Hydrowave: Smoke & Mirrors or The Real Deal?

It seems that every few years something busts onto the bass fishing stage that is loved and hated by fisherman.  The Hydrowave was and is just that, loved and hated.  I know the Hydrowave has been around for 6 or 7 years, but they have finally got quite a few big name pro’s to endorse them.

Here is the theory behind the HW.  Man has been able to call just about every creature in god’s green wilderness.  Man can call everything from deer, ducks, turkeys and now maybe even fish.  Bass feed using their eyes, lateral line and inner ears.  So it would only make sense to have a device that will emit sounds to draw in curious and hungry bass.  Right?!?!

A good friend of mine is a salvage diver and spends a lot of time under the water.  He says it is amazing at how loud a big school of shad really is.  The sound the shad make when bass are smashing them and they begin to actively flee is much louder than you would think.  He says these schools are extremely loud and bass will typically gather as the feeding commences.

The question is will this $400 box help me catch more fish?  This my friends is when the beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder.

OK, here is Shane’s take on them for what it’s worth.  I feel as though they are a tool.  I certainly think there are applications when they could HELP you catch fish.  BUT, I don’t think they are a magic wand that you simply turn on and the fish will come swimming into the livewell.

I mean, I was next to a guy who was rocking out to Guns-N-Roses and watched him catch 20+ bass on a DD22 crankbait. So, it is not as cut and dried as you would think.  We all have our thoughts and ideas about bass and catching them.

When I am fishing for BIG fish, I turn off my graphs and try to be as quiet as a mouse peeing on a cotton ball.  Maybe I am weird like that, but it seems to work for me.  It worked 2 weeks ago when I caught a 10.14lber and won a boat.

But you very well may have caught the same fish with your HW and radio on.

Is it simply placebo?  Is it like scent?  These are questions that NOBODY can answer.  If it works for you, give it hell.

I feel as though May through October when fish are really feeding on shad is when the HW could really help you.  I don’t in anyway shape, form or fashion believe it will pull bass out from a brush pile to your boat or bait.

I used a HW for the first time on Falcon Lake in 2011 and I was rather impressed.  Several times we would have Tilapia swimming next to the boat and when we turned it off, they disappeared.  When we found bass in front of the rocks feeding on shad or tilapia, it really seemed to help.  BUT, would we have caught those fish without it?  The world will never know.

The HW does not fall in the category with the Color C lector, PH Gauge and Cosmic bass clock in my book.

Just because KVD and others are pushing them, doesn’t mean they are legit.  He has a vested interest in HW and gets $$ from them.  So take it with a grain of salt.

If you buy one and it helps you win a club tournament, it has already paid for itself.  If not, pack it up and sell it, someone else would love to have it!!

In bass fishing there is very little that is certain, and the Hydrowave, my friends is no different.

Story by Shane Smith