Smart Rod by Tackobox Gear Review

 Every once and a while I see a product online that makes me curious enough to give it a shot.  This I exactly what happened with the Smart Rod by TackoBox! 

This fishing pole is unlike any other fishing pole on the market today.  What sets this rod apart from all of the others is it’s advanced technology built into the rod which senses the bite of the fish and sounds an alarm!  I know some of you are already wondering why in the world would you need/want a rod that sounds an alarm when the fish bites… Let me give you my take on this rod to help you understand why I think the Smart Rod is a great addition to any fisherman’s arsenal!!!

First let me tell you a little about the rod itself:
The Smart Rod comes in either 6’6” or 7’ length and in two different styles: Spinning rod, or Spin cast rod.  The technology in the Smart Rod is referred to as Poletap which is a “Computer Controlled Accelerometer Technology."  The rod has three different sensitivity levels: High, Medium, and Low which allows you to adjust it to your conditions according to the weather, as well as for the fish you are after.  The alarm on the rod is not obnoxiously loud and also has three LED lights that go off when the fish bites!  The rod only cost $39.44 from Walmart.com and can be shipped to your local Walmart for free.  At that price the Smart Rod is not too expensive to give it a shot and see how you like it.  I will even say that I have used the Smart Rod as just a regular fishing pole while spinner fishing and I love the way it casts.  I would much rather buy a rod like this than some of the other rods at Walmart for the same price, which fail to perform as well.

Now I’ll get into why I feel you should give this rod a try.

Here in Idaho you can use two fishing rods if you purchase the “Two Pole Permit” which is only $13.75.  That is worth it to me to double my chances of catching fish.  So… When using two rods, the Smart Rod is an awesome second rod that you can cast out and let sit while either throwing a lure or some other type of spin cast bait.  Using the Smart Rod allows you to completely focus on your lure fishing until you hear the alarm of the Smart Rod letting you know you have a bite on your other pole!  I also love being able to bait up the Smart Rod, cast it out, and then spend time rigging up my other rod without having to worry about a fish pulling my rod in while I’m not looking!

The first time I used the Smart Rod, I was fishing by a local bridge and the fish weren’t really biting very well.  I fished for about 45 minutes and had one bite on my other rod but the fish didn’t take the bait… I decided to spread my rods out to cover more water so I took the Smart Rod to the other side of the bridge, cast it out, activated the alarm, and then re-baited my other rod.  Just as I was finishing re-baiting my other rod, I heard the Smart Rod alarm going off!!! I hurried and set my other pole down and ran over to the Smart Rod to see that I had a fish on! If it wasn’t for the Smart Rod, the fish could have swam around and gotten off or it could have even pulled my pole in before I got around to checking on it!

After that experience, I knew the Smart Rod worked well on some decent sized trout. The second time I used it, I sought out to catch a few small brookies out of a local stream.  I loved how sensitive the rod is, especially on a nice calm day.  The rod worked exactly as expected and sensed even the lightest bite from a small brook trout.  I will say though, for creek fishing like this, I rarely ever use a second pole so my justification for using the smart rod in a situation like creek fishing is if the fishing is slow, you can cast out your bait and let it sit rather than losing patience and giving up. 

I kept trying to get the Smart Rod on camera in action but every time I had a camera going, the fish wouldn’t cooperate.  Luckily, I went out one morning with my wife and got lucky enough to get one on camera.  I was fishing on Henry’s Lake in my canoe.  If you look close enough you can see the tip of my rod bounce just a tiny bit when the alarm sounds.  This fish bit very softly, taking a dead minnow I had on it for bait.  In the video, ignore me talking about how the rod shuts off while reeling in… It does shut off when you reel in but I wasn’t reeling in consistently and long enough to have it shut off.  :)  I reel a couple cranks, rest, then start again…

I went out another time to keep testing the rod, this time I was intentionally fishing in some “less than perfect” weather conditions to give the rod a good review.  As I predicted, on the high sensitivity level the rod kept moving just enough to set off the alarm.  The solution to this problem is simple--All I had to do was push a button to adjust the sensitivity to medium, and the alarm stopped giving me false hope.  As any fisherman knows, fishing in windy conditions for finicky or light biting fish can be frustrating.  Likewise, when using the Smart Rod set on a less sensitive setting, it will not always catch the light bite of a fish.  The difference in the sensitivity levels allowed me to also test out the rod while trolling in my canoe. I was able to troll while on the medium or low setting without false alarms, but never got a bite during that time.

