bobby b.

As I have previously reported I have replaced the Force three times and the foot control once. Getting a new one from Garmin delivered to my door is less than 24 hours. When I got the last one I decided that I will NOT update the troller (probably every). I have now decided that all three failures occurred either during the Active Captain software upgrade or shortly after. If you decide not to upgrade and then later do so take care because to get to the final upgrade, Active Captain goes thru each of the previous upgrades and it is hard to know if and when it is all done and repowering before it is all done will "brick" the troller. My tech (at BWPS) told me the other day that we should update the software a couple months before the 3 year warranty ends so I can get a new unit. 😀 However, the replacements are not new but rebuilt. BWPS offers a third party extended warranty for all electronics on the boat including the Ranger stuff like the Merc Eco meter, switches, pumps, etc so that takes me to 6 years on everything electronic on the boat. Regarding updating the chartplotters that can be done with a SD card without issue. Regarding the boat backing up on spot lock, I just got use to that. Testing tells me that the GPS location is determined by the console unit - to check turn off your graphs and hit spot lock and see if it stays - not that this is a viable solution. I still think the Garmin stuff is beyond excellent - the graphs are so user friendly - awhile back I discovered that the graph collects data like water temperature and date when you set a waypoint - I noted last week that the water temperature on a spawning bank that I had waypointed last year was much warmer last year at this time when I set the waypoint. I read that on the new Lowarances units you can add text notes to the waypoints. Cool. I wonder if the makers of this stuff are in such a big hurry to beat the other guys to market that there is not enough field testing. Bobby

I was downstream from the marine yesterday - caught a bunch of shorts and one Keeper Spot who looked ready to drop. WT was 54 deg around Wooly. All on the Ned. Lots of trailers at the ramp for a weekday - the upper parking lot was full when a left about noon.

I guess it is best that all these advantages are legal (i.e. getting a local guides waypoints) because if they weren't they would be done anyway, at least by some. I had a friend from my work that grew up with a now famous Pro fisherman and remained friends with the Pro during his career and he told me of some of the illegal thing the Pro did to win. He told me that somehow he had a guy under a dock put fish on his hook. He also had locals dump bunches of fish on a hump out in the middle of the lake for days before a derby. I guess it's guess human nature in some to win at all cost.

So a local guide or a non participating local expert can give a tourney participant their waypoints?

I'm not sure all the Shorts I caught today out of Cape Fair would have added up to a full pound. 😀

47 on the main lake - dam area yesterday

Got out between 2:30 - 4:30 today - have not been for awhile due to rain and other stuff needing to be done. Wanted to scout for tomorrow. Found tons of feeding fish off a chuck rock point in 25 - 40 fow. Marked more fish than I have in awhile but they were dissing my offerings big time - various swim baits 2/12 - 3 inches in various color plus the usual stuff slab spoon, etc. Did manage to boat 5 and was disconnected from at least 5 others - one LM, the others Spots - all keepers but shorter than recent catches. Caught the LM on a Mega plus one jerk bait. WT 47 deg. Had lots of fun watching fish chase an A-rig on the Live Scope but would just turn away at the last second. Saw as many fish on the Live Scope as I ever have. Bobby

Yep, I was on the main lake points - maybe I should have went back in a creek - I lost the main lake bite that had been so hot, only caught one nice Spot.

Wow WT up to 57. Dam area 48.

I resemble that remark. 😓

Thanks, just dvred it.

On the water at dark thirty today looking for that deep early bite that usually ends no later than 9 am. I was marking the fish in the spots that worked in recent weeks but they would not have what I was offering. Determined to make them bite I stayed out until about 11am. About 10:30 they decided to have brunch. The time aligned with the mid-day peak solunar. The vertical bite for me is still on the main lake primary and secondary points in about 55 fow. All nice Spots today using the Damski rig with 3 inch black or Pro-blue swim bait. WT - 45 -47 deg. Bobby

Boat Control is an issue even with a turret mounded transducer. Obviously, a wide angle would help to see fish without moving the turret and my experience is that the fish will react to the bait from a distance if suspended in the water column so you don't have to drop the lure on their head. Regarding power, the existing Live Scope is more than powerful for 60 ft depth and 60 ft forward. I would liken the Live Scope thing to a smartphone. I resisted spending $1200 on a smartphone because I'm frugale - wife says cheap. I've had the smartphone now for allot years and have apps you would not believe yet probably will not upgrade until the existing phone craps out. Yet I have friends that upgrade phones often and use the phone just to take/make calls and watch the weather and that's it. My advice - buy the best forward-facing sonar you can afford and keep it until it breaks if you are sure you are going to use it. It takes awhile to understand. Of course if you have more money than you know what to do with, buy the best and upgrade yearly OR if you are a Pro OR Jacob Wheeler and you do need to drop the lure on top of the fish. But if you are a Pro, somebody else is paying for it anyway.

