DROP SHOT - TECHNOLOGY QUESTION

[Ham]

Thanks man! I'll certainly try to do that.

I keep an annual out of state Arkansas license and I'm not afraid to drive.

I'll be fishing the BASS Open on the Red River this June as a Co Angler. If you wanted to fish that tourny, I'd be glad to give you a Red River overview on a pre-fishing trip.

[SKMO]

SKMO have you seen or read anything on the Hummingbird Side Scanner unit that's coming out soon. Ralph Mann's had an article in In-Fisherman on it and I watched a fishing show that was pimping it pretty hard.

I have considered Lowrance to be the NAME in depthfinders, but that Hummingbird looked really nice.

I have both seen and read about them. I am actually a little confused as to how to interpret them. For one thing when I vertical fish I want to know exactly what is under the boat, not off to one side. Also they seem to show bottom structure real well and can produce nice pictures of trees, bridges, sunken boats etc. but it seems like the fish echos are kind of indistinct and harder to interpret.

I talked with a fellow who tested on for a week and he said that to get the nice pretty underwater pictures (of a bridge for example) you had to be going at just the right angle and speed to produce a perfect looking image, otherwise it's a lot harder to interpret. After field testing it for a week he decided not to go for one, as he said for him it offered more confusion than answers and he did not feel like undertaking the learning curve.

I guess I too am an old dog not ready to learn new tricks, and when I upgraded to a Lowrance 25C last fall I was not convinced that the side scanners would be any advantage to me and in fact might have been a disadvantage.

In any case I am 100% pleased with the 25 and cannot imagine wanting or needing more information. I am sure they are great units once you learn to work with them.

[dwiebenga]

Hey all,

I am glad to see this post has gotten much attention. I found that my Eagel Fishmark 480 will pick up baits near the cone i.e. dropshotting off the bow. While I have been winter crappie fishing I have been able to see jigs as low as 1/16 of an ounce. I am excited to see how this pans out for TR this spring.

[Bill Babler]

Guy's I have no interest in seeing what is not directly under me. I personally don't feel any unit that Hummingbird offers is an upgrade to the X15. Like SK, I have a buddy that has a 967. Way out of bounds for both of us. It's on ebay now and he is back with Lowrance.

I can see a 256 oz. micro jig at 100 ft. on my Lowrance. You got better? That is not much more than the size of a fountain pen head.

I always cringe at people on Pro-Staff deals. As most are, I really paid more, than I should have. National Team Deals are, We pay you $10,000 to use the unit for a year and tell us what you think. Free or partial payment of fishing equipment means nothing, except you owe somebody.

If you are not getting a W2 from the manufactor, you flat don't have a deal.

One of our local Pro's is on a great Hummingbird deal that pays 5 figures, he fishes it every tournament except Table Rock. He says, mostly because it dosen't matter, what he fishes shallow. Fishes a 115 Lowrance on the Rock. Go figure.

Believe me, I have done it all in the last 30 years fishing 300 days a year and I will pay for what I want and what works the best rather than be on a Pro-Staff.

I would pay Lowrance twice the price for their units and think they were a bargin. But then agin, I make my living putting people on fish.

Typo on 67 instead of 87, me bad. Good Luck

[Ham]

The unit I saw on TV has whats directly underneath you on the top half of the screen and on the bottom half it had the side scanning views.

I agree that there would definitely be a learning curve with the side scanning technology and that it would take some time away from fishing. BUT I think that with a few passes through key areas, you would get a much better mental picture of whats down there. Hopefully that better understanding would translate to being able to determine the spot on the spot faster and make finding that needle in the haystack faster the next time you want to fish it.

I think Lowrance is stil the name in freshwater depthfinders. I have a while before I will be making a change in my electronics. Right now, I fish water less than 10 foot deep the vast majority of the time. It is kind of overkill to buy an eight hundred dollar unit to fish that kind of water.

[Bill Babler]

Extremely good points. Most fishing especially for bass you are targeting locations that are not at an extreme depth. And, for the most part are very seldom making vertical presentations that require you to see structure, fish and if your lucky presentations.

