nomolites

Dropped the deicer in at XMas and she is churning away. Ain’t doing that broke dock-drop everything deal...(I hope)... Mike

If you gotta worry about the cost of feeding it perhaps you should scale down... Mike

X2 Unfortunately, I think the opposing lobby may have more $$$...this dog ain’t gonna hunt. Mike

...and I’m a Kingsford man myself, perfection is not achieved with substandard charcoal. Smart man! Mike

Pup and “grand”pup...my daughter is cruel.

Very nice!

Sounds like somebody’s getting a new ride.....good for you sir! Mike

I did take a peek out of curiosity when the link was up and the pic I looked at did have a geotag; I found that to be interesting as I had never considered that even though I leave location services off because it chews up my battery and I CAN read a map. If I had a concern related to that, it would not be that someone is fishing “my” spot. The train wreck that followed is beyond me...all on this forum share a passion for fishing and are glad to help - just wish I had the opportunity to meet more of you in person. In time. Mike

If you just have one unit I think either is a good product - with multiple units or the newer trolling motors you really need to stay “in house” for compatibility purpose - it gets to be “change one, change all”. For that reason I won’t be making a switch unless it involves a new boat...and then I will likely stay with what I know anyway. I troll a lot as well and it sure helps to have all those shallow treetops and brushpiles marked and be able to “tickle” the top of them but not get hung up every time. Many a fish ends up in my belly that way... Mike

Agreed. ( especially when there is a much deserved Speed limit) I turn the brightness down to 3 or 4 at sunset or after dark; improves night vision dramatically and I can still get info from the unit. Mike

Agreed, stripers are on the move...I look more for “busted” shad schools and streaks than individual returns when chasing them. On LOZ there is absolutely no question when you scan a good crappie dock ...it will be shotgun sprayed with white dots. Mike

I am normally deeper offshore on structure looking for walleye or hybrids/stripers but if I am cruising docks or a bank I just use one side. I need 2D to have any chance of species ID on the white spots on SI when just any old green fish won’t do..😉 I dont really mind catching them(unless he is pulling like a big walleye) but rarely target them. Mike

The more you use the better you read. If I am actually searching I run full screen SI and flip over to map periodically to make sure I am where I want to be relative to structure - I can see much more detail that way. Once I see what I am looking for I switch to half 2D and half map on the next pass to get more detail and drop electronic markers. You learn to identify fish by the color and shape of their returns on 2D and their relative position in the water column. 100%, no, but most of the time you can make a good ID. I normally have just 2D and map up on screen when fishing unless I am after striper/hybrids and want to keep an eye on the schools while trolling and will flip back and forth. Shortcut buttons are set to full SI, half map and 2D, and the last to map -DI-2D split 3 ways. This works for me. Plug, once you run one of these newer units you can’t go back...they are truly great. Do I have to have? No, but I don’t really need a boat either to catch fish...but searching for and dialing in on them is half the fun. Mike

I read an article about that rig and the builder right after that tournament; sounded to me like he was running it just like the jet boys do; get a head of steam up, plane out and then coast through the really skinny patches and then hammer again when you have bite. He had very little tackle/gear on board to minimize weight - the rig was super light so he was as high in the water as possible. I think that should be a legal gamble if a guy wants to make it; he is sacrificing performance in every other way. Just my $.02. Mike

I use the foot pedal around docks or when I am using a lure retriever and need both hands but usually I just switch back and forth depending on where I am in the boat - when trolling I run things from the cockpit. Mike

Yes, and the last is a striper. They will be in the 21-22” range by summer 2018... Mike

Had mine for several years and zero issues with belt. I had one problem with a lost alignment magnet( first gen) which was replaced and upgraded at no cost. Mike

Yep, viscious fellows. I catch a ton of them fishing for walleye and hybrids - have had a couple in the 50# range. Mike

Pretty much everywhere...near the shad. They are thick in LOZ... Mike

Especially the crystal minnows...

They look like Sirmanski shad-skis....

Uh, those have been around for years...floaters... but they do work well early in the year when the water starts warming up. Mike

Wrench, I actually ran up to the Mills area and poked around and was surprised there were zero shad above Soap - and yes Terry those I found were on a deep swing but shallow so I can see why docks would be producing - they looked jammed with crappie too on the SI. Caught some big whites along the break at the last hard right turn of Indian but they were scattered and deep(15’). Mike

Nice fish; you the man! I have not had time to fish recently - was down last nite and this morning and tried sticks after dark for walleye but just had a few big whites and one keeper LM. Tried the Gravois this morning and about the same story - had to get back to town for an event tonite. The shad were not where I thought they would be right now but that’s fishing. Hope to get more time later this month. Mike

Stripers like flukes slow falling and twitched like a JB - make sure your rod has enough backbone for a good short hookset, they will try to flat take it out of your hands. Mike