Yet another reason not to golf.😁

So from the above post, I'm not sure which is worse - leaving the boat in my slip or trailering to a campground ramp in the winter when there is no one around and the truck gets broken into or the trailer or the truck gets damaged by someone who can't backup or get the tires damaged from the dock builders who dropped their bolts and nails on the ramps. Dang sometimes I wish I liked golf. No, never.☹️

Bill, is that the one I was asking about in Clevenger?

This raises the question discussed several times on OAF of ramps on Corp property like the one on the James at Walnut Springs. I was in Clevenger yesterday and a guy was launching at a ramp back in there. It has lots of parking space around it. I asked the guy about it. He said it could be used by all but sometimes the locals give him some grief.

Out at dark 30 again this morning - a bit warmer to start. Yesterday's location showed no fish. Moved to other main lake points looking. About 7:45 caught a couple on a point so decided to just hang out there. About 8 am it got all crazy for 25 minutes. Caught SM and Kys at a ratio of 4 to 1, but also lost fish at a ratio of about 3 to 1. The bite seemed strong but they would let go immediately after the bite or half way up. The SM were all in the 3+ range and the Spots all keepers. One fish broke my line halfway up, the drag was loose so I wonder what it was. I know I had a good spot because the loons and gulls joined me for fishing or was it the pile of puked up bait fish all around my boat. Water temperature still 44 degs. A couple of boats out today. Went looking around after the bite ended - nada. Home by 9:30am.

If you can't find anyone willing to work on it or the price to do so is higher than you want to pay, you could try opening it and depending on where it is "sticking" you could spray it with electronic cleaner and then blow it out with canned air - both available on line - maybe at Walmart.

Got a late start because the boat lift valves were frozen and I had to go back to the house for a heat gun. Found fish on a main lake point. in 50 fow. The Damiki rig is still working vertically. Did catch one casting using the LiveScope. Caught 10 all but one measured - 3 SM and 7 Spots - the bite was over by 8 am - I looked around for another 2 hours but could not find another location holding bunches of fish. WT still 44 deg. Bobby

Surely there is enough Old Farts on OAF to fish it with you - you would have to put up with all those bathroom breaks and dribbles on the boat.

Shhh, I promised Mr. Troller I would not bad mouth him anymore if he just behaves. 😁

Fished from 7 - 10:30 am today. Believe or not, for me fishing was better today than the recent 2/19 outing. I did not locate fish until about 9 am. Found them on a main lake chuck rock point in 50 - 60 fow and suspended from 25 - 40 fow and then on a secondary point in the same creek. The fastest action came later in the morning. Caught more than 20 for sure but at times I get so excited I lose count. More SM than Spots today and one LM. All the SM were in the 3 lb range. Water temp 45 deg. The damiski rig with the 3 in blue/white worked again. I tried the Snap jig some but it did not work for me today. Really nice morning. Bobby

In the interest of full disclosure, I have struggled with the January/February deep bite. I was tutored by an OAF member thru the private messaging system that helped me understand where the fish move to this time of year. Kudos to him.

Fished from 7 am - 10 am today in a short creek in the dam area where I had been successful in the previous week. The fish did not seem concentrated as in the previous week and just found some here and there. I can't say that I could see a pattern. Fished the mouth of the creek and all the way to the back. Fished vertically for the most part and occasionally threw to a fish I saw 30 ft in front of me on the Live Scope. In the previous week the 2.5 in American Shad Damiki rig worked but today it did not but the 3 inch Pro Blue Damiski did and I used it exclusively. Near the end of the morning I noted lots of gulls and some loons in the mouth a cove in very deep water - I moved to the adjacent shore and found fish in 50 fow near the bottom. This spot produced the most consistently. In other areas the fish were suspended 25 - 40 ft over depth. WT 45 deg at the end of my morning. The bite was light for the most part compared to the previous week- my new Falcon Cara Christmas present was helpful. Caught around 25 - all keeper Spots, one short SM, and a nice LM. There was still allot of smaller debris in North Indian. Pleasant morning until the wind picked up.