Bridgeport Crappie 4-8-22

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

2 hours ago, dtrs5kprs said:

Bummer that everyone is having problems with the updates, but I appreciate getting the heads up about it. Was planning to update my graph this week, scratch that.

Like Bill said man these things work great mechanically, its just the dang computer screwing up.  Mine is under warranty and im not to worried Garmin customer service is excellent

 

[grizwilson]

Dang, my active captain shows updates for all 5 of my garmins guess I will sit on them a while.....will call tech today see if I can use SD card or just wait.

[Bassin4fun]

On 4/8/2022 at 7:16 PM, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

Might have been the windiest day i have ever fished. Havent been for a while, every time im in town the weather suck. Today i decided im going rain or shine.  I moved around a bit saw water from 49-54, all my crappie were caught in the colder water no more than 5-8 feet deep on brush. Boat was never deeper than 13ft.  all were caught on Bobby Garland baby shad, used a lot of different natural colors, all seemed to work the same. 10 female and 5 males.  1/32 ounce jigs were the ticket but a pain in the butt in all that wind. No need for livescope today, i was just fishing laydowns, i couldnt have used it if i wanted since its on the troller and it took everything i had to keep the boat from blowing everywhere.     

Garmin Force Spotlock was absolutely horrible.  I thought i had it fixed but then i did the most recent updated and its worse than ever. When i hit lock it hits reverse at least 20ft now, before it was only 10 ft.  

In between brush piles i threw a G5 red Crankbait and the bass were absolutley crushing it, i bet i made less than 100 casts and caught 15, only 2 keeps  but i was more on the hunt for a limit of crappie in 25+ mph wind.  Saw some other guys catching them every other cast too

LoL ..yes the wind was HORRIBLE this past Friday. No way I could have tried fishing for crappie. That is impressive that you were able to catch so many good fish trying to hold a position.

[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

[Travis Swift]

I love my Force, it's one of the best pieces of equipment I have ever bought for fishing but the spot lock sucks, it's gotten way worse and yes I had updated thru the app and wished I hadn't.  I'm not sure what to do at this point.  Hadn't thought about what Bill said with the repairing them, does that take it back to the original state Bill?  Did it help on the spot lock?  

[bobby b.]

3 minutes ago, Travis Swift said:

I love my Force, it's one of the best pieces of equipment I have ever bought for fishing but the spot lock sucks, it's gotten way worse and yes I had updated thru the app and wished I hadn't.  I'm not sure what to do at this point.  Hadn't thought about what Bill said with the repairing them, does that take it back to the original state Bill?  Did it help on the spot lock?  

No I don't believe it would take you back - but search on OAF - I think somebody (Archdale?) figured out a way to load the older software - sounded risky to me.

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

On 4/12/2022 at 7:24 AM, bobby b. said:

No I don't believe it would take you back - but search on OAF - I think somebody (Archdale?) figured out a way to load the older software - sounded risky to me.

When i did that it was actually on the graph and it did seem to work and improve my livescope.  

My Force is reversing 20-30 feet now and it does it fast, it actually backed me into the bank the other day, and i dont have it linked to my graphs so it cant be using its GPS.  It worked when i got it, just like Travis's and i have another buddy that said his spot lock has become unusable, and he never did an update on it since new and his one one of the real early ones.

Im on the road this week but ill Call Garmin when i get back and see what happens

[bobby b.]

4 minutes ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

My Force is reversing 20-30 feet now

That sounds like it lost its marbles - please let us know how this turns out - I'm betting you will be getting a new motor.

[fishinwrench]

I think I've shared this here before, but just in case....

If you're having spot-lock issues deploy your TM and take a REAL compass, move it all around, within a foot of the trolling motor bracket, foot pedal, and GPS puck (if so equipped).   Any weirdness on your compass headings indicates magnetic feedback from something that is not stainless steel, aluminum, or plastic.   

I've cured a number of these units by simply tossing a pair of pliers, or a stray crankbait, spinnerbait, or crappie jig to the other side of the deck.     

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

I decided to go ahead and call Garmin. Tech told me to re calibrate the GPS using the outboard this time. Doing it with the troller can cause electro magnet interference (exactly what wrench was saying).  He also sent me a depth limiter kit, which is just a bushing and he said they can cause trouble, its probably not my issue but he sent it for free to put on anyway since its an updated version from what i have. 

Nothing like getting customer service with someone that speaks english. He said try those and if it doesnt work we will try somthing else