Sooo.... Here it is!

Yes, the rod works as described.  Yes, it is simple to use and simple to understand.  Yes, not every fisherman wants/needs this rod.  Yes, I believe that it brings some extra excitement to catching fish.  Yes, I feel this rod would be great for a second rod, a kids first rod, a grandpa’s fishing rod, or for anyone who just enjoys the idea.  I know my nephews LOVE my "fishing pole that has the alarm."  This brings such a fun dynamic to fishing with kids!!! I am not saying that every fisherman needs this rod, but I am saying that it is a fun rod that any fisherman would enjoy having in their arsenal.  I enjoyed using this one so much, I even went out and bought my dad one for Father’s Day because I knew he would love it! 

When talking to TackoBox, they informed me that they are in the process of building crappie rods, kids rods, as well as ice fishing rod!  The last one makes me SUPER EXCITED!!!

I am very excited and anticipating when they are able to market the ice fishing rods because here in Idaho you can fish with 5 rods, use tip up (JawJackers of course!), as well as fish both day and night! This will take my ice fishing game to a whole new level, I can’t wait to have my five JawJackers set up with a Smart Rod ice rod and sit back and wait for the alarm to get my heart pumping! Also fishing for ling (burbot) at night with the LED’s on the smart rod will allow me to locate which JawJacker has a fish more easily!  The Smart Rod really is the first step in blending technology with fishing rods.  I am definitely excited to use the Smart Rod this summer as well as while ice fishing this winter!  I can confidently say that if you at least give the Smart Rod a shot, you won’t be disappointed.  I know some of you still feel that this isn’t for you or isn’t necessary, but when you get it and catch a fish on it, you won’t be disappointed!

Fish Logo

Alright I have been extremely busy lately with work and other things and feel I have really neglected the blog.  For your information I am working on finishing up 3 different reviews for a few different products that I think a lot of you will be interested in so please keep in touch and keep following. 

In the mean time, I wanted to share with you all that I have worked out the details and have incorporated an additional logo to offer as an option with my hat sales.  This new logo will not replace my original one but rather be an additional one which will give some variety to the outdoor activities you want to represent with your Idaho Pursuit hats.  So here it is.... The Idaho Pursuit logo with the added fish/steelhead!  

Seems how I am a fisherman as much as I am a hunter I feel this logo will accurately represent my blog and everything Idaho Pursuit stands for! Please let me know what you think about the additional logo! Any feedback is welcome even if it's not positive.  Thanks again for the support!

Ice Fishing Basics

I know it is late in the season for a post about ice fishing, but I have a friend who wrote a post on his site about some ice fishing basics that I thought would be good to pass along.  You can check out his website at http://ponderosaoutdoors.com/.  I found his post helpful for anyone interested in starting out ice fishing. The following post is his writing not my own.

 

I’m not really sure how I feel about ice fishing. I believe I have come to the conclusion that it is just what you do when you want to get outside and there is snow everywhere you look! I didn’t grow up ice fishing, but over the years many people have been willing to get me started on the basics. Last year was the hardest I had ever hit the ice fishing scene. I was graciously invited several times by Kevin Jones to go ice fishing with him and his family. Before this I usually just roughed it out on the ice with temperatures often times dipping below zero and the relentless wind howling at 25 mph! The first time I met up with Kevin on the ice he had what I considered to be beautiful, an ice fishing tent! The giant red Eskimo Quick Fish 6 posed on the ice like some camp from an arctic research team. When I entered the tent the warm air from the heater inside welcomed me. This was ice fishing! If i was going to be out fishing all day in the nasty winter conditions I was going to be warm doing it. I simply had to have one! Little did I know I would soon get my chance. Kevin and I fished pretty hard all day and caught many trout in the 14″ range. While sitting in Kevin’s “new that year” ice tent, I started to admire the new blades he had put on his ice auger. Sitting on a bucket, pole in a stand, I picked up the auger to get a closer look at the blades. Bad move! Kevin continued to fish as a looked the auger over, but when I went to put it back disaster struck. While I carefully and strategically went to place the auger back to its spot one of the blades barely touched the side of the tent! Ouch! Instantly a 4″ slit appeared in the tight wall of the tent. How do I fix this? Maybe Kevin won’t notice? There was no getting around the fact that I had just cut a hole in a $250.00 ice fishing tent. the only words that could come out of my mouth were, Kevin, I just put a hole in your tent. Kevin’s response, ya right, haha. As soon as his eyes met the light coming through the hole no words were needed. Uh………..that sucks. Interestingly enough Kevin shared the same thoughts I did. Well, I said to Kevin, looks like I’m getting an ice tent earlier than expected! I was not happy with myself that I had made such a dumb error, but it is a beautiful thing to have such a great excuse to give your wife about buying new gear! That day of ice fishing was one of mixed emotions and learning, but the important thing is that we got out and caught fish. Since my day of hard lessons learned I have used my “new” ice fishing tent to protect myself from the elements and I am happy to have it as part of my fishing arsenal. Make sure that when you go fishing that you keep your hands to yourself and to your own gear! Obviously these were some of my fathers words that fell on deaf ears.

