J-Doc

Not really. Not on the upper end.

I call BS on that interview.

Based on the live Twitter feeds.... They will be lucky to get 60lbs. They just can't figure it out. Which amazes me. Weather, local pressure, etc. It's all adding up to low weight. I was hoping for big sacks but again......it ain't happening. (Sigh)

Sorry zin65622. This has taken a fork to the philosophical side of advanced sonar technology in general. I stand by my recommendations above. It's all in what you need and what you can afford. I have an HDS10 at the console and HDS7 on the bow. If I could have gotten an HDS12 for both front and rear, I would have. But I was trying to be reasonable with the wife when I ordered the boat. Plus I figured I would have to take it down to an HDS8 front and rear. They are tools. Only as good as the user.

So true..... And to play devil’s advocate and switch to the other side of the conversation, I tend to agree with you and Old Plug. Not fishing the conventional way and fishing by feel and learning the bottom by retrieving baits several times doesn’t put fish in the boat. You can’t catch fish without having bait in the water. So you can motor over an entire flat, not see anything and miss out. You also miss out on learning how to fish cover thoroughly, as Old Plug said learning the patterns, and most importantly, you don’t learn which angle of approach is the “majic angle” that gets the fish fired up. I’ve heard many times, you had to present the bait at a particular angle and when you did, 3 out of 5 casts they would kill it. At any other angle of approach, they would ignore it. Feathers&Fins and Yakfm were catching stripers (big ones) earlier this spring and the entire day, never marked the fish on the side scan or sonar. They were like ghosts. Just appeared. And if you can’t see a 45lb striper on side scan……..they are either moving too quickly and showing streaks or your settings are off. J So I understand your concerns and agree with it. It’s a tool in the hands of the right person. I’m learning how to use them however, I’m not learning as much about fishing in more detail and what produces as much as I would like. So there are drawbacks as much as there are positive aspects. When you find that balance between the old school and new school however……….that’s a good combination. Then again you and just throw chartreuse colored dynamite and we can wrap this whole conversation up and put it to bed.

I think they look cool. I have nothing to offer on worth as I have no clue. Other than the obvious cool factor. A very nice collection! Value lies with the eye of the beholder.

Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing! :-) Didn't know stripers and walleye could have a die off due to water temps/oxygen. Interesting.

^^ Could not agree more if I tried. And I'm learning to pattern fish now. It's not easy on my lake. But if I can pattern fish here, any lake in the country should become easier. Lol! (Kidding)

I cast up to 1ft but most of the time the fish are in 8-10ft or 10-15 depending on time of year and such. For crappie, they can be shallow under docks but most of the time, I'm sitting in 15-20 or deeper. Yeah, I got spoiled fishing with you on your end. Shallow water and jig bass. Man I could do that every day. Literally. :-)

Well up until the last several trips I've made, it definitely helped me. Drastically? No. But an increase? Definitely. If I were on a smaller lake, I wouldn't worry about it. But when you're covering a 30,000 acre lake where the fish move overnight and sometimes within hours, I like having sidescan. It's not like looking underwater......but it's close if setup correctly. If I fished water like where you live up there on the north end of LOZ and the shallow water that you typically fish.....sidescan would not help me all that much. For me, 15ft is shallow. Sometimes I'll go shallower but not all that often.

