Saturday Bass Fishing.

[skeeter]

ROTFLMAO !!! Got to remember the rooster tail trick but I think Water Patrol might have a problem with that.

Thinking of the Water Patrol, I know you guides know most of the officers. What do they say about operating a boat too close to a boat that's obviously not under-way and is fishing ? Will they respond if you phone in registration numbers and boat description ? I know they are busy but let's face it, someone is going to get swamped or hurt as most of those people are drinking all day long. Time to stop this before it get's like Lake of the Ozarks.

[denjac]

The law says you are responsiable for your wake. Like tearing up a dock or swamping a boat. Thats why when I tournament fished I had to carry a large liability insurance to fish. I would say there is a fine line between a nuisance wake and a dangerous one. I remember when some of the tournaments had a shotgun blast off. We all must have been idiots to have participated in such a thing. As Captain Cawl once said, I hate rude behavior in a man.

[Crappie5]

I agree with denjac and whack'em, great FREE graph info. I printed it out as soon as I seen it. I have always wanted to ask the same settings questions but I felt there was enough good info on this site that I did not want to push my luck.

Thanks again to all who post good information.

[Don House]

Now, correct me if I'm wrong-- but these 3 things are in addition to cranking up the ping speed and chart speed... correct?

Thanks,

Whack'em

Whack'em, forget about ping speed with a Humminbird, that is a setting for those other guys... Sensitivity settings are the same on a Humminbird Unit.. Chart Speed is up to you faster the more information, slow the better you can see everything.. I prefer faster which is like real time!! Chart Speed really comes into play with my Side Imaging and that is a whole another thing!!

Good Fishing

Capt. Don

[Whack'emGood]

I knew I would end up asking a stupid question! My unit is fairly new to me and I didn't even know about the ping speed thing.

Thanks alot Don! I will let you know how it goes.

Whack'em

[Jason Essary]

Thinking of the Water Patrol, I know you guides know most of the officers. What do they say about operating a boat too close to a boat that's obviously not under-way and is fishing ? Will they respond if you phone in registration numbers and boat description ? I know they are busy but let's face it, someone is going to get swamped or hurt as most of those people are drinking all day long. Time to stop this before it get's like Lake of the Ozarks.

My idea also. I dont want to abuse the water patrol but would they do anything?? Ive had to such happenings lately, one while i was deep in a cove checking a trotline. A pwc came flying down the narrow cove, came within 25 feet of me while I had my line in hand. And in my 16' flat bottom Tracker let me tell u it was all I could do just to let go of the line fast enough when I realized what was coming (I was stunned at first). I dont understand what people are thinking except that they can do whatever they want cause there are so few Water patrol around to see anything and do anything about it. I cant count the times on my fingers and toes Ive wanted to see a WP around to talk to them, and never have. I keep back in my little creek arm just because of it. I wish I could go out and fish the main lake points mid-day and catch some of the bass ive been hearing about but I dont want to fight the boats.

[techo]

Man oh man! There are many topics within this one thread. I have the Lowrance X47 on my little Skeeter. Sometimes I think I would rather hire a guide to train me on my own boat than to go in theirs. Their boats are way nicer, but I think I could use the lessons better in my own boat.

[DCartmell]

Humminbird, I don't know nothing about no Stinking Humminbirds...

Ok here we go, First only really two things I need to do on these,

1) Set your Sensitivity up, the factory setting is 80% play with this.. When I drop shot, I set mine to 90% in open water, lower when I on a bridge pillar or dock.. Play with it to find the best setting and it will change..

2) Set your lower limits. This setting is two settings below as the sensitivity setting, If I'm marking fish on the bottom at 32 feet then I set it for 32 feet. If the fish are suspended in say 35 feet and the boat is in 100 feet, I will set this to 40 feet and not worry about what is below that. The closer you set the the lower limits to where the fish are the better you will see your rig going down.. You should see three lines going down the graph, 1) Swivel at the top, 2) Hook and Worm in the Middle, 3) Weight on the bottom. When you find a fish line then drop this down to where the 2) Line is right at the fish line, now that bait is right in the fish view or even right in his face.. Hang on..

3) Finding the sweet spot. If your transducer is mounted on your trolling motor then there is a sweet spot on it, this is where when you drop your rig down in the right spot you should see the rig go down the screen with no problems, all graphs have this, I have found that if I take my rig on both sides of the trolling motor and release it just ahead of the trolling motor I have no problems seeing everything, this is something you will need to play with to find the best spot on your unit.

Play with these 3 things and the drop shot will come to life for you, if you have any questions or something is not working drop me an email or give me a call, love to help you out..

I agree, great step by step guide for the guys with the fancy electronics. But the most important thing you taught me, was how to find them without electronics just using some common fishing sense, like were they can be found (bridge piers, rocky points, deep water docks, etc.) Then it's just a matter of dropping down 2 or 3 pulls (a pull is a measure of line, usually 10 to 15 feet, depending on the rod/fishermen). Once you find the depth, they will find the bait.

The electronics make it a lot easier, but it can be done without seeing the bait drop right in their face, you just need to know were and how deep.