Here is a quick video of some ice fishing basics:

I hope this information is helpful for anyone starting out with the sport of ice fishing, and I would also like to encourage you all to check out Earl's website at  http://ponderosaoutdoors.com/.  Thanks Earl for letting me share your post.

Bigger isn't always better!

When I go fishing, I often have the perspective that I am there for the quality instead of quantity.... In other words, I would rather catch one big fish than fifty tiny fish.  I feel that catching "the big one" or a fish that is unique in some way is much more worth it than catching numerous small fish.  Don't get me wrong, this is not to say that I do not enjoy getting out and catching fish of all shapes and sizes, I am just stating what goes on in my head (usually while I'm sitting there watching everyone around me catch fish and me doing nothing but sitting there thinking...)  I would much rather catch a few small fish than no fish at all!

Brook Trout

I have fished enough in my area to know what works in the different bodies of water I fish in.  I am sure there are things that work that I am not aware of, but I have my own "traditions" you might say that I use religiously for bait.  I have caught quite a few big fish of many different species and feel that I will have to get pretty lucky if I am going to out do my own records on some species.  Here in Idaho, I am able to ice fish with up to 5 poles at a time which allows me to use what I know works, as well as take the time to try something new to see if it works any better.  Recently, I have been visiting with the Matt who designed the JawJacker and one tip he suggested, is to use a smaller bait to get more hook ups.  I will admit, I thought to myself that I may be able to catch more fish if I go to a smaller bait, but I will not catch as many big fish by doing this.  I went fishing a few times this year, and what I have always used seemed to be working just fine so I didn't think twice about changing things up.

A trout I caught earlier this year.

This last Saturday however, I was ice fishing and wasn't having as good as luck as I had been hoping for.  It had been about an hour and I had only caught a few small fish.  By this point I thought, I might as well try using smaller bait to see what happens.   I decided to use a few jigs Matt had told me to use, and tipped them with half of  meal worm.  I was quite skeptical putting such a small jig and bait down the hole while my other poles were baited up with much larger baits.  I set it all up in my JawJacker with the bait a few feet off the bottom and walked away.  By the time I got to my seat and sat down my JawJacker went off!  My first thought was that I had failed to set it up right and the JawJacker had gone off due to some mistake on my part, but when I looked at the pole I could see that the only mistake was that I hadn't listened to this advice sooner! My pole tip was bending with the fight of a decent sized Cut Throat Trout who thought my bait was just to much to resist! I pulled in the fish and in this picture you can see the jig I caught it with.

Cut Throat Trout caught on "Fire Fly Slush Bug"

After this experience, I will admit,  I ended up changing 3 of my 5 poles to have similar bait.  I started catching quite a few fish and ended the day by pulling 24 onto the ice.  I did catch a few on the bait that have always had good luck with, but I was surprised at how many decent size trout I caught on such small bait.  So next time you are sitting there on the ice not catching anything, maybe try switching your bait around and maybe even downsizing your bait to see if that helps.  This may be a tip that many people already know or talk about, but it was new to me and thought I would pass it on to anyone who may be interested.