flyman

I just bought the Humminbird 597 ci hd di which I believe is the same as the 596 that you shared except it has GPS. I absolutely LOVE it. Wish the screen was bigger but it's still large enough to be very useful. The screen is clear amd fish arches are very easy to see. Interface is very intuitive and most needed things are just a button push or two. I like that you can have side-by-side down imaging and traditional sonar views. I'm pretty sure that you can only see the DSI with Lowrance. The concensus of the reviews that I found was that Humminbird 500 series has better resolution than the Lowrance Elite 5. I wanted to buy the Lowrance but after looking at the 597, I felt it was a better buy. I know it's a bit more but I would go with the 597 for the GPS. It's great to load the MDC fish attractors and by a push of one button you can mark a waypoint. I got mine from Amazon. It was a little cheaper than Bass Pro. I joined the free trial of Amazon prime which gave me free 2nd day delivery. Installation was a cinch. I still need to adjust the transducer a little. High speeds are a little fuzzy. Instructions state this ia normal and requires a few adjustments to make it perfect. I dont know that I care too much honestly. It only gets fuzzy above 25 - 30 mph. I will fiddle with it a bit more but I'm ok with that. Either of those units will be great. Go to the store and compare if you can. You may like one more than the other.

Great illustration! I'm trying it. Thanks!

Great report! Thank you!

Thanks, gentlemen! For whatever reason I ignored the fish attractors. Recently, I started creating GPS waypoints where I caught fish (and where the guide took me). I brought those up on a map with the coordinates and found that more than half were located near an attractor. I bought a new fish finder last week so I went out and located a few of them to test the installation. Sure enough, there were fish there. I had a pretty decent day on Saturday so I made that my strategy for Sunday. I have no idea why I was skeptical. I will say the best ones seemed to be reletive to the depth the fish were holding just like any other structure. For a beginner like me, its a good way to learn and have places to target.

Interesting video. Thanks for sharing!

Real nice fish! Sweet!

Good report. Thanks, bud. I really need to try walleye. Still getting the hang of things at TR and the new boat. Soon

Guys, I'm getting better. Thanks to the suggestions and advice from some of you here on the forum, I'm able to give a report myself. You guys really helped out alot and I appreciate it. We put in a Kimberling Inn at 5 am. There was a small tournament being held. Don't know the details of that. Water temp was 79-80. Winds were somewhat difficult to manage. My stategy was to locate and fish the MDC fish attractors. This stategy paid off pretty well. There was a minimal amount of topwater until about 6 (or maybe it was difficult to detect with the chop). I tried something a little different today and threw a smoke Yamamoto grub on a 3/16 oz jig head close to the bottom around those attractors. I would count it down and fish it slow. Wow! We picked up some good fish this way! That bite died and I switched to the drop shot with a purple finesse roboworm. The action was pretty good on the drop shot. Eventually, the pleasure boaters came out around 10:30 and we called it a day. We probably could have caught more but the wakes, wind and my tiny sardine boat was just too much. Caught several keepers and probably 25 total. Weather was perfect! Had a great day!

Great advice guys! Thanks!

Love your reports, Quill. Thanks!

Wow guys. That's scary. Some people just don't think. There are also lots of partiers out there too. Who knows, maybe the 13 year old was more capable of driving. I'm glad he (your uncle) wasn't seriously injured, or worse. Not only is common sense no longer common but common courtesy is also no longer with us. I have a very small boat. People sometimes fly past me like I'm not even there and nearly blow me out of the water. Come on, really?

Try a 3/16 oz on a drift rig. They will be closer to the bottom the faster the current. Use enough weight to tick the bottom but not so much that you're getting stuck. I started using split shots on the taneycomo drift rig so I can add or remove weight. Try monkey island to the landing. The bridges are good for me usually. I also like mouth of fall creek to cooper.

Hahaha!

Thanks guys. I was using a swimbait to try and skip it under (Something I read recently and thought I would try). I need some practice getting way up under there. Definitely the few that I caught came for those lucky... ahem.. perfectly placed casts.

I was looking for it online since your first announcement. Thanks for sharing. Great job!

Excellent! Sounds like you has a blast! Thanks for sharing.

Cool. What were you fishing on your drop shot? I myself am new to lake bass fishing. I hit some docks last night with jigs and swimbaits and picked up a couple. I'm curious what other people throw around docs that works for them. I have read spinners, swimbaits, jigs, spoons, wacky rigged worms, cranks, etc. What's your favorite?

Good article. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds fun! Thanks for sharing the report.

Neat pics!

Thats a good little tip.

Good report. I plan on trying the ol monster this sat. You ever fish evening hours? I started going tues and thurs nights. Last week I did some trout fishing at Taney. This week I may try some evening fishing around Kimberling City. Not sure yet.

Welcome!

Oh yes. That's right. I have read those. My memory must be slipping. Those are excellent resources. Thank you!

Welcome to the forums and back home!