chowder

I've been there before, he get's his whitefish from Canada.

I decided to 'stoke' this discussion because i just discovered it. We go out to Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin every winter to icefish for Whitefish after 2 trips to Simcoe with poor results using the Meegs jigs and some other presentations.. We like to target them when they are 'on the reefs' in 60-80' fow with what's called a 'dropper rig'. They are a hard fighting fish with a very subtle jig bite. They are feeding mostly on gobies there. I clean them very carefully, rinsing and drying before vacum sealing in Wisconsin and transport back in a large cooler full of snow. i am a Swede and my entire extended family looks forward to my annual smoking of these fish the week before Christmas. I have attempted to figure out where on Erie the Canadians catch Whitefish with no success. If anybody has any hard intel on Lake Erie Whitefish I'd really like to hear about it. I have a part time charter biz for Walleye on Erie, and Trout/Salmon on Ontario. I do keep a Sportsman License for Canadian water.

I sure appreciate these insights! I still might go the ipad route for the sonar display but I do have a 2nd smaller display mounted in the wheelhouse that I use for gps/radar that could be linked to my big display and re mounted in the stern. That boat is now winterized but with this critical piece of the puzzle fleshed out by you guys I will be able to strategize this winter much much more accurately. THANKS!!

HDS gen 2 or HDS gen 3?

I'm admitedly a cheap bastard but I've had very good luck with buying reasonably clean Daiwa 47 Sealine SHS (super high speed) for basically all my lead core and short copper rigs. Because you don't need a lot of backing on a walleye rod (unless ya hook up with a muskie) I've gotten as much as 300' copper on a Daiwa Sealine 47 SHS for walleye applications. I don't usethese reels for anything more than 150 copper on Ontario due to the need for significant yardage of backing. For walleye applications I pair the used 47 Sealine SHS with a Okuma GLT classic pro ML rod. I use those rods for almost all my walleye rigs including riggers, slidedivers and board rods up to 150 walleye copper. For longer walleye copper I usually go up to the Eagleclaw Med rod.

Hey, Thanks! -I just ordered one ,makes sense to me this would help especially in conjunction with a kicker pushing.

Do you have a Fishhawk x 3d setup for sale? PM sent

After talking to a number of people I have decided to go with the Tohatsu MFS 9.9 EEFTL. This is a tiller, EFi motor with elec start and power trim, this model also has the 4 blade High thrust prop. It weighs 118 lbs. I'm planning to use the simple steering connector available from Cabelas to link steering from the Optimax to the kicker. I am really hoping that the early Lake Ontario brown trout fishing and the NY portion of the Lake Erie Walleye fishery improve significantly over this past season's difficulties or I'm probably gonna regret dumping money into the outboard boat but I guess it will be good to have a gas powered backup for the Optimax...

Thanks, that tells me quite a bit about the iPilot’s capabilities. I will try the iPilot in conjunction with the 200 Optimax and see how it steers that. The problem with doing that on Erie for eyes is that at idle the Optimax pushes the boat at 2.2 to 2.4 so there isn’t any room to have the 110 lb thrust Minn Kota turning at all. Guess I need to decide how much weight I want to add to the transom and how much money I can justify throwing at this situation

Ok, my off season, walleye and river boat is an older 22' Crestliner Sabre SST outboard (I also have an older 25' Hard top Crestliner i/o kicker stup for main season Ontario). Hank at L&M did a repower to a 200 hp Optimax saltwater model before it even went into the water after finding the hull (which wasnt easy). He also installed a 72" Minn Kota 110 lb thrust 36 volt iPilot bow mount. I've been fishing with this boat now since March and I'm considering the following issues: 1.) There are times in early browns/ early salmon season (I work out of Wilson/Olcott) when, if it's rough the bow mount can struggle to maintain speed. 2.) Although the Merc has performed flawlessly so far, it is not a new motor (paid $4000 for it) and I have concerns about getting back with customers on board in the event of a failure. 3.) I am not sure that it is an ideal practice to subject the bowmount to long bouts of running 'hard' to troll but I don't really know? 4.) I have concerns that a 4 stroke 9.9 hp size kicker even at very low throttle would make the iTroll unable to perform as the autopilot. So, I'm tumbling around a number of possibilities and would love to hear from anybody with experience trying any of these things: 1. Adding a transom mount 80lb thrust electric with separate batteries from bow mount ( would be very quiet- which I love! and contribute some extra umpfh to get back and wouldn't overwhelm the bow mount's ability to provide autopilot function and the price is right ($500-600) 2. Adding a 4-6 hp 4 stroke kicker . This would have more ass to get back in the event of an issue w/ the Optimax but I'm guessing it would not overwhelm the iPilot bow mount and so I'd still have an autopilot. This option would cost around $1000 and it would not be quiet 3. Adding a 9.9 hp 4 stroke kicker. This option has pros and cons for sure: it would have significant superior performance in the event of needing backup but it would contibute a lot of transom weight to a boat that spends a lot of time on the Niagara river drifting in challenging situations. It would be quieter than a single cylinder 4-6 hp but it would also be quite expensive at somewhere around $2400+. i also have concerns that using it for trolling in the rougher water conditions that challenge the bow mount it might overwhelm the ability of the iPilot to effectively perform as an iPilot. Anybody got experiences with this conundrum?

Just in case anybody is interested in this topic