J-Doc

3.5"...? :-)

Poke fun at my small fish and call me a cheat, just don't call me late to dinner at your house. :-)

And for those wondering about his recipes.......I've tasted some of his spices and starter sauce. I invited myself to dinner. You're missing out if you don't try his recipes.

It's got gills. It bit, I set, it got caught. "I'll allow it!"

Live shad is what I heard. Don't know about the locations though. May have to move around to find them.

HDS8 Ttouch is less than the HDS8 in the cave and the touch doesn't require the structure module. I'd go that route personally.

Interesting.... I like the idea.

^ Hahahahahaha!!

As they told men long ago... "Go west young man....go west"

Correct. Stripers like gizards shad and minnows. Sunfish too.

F&F is right. It's a personal preference and experience thing. I've heard a few bad experiences about Lowrance not lasting more than a few years. I think that's user issue and they didn't take care of their graphs. If you take care of them, remove them from boat after use (if kept outside) and keep them clean, they should last many years. On sale for $1,200 now at Cabelas. You don't need the structure scan module with touch units. All inclusive with Insight mapping. Best bang for the buck at that price range. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Lowrance174-HDS-7-Gen2-Touch-SonarGPS-Combo/1421711.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3FrecordsPerPage%3D18%26No%3D0%26N%3D0%26nl%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dlowrance%2Bhds%26search%3DSearch&No=0&Ntt=lowrance+hds If you're targeting walleye and stripers, you need side scan. Helps reduce a lot of wasted time.

Cabelas is cheaper than anyone right now on the Gen2 Lowrance combos.

Look back in some of the previous threads here from last year. There are at least 2 or 3 discussions on this topic.

I plan on taking some home. There are way to many and they eat a TON of the bait population. They need to be thinned out.

I drop rod and reel in slack line. Dropping rod pushes them down faster. If you keep your rod down you can generally keep them from jumping. Control speed of reel and feel the fish. If fighting hard, give some slack. If not fighting reel in.

That's sad to hear. Especially how much we have to pay for these units. You would think they would refurbish if you were willing to pay. From my research before buying new units, HB lacks in 2D sonar quality but makes up for it with downscan and side scan quality. It's also lacking in mapping I'm told and from what I've seen. Lowrance has great 2D sonar, great mapping and map making capacity for custom maps and for scanning your own area and then using Genisis to create updated contour maps. But Lowrance is not as good on downscan and side scan for pixel quality of images. Close....very close comparison. Garmin (who I've never cared for) is stepping up their game. Raymarine is getting into the freshwater market as well but limited options currently. I have heard of others having Lowrance units fail within 3yrs. If mine does, I will be in the same boat. Looking around. Some have had them for many years but the idea of not repairing something simple is annoying.

And that's why they were there. Hiding from all of the bank beaters and tournament guys! (he-he)

This a great report with lots of detail and information. Sure to help many! Thanks for posting!

Who likes to strip down in the boat? On numerous occasions mind you. Regardless of becoming hot and needing to shed a layer, you surpassed "layer". :-)

Nice fish! Especially that big striper! Man those thing taste good grilled. (yumyums) Once a year trip? Where do you typically fish?

I've saving this for future reference. So when you do.........you will need to eat coffee grounds because you'll be eating your words as well. LOL!!!!

Yeah, I do the same thing but I get told something like you are not allowed to upload this format.

I give you till this Fall before you will own an Aero-Press and buying imported whole bean coffee.

Careful what you wish for. All I'm sayin'.... I can't upload photos from my phone either. A glitch with the forum software I think. Not a matter of photo size because I transfer the photo direct from my Dropbox backup to the forum on my laptop and it works fine.

What you accuse Joe of is dead-on. :-) And for your newfound addiction to quality coffee, I take full credit/responsibility for that also.