Depending on which brand you like (Lowrance, Hummingbird, Garmin, etc) the downscan is a great feature because it answers the question of "is that fish or a brush pile"? Raymarine has some really nice units with chirp sonar. The screens are a bit small though. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Raymarine-Dragonfly-5-DVS-Sonar/1994611.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2F%3FN%3D1000004438%26Ne%3D1000004438%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dfish%2Bfinder%26Ntx%3Dmode%252Bmatchallpartial%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26WTz_st%3DSearchRefinements%26form_state%3DsearchForm%26search%3Dfish%2Bfinder%26searchTypeByFilter%3DAllProducts%26x%3D10%26y%3D6&Ntt=fish+finder Hard to beat this one.... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Lowrancereg-Elite-5-CHIRP-SonarGPS-Combo/1839172.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2F%3FN%3D10000054%26Ne%3D10000054%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dfish%2Bfinder%26Ntx%3Dmode%252Bmatchallpartial%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26WTz_st%3DSearchRefinements%26form_state%3DsearchForm%26search%3Dfish%2Bfinder%26searchTypeByFilter%3DAllProducts%26x%3D10%26y%3D6&Ntt=fish+finder And for the Bird lovers..... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Humminbirdreg-Helix-5-SI-SonarGPS-Combo/1930809.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2F%3FN%3D10000054%26Ne%3D10000054%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dfish%2Bfinder%26Ntx%3Dmode%252Bmatchallpartial%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26WTz_st%3DSearchRefinements%26form_state%3DsearchForm%26search%3Dfish%2Bfinder%26searchTypeByFilter%3DAllProducts%26x%3D10%26y%3D6&Ntt=fish+finder Some folks don't rely on sonar and have enough knowledge and experience that a graph is not that big of a tool for them. And I have seen first hand experience where my hi-end units did not show fish on the graph but I was catching fish. And vice versa......(which is usually the case) showing lots of fish and still not catching any. Graphs are great tools and I think it's widely known that I'm a bit of a sonar geek and I embrace the new technology. It's a confidence thing with me and I use it as a tool. I find underwater structure (ledges, logs, etc) that I never knew were there and sometimes it explains why I am catching fish in a particular area. I also log sonar and upload to Genesis and it tells me bottom hardness as well as more accurate contours. The hardness tells me what fish are relating too and when they are on a crawfish bite. I use it as a tool. But unlike fishinwrench, I DON'T catch a ton of fish. At least not my last several trips. However, I am typically on the water on weekends when traffic is heavy, my lake has more pressure than a tax accountant in January, and I'm still learning every day. For crappie, it's not necessary unless you fish a big reservoir lake. Too many places for crappie to hide and the graph can save a lot of time and find areas where they are holding (under docks on points, docks in coves, flats, etc). More often than not, my graphs put me on fish and I fish an area with confidence when I know there are fish there vs. blind casting and trying to find a bite.

Not all of us can fish like Ernie bud. I've seen you with a bass jig. And other baits. You're just good. https://youtu.be/PK8u-QX5zKU

What's cool is when you're fishing a spot and Jimmy Houston comes in because you're already on his spot. I mean if it's good enough for Jimmy.......LOL!! And he blamed "local pressure" at the weigh in of course. Ha!! I don't mind. We moved to the side and let him have it. He was fishing for money, we were not.

^^ So I'm not the only goober doing this? :-)

It's busy on weekends and that little one lane ramp is a pain. Talk about people waking others. That lake gets a lot of traffic per acre.

I think you're right on all accounts. I think the traffic will drive everything down on the main lake. In coves and protected areas, fish will stay shallow.

And a smaller boat at that. I like how they force them out of the big boats and into a Z7. Which isn't a small boat per say but it's not the 21ft rigs either. I personally would like to see MLF in all Bass Trackers over the Z7 but that won't happen.

They do every year. Some years result in a mixed bag of big smallmouth and largemouth. Not many if any have won using that strategy. And the show is set to air in Oct. 12th at 7pm

I think the a-rig isn't allowed this year. Maybe that was in BASS. Can't remember. Definitely a bed fishing tournament. Fish are shallow and mixed from making beds, on beds, and post spawn all over the lake. They are picky and they can Bute a reaction bait if it's the right one and they can lock jaw and not bite anything unless you drop it in their house and just soak it. My guess from what I've seen. I'm still estimating a 75lb bag to win. Unless the weather just royally screws things up and shuts down a bite. I heard practice was tough. Like every year, fishing close to the 12bridge area and PC area to Coppermine will win. I don't think it will be boring. Then again, this is the only sport I follow and watch so.....it's always entertaining to me. :-)

That shad school started at War Eagle Marina and went all the way back towards point 12 and was at least a par 4 or par 5 length so 400-500yds long. It may have kept going but I turned around to find the fish at the very beginning of it. There were gizards and whites mixed in with it I think. Pretty sure these are gizards. It's the biggest I've ever seen. And there have been some big ones this year.

Based on what I've seen this winter......... I think there is enough forage to go around. But yes. I'm hoping it's just post spawn males myself.

Ah. I see. Yes. The 20 is just right on the Merc 115 four stroke.

Ah this was that fully loaded Ranger? Man that thing had whistles for its whistles! Slick rig! 3mph??? What prop did you guys put on there? A 22? I run 2.6 and 2.7 typically but with the wind, 3mph can occur. He should be running a 20 or a 21 max.

Thought you had a Triton? Did you ever resolve your motor issues?

Doing better than I. Then again, I haven't really targeted walleye specifically for a while. The ones I have caught have been really skinny. Which is disconcerting. Hopefully there is nothing wrong?