That is why a whole plethera or electronics are on the market. Frankly If I were guiding anywhere but on the White River Chain or in a deep sea environment, I would not spend the big bucks.

Absolutely meant nothing demeaning about the hummingbird or any of the other units, its hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

On the White River Chain, counting Arkansas for Stripers, there are over 150 full time guides operating. To my knowledge every one to a man runs Lowrance.

Everyone of us could be on one prostaff or the other, but something to always remember, there are no deals and nothing is 1/2 price, dealers cost, or free. In the long run you more than pay for everything you get in the fishing business

[Ham]

FWIW, J.E. I appreciate your offer and hope to take you up on it sometime or another in 2007.

[Bill Babler]

Both Myself and SK, absolutely meant no disrespect to either J.E. or Hummingbird whom he represents. We are old dogs, me imperticular and by gosh looking at these units 1000's of hours a year. We have formed oponions and have a fair grasp of what we need in a unit. There is no further information that my lowrance can give me to assist my fish catching, I am 100 percent as SK, is satisfied. {But I could be wrong!}

Our's is for the most part a completely unbiased oponion, as we are not getting paid to use, or representing anyone's equipment, and not profiting from any equipment that you may buy that we talk about on the fourm.

We try our best to keep salesmanship from our recommendations and if it seems as if we are trying to sell you guys something, Please Call Us On It.

I pay for everything I use, and will always use what I deem to be the best product for what I'm doing. I will no longer owe anyone in the fishing industry, I have been down that road.

I don't have to pay for anything including my boat if I choose not too. All of the full time guides here can have most any deal they want, but the price in the long run is way to steep, we have all learned that the hard way.

Again J.E. Sorry my writing style really misled what I was trying to say. Foot in Mouth. Appreciate you on the fourm.

[taxidermist]

No info about electronics.

I have been studying fish eyes for several years. I also SCUBA dive.

Bass have trouble seeing what is under them. When you look at the eye anatomy, you will see there is a thicker area up near the front of the eyeball, this gives the fish a better image of things infront and on top of it.

Also you have to look at the how the eye sets in the head, on bass most times it sets almost outside of the head more so that the so-called frog eyes.

This you can see at BPS aqauriums and yes its the same as in wild fish, some more some less. I have also seen this in the tanks in Athens TX. and Cableas in KC. if you really start looking at the eyes of live fish in their enviroment, you can see better how fish can see whats around them.

Next you have the line down the side on all fish, its part of the ear system, actually nerve endings that connect to the otolith(SP) ear stone or ear bone.

While I dont have fancy electronics (Eagle Supra Rpo portable) I can figure out how deep a fish is on it and drop a spoon by measuring line out on top of the fish I am finding and trigger a bite.

Near Beaver Creek yesterday I found bass at 9 feet over 23 feet of water and pink sluggoed three of them. Carolina rigged with a 1/8th ounce bullet sinker and 8lb vanish. I lost a good bass at the boat and caught 3, 16 inch largemouths. Not bad for 60 minutes of fishing, just to dadblame cold for me.

I know the better sonars you can see your lure on but for those of us who just can seem to turn loose of $500.00 for equipment there is still the slow old, measure the line out and sluggo methods.

I am always slow to learn current technology, I figured out last week I can run the fish finder and by adjusting screen speed and sens. I am able to run at full throttle. Now for my little 4hp Mariner its not bass boat fast, but still hauls my butt at a pretty good speed.

So for those of us who cant afford the latest and greatest in sonars, there is till hope.

John

[tablerockguide]

Bill,

All Guides on the White River use Lowrance? Not so! Capt. Don and I use Humminbird Products. The 987C is an awsome unit and the side imaging technology is far above anything the competition has. I can even find your secret brush piles by just getting within 200 ft of them. Humminbird taught this old dog a new trick. Been using them for 2 years now and will never go back. Many of the other guides have been asking me about Humminbird products and their interest is peaking and soon there will be a change.

'