and adjustments helped a lot. In my experience, when I was out of port Washington, I was constantly .5 too slow on gps…..

oddly enough using the raider made me speed up.  Prior to the raider, I ran at 1.9mph using gps based on what Woda had in his class.  With the raider (the older model which has around a 0.4-0.5mph offset), I run at 1.9mph raider speed which on the gps in a zero current situation is 2.3-2.4mph on the gps.

One thing to keep in mind about gps speed is that it is speed over ground and not the speed of your lure unless you are in a zero current situation (rare on Lake Michigan).  Prior to the raider, I would always first determine the current directions as best I could with downrigger cable and dipsy angles and adjust my gps speed depending on those results or not to see if one worked better than the other.  Also, you have to remember that the current speed and direction at or near the surface may not be the same as what you have at depth.  This is definitely case when trolling >100fow.  Where this can be important is when one uses the dipsy or rigger cable for indication.  Most of the blow back and/or sideways position of the ball or dipsy is a consequence of the cable or line drag.  Current speed and direction changes with depth and often is going the other direction than what is near the surface.  This where the raider helps the most.  No need to figure it all out.  I will raise the raider to check shallow lure speeds and lower it back deep sometimes.

Also use Traxtech, easily removed when not in use. One thing I have noticed is since starting to use the Fish Hawk is we get more bites down deep and less on our high  lines. Just used GPS speed prior which puts our top lines at the correct speed, now using the Depthraider it puts our deep lines at the right speed as it compensates for the currents.  

So I have attached pics of how I mounted my fish hawk. I use traxtech tracks and mount the unit next to my rigger. It works very well.

The only thing with the fish hawk is that it is not real time data. There is a lag. Raiders have almost no lag. It’s not a huge deal but can be frustrating if your used to the fast response of the raiders.

. Would definetely go fish hawk

I also have the manual Cannon riggers and replaced the current cable with the supplied coated cable with no problems. I mounted the display with a Ram mount which makes it easy to remove if fishing inland waters.  Easy to remove the riggers and disconnect the Raider. Just watch for nicks on the cable near the ball. As mentioned you can cut off a short amount with no problem. You receive 200 feet with the unit.

I can't speak for the fish hawk units as I have a depth raider but but Imagine you can do it if you have room on the downrigger to mount the head unit. But since you have a tiller I would just mount it where you can have a comfortable view of the rigger and display. There's a connection in the antenna cable on the depth raider that allows you to disconnect it and remove your downrigger from the boat. The display is easily removed also for storage when needed my suggestion is mount the display near your locator so you can view both pretty much simultaneously 

Thanks for all of the input.  

Here is my situation: I have a tiller with two Cannon Easytroll manual downriggers that I often remove from the boat when I am not on Lake Michigan.  I saw on an installation video that they had mounted the readout on a downrigger (electric).  Has anyone done that kind of mounting on a manual downrigger?  Suggestions are hoped for.  

Thanks

I’ll second thumps suggestion. We bought the x2 last spring and am happy with it. Never had issues and batteries lasted plenty long enough. Yes there is the cord going from display to rigger cable but easy enough to figure out a system with it that works for u, it doesn’t bother us at all. There’s almost no install either, it runs on batteries so it’s just deciding where and how to mount your display. We used traxtech mount and it just slides into the tracks.

Boogie installation isn't bad at all just figure out where you want it mounted and how you want to route the power and antenna cables to reach the battery for power and downrigger for antenna that receives the signal from the probe. The coated cable comes with the depth RAIDER when purchased and replaces the bare metal  cable currently on your downrigger of choice. The coating shields the cable so you can get a clear signal between your ball and the unit on your dash. Also try you tube for installation videos. Good luck hope this helps 

Been using a depth raider for about 10 years.  Install as noted was pretty easy.  Don't let the coated cable scare you.  Yes, it takes the place for your regular cable.  I replaced the cable last year, due to a number of nicks etc.  But getting  9 years out of a cable is pretty good and not that much $$.   System seems pretty bullet proof - never had an issue after install.  Battery life is good.  Generally replace the 9 volt battery once at start of the year and once half way through - and that's fishing 1-2 times/week all summer.  Speed and temp at ball really  help when warm water moves in and you need to find where the cold water is.  I've found pockets of cold water and just circled through the area and caught fish all morning long when others were having a tough time.  Same when fishing deep and knowing how the current is affecting your lure action.

I am thinking seriously about getting a Depth Raider for my fishing on Lake Michigan.  The install seems easy enough, however, I see that a coated cable, assuming downrigger cable, is suggested to get the signal from the probe. 

 Is it necessary?  

Is it just a good idea? 

Is it in addition to my downrigger cable?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Install is easy. If you fish a decent amount messing with depth raiders coated cable gets old after awhile. It seems like every two years I have to cut five feet off the coated cable. The coating tend to wear off in that location. The regular fish hawk Install is a little more complicated. Because you have to mount a tranducer on the boat. The X2 system is easier to mount. But more cables in the way on your downrigger.