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Did you see any shad up shallow ?

I guess the point that Cabela's had this at $200 under list price was not any interest to anyone. How people use fish finders are as different and varied as to how many colors and sizes a plastic worm comes in, but how someone scoots across a lake at 50mph at night without a good GPS track to follow is beyond my skill set. Also if you troll on a lake like Beaver in 75-150 of water there are trees that stick up to within 15 feet of the top and watching my fishfinder is the ONLY way I know how to keep from loosing an umbrella rig when I am after deep fish. To each his own, but I started this thread about the how Lowrance had lowered prices on a NEW unit for 2018 instead of raising prices that had been the norm. This was in response to the Helix and now I am wondering which is the better per dollar spent. I am buying a new bigger unit mostly for the color mapping but would also like side scan just to know what is on each side of me without having to run over the area and watch it on my down scan all the time.

Find the shad and you will find the stripers, if the shad are thick in 2 feet of water the stripers will follow. If the shad go to 50 feet the stripers will follow. Just remember that 2 degrees difference in water temp is life and death for a threadfin shad. If you can find feeding birds, they will lead you to shad.

It depends on what you are fishing for and how much time you spend on one body of water. If you are looking for stripers in open water it sure helps to know what is off to each side for 50 yards. If you are fishing tree tops in 75 feet of water it helps to know what tree tops have fish and shad. If you beat the bank all the time for bass then they are of no use, but how do you find a brush pile at 35 feet without one?

In the description it list down scan and side scan that is what makes it a triple shot. Lowrance® Hook2 7x TripleShot™ Sonar/GPS Combo 7” SolarMAX display for better viewing One-touch access to key features TripleShot 3-in-1 sonar with broadband, SideScan and DownScan Imaging Powered by proven Lowrance performance, the Hook2 7x TripleShot Sonar/GPS Combo is the world's easiest fish finder. Easy access to key functions, simple menus and auto-tuning sonar. TripleShot 3-in-1 sonar includes wide-angle, broadband coverage, SideScan and DownScan Imaging™. Simple, accurate GPS plotter shows your location. The 7” SolarMAX™ display allows for superior viewing in bright sunlight. It simplifies finding fish with double the sonar coverage of traditional fish finders. Optimized keypad with one-touch access to key features. Easy front-dash or gimbal bracket mount.

I am wondering if this is a mistake ? Bass Pro has the same unit for $599 but Cabela's is showing a reg price of $399? http://www.cabelas.com/product/LOWRANCE-HOOK-X-GPS-TRIPLESHOT/2655252.uts?WT.tsrc=EML&eid=34297990&WT.mc_id=email-mt|EP20171231|EPP9LS1|32|PROD2

I am a Hummingbird fan, but I just got the Cabela's sale email for the new year and here is the Lowrance Hooks 2 7X triple shot for $400. That is a 7 inch screen, down image, side image and GPS with 3,000 lakes pre loaded . That just sounds like fish finders are finally getting reasonable. Anyone have any feed back on these new units?

That will put some cold water into the bottom half of the lake. Rain next weekend will get the ice moving north and even with a warmer rain, some of the water will be cooling down.

With that low a water temp you should have seen some shad doing the death twinge. Did you see any shad up shallow on their backs?

Don't worry, wishing and hoping have zero impact on the weather. Anyone got a water temp in the past two days?

Well 2017 has had a lot of bad spots in it for me but fishing on Beaver has never been one, even when fishing is bad it is better than anything else I waste my time doing. Happy New year to everyone even though we may have to wait for the first fish of 2018 for a while, there is no such thing as a bad fish or a bad day fishing.

I have been thinking about upgrading also, I saw a net at Academy on clearance that was an 8 footer with 1.5lbs per foot . I just don't know if the investment is worth it with as little fishing time I have had lately. I do know that my 6 foot net has not been doing the job this year, shad are getting harder to find where I can see them.

Well the cold front hit and looks like a chance of freezing rain for News Year, might be trouble putting in. I know if I was fishing I would only need three boxes, my jerk baits, ned rigs and spoons. Brave souls that are going to run the lake, I am too old to take that cold, I would drop the trolling motor in PC until it got above 32 then my run would be 30 mph or less. Good luck Jolicious, hope you find some active fish.

Looks like the Polar Bear will live up to it's name this year. I thought for awhile it would be Sunny and 70 degrees but now it looks like a cold front will move in and stay. We have some mornings in the teens coming up and that should get the shad running for warm water in flowing creeks. The Polar Bear is just not the same without some really cold air and ice on the boat. Who is fishing?

I was out Sunday, wind was really rough so I was looking for shad in creeks. Finally found some in PC, good shad balls 30 feet but all the fish under them were bass that keep tearing up bait. I only got one stripper right at dark and he was not on the shad ball, just moving back while I was moving in to go home. I really like the picture on that fishfinder, my little 5 inch Hummingbird just doesn't zoom like that.

I am just guessing here, but this could be a fun game. I am saying a 3/8 oz BASS X jig with a zoom speed craw in watermelon red. I am not a jig fisherman though so I could be totally off.

I knew I should have run North.......Good fish

I was around the water intake Saturday and saw a lot of small fish on top and a few stripers swirling. I had four nines out with brooders and the only takers were spots. Not one striper all day. The big fish were around 40 feet and seemed glued there, I think because they were waiting on the moon. Lots of boats out Saturday night and sure they did a lot better. Running around the lake in December without a coat and gloves is unreal.

That is a lot better than south of RT12 bridge where I can barley see my trolling motor. That could be what is holding the stripers that far North. Hunting for shad right now is hard because I can't get shallow enough to see the bottom so that is less than 3 feet of water on a clear sunny day.

What does the water look like up there? Is it brown like the rest of the lake?

Warning ! If you see him on the lake don't follow him around without first approaching him slowly and asking permission. Not doing so is the best way to get on his bad side.

Just a quick report on one striper on brooders Sunday around 4pm. I got to the lake around noon and the wind was up so I stopped and bought bait. I looked around all the way from PC to point 9 and couldn't find the bait balls I was looking for all afternoon. Finally I found some green fish feeding on top near point 10. I got one 15lb striper. I had a few 5lb plus LM on point 9 but no whites or stripers. Water is still stained bad and water temp is around 58. I saw one really good shad ball at the buoys coming into PC but not much between the buoys and the launch and it was getting dark and I needed to head in. Sorry it isn't much and no pics it was a quick release, his idea not mine but that was all I have to report on 5 hours and $20 worth of bait. I still think it needs to get cold to get the bait balled up tight.

I've used sunfish because it was all I netted and they worked ok that day, caught more green fish then stripers. It really depends on the day, I have used brooders when they are dialed in on shad and would not touch the brooders, then I have seen days when it was a certain size of shad that got the bite. But then there are days they will hit anything. Tell me where I can net some chubs fast on Beaver and I will try, used up all my fishing time trying to catch bait last trip out.

I like how he teaches the boys to hold the fish out away from their bodies to make the fish look bigger. LOL

Seems they have to go below 50 to get the shad moving back into the creeks in droves and that is when the stripers are easier to find. Won't be long.