CR - We had the same issue with the birds; they were moving really fast and we couldn't get to them quickly or quietly enough.
Turns out it didn't matter though because Garlien put us on a bunch of small fish, and did it without any electronics (We got sloppy-ass wet crossing the bay and we think the inline fuse to the gps/finder got wet.)
As I tied on my Hopkins, the first I'd ever bought, I was complaining about the nearly $8 price tag. Well it was worth every penny to me as we caught about 1/2 dozen fish with it. Nothing of any real size, but on a nasty day like yesterday I was ecstatic to have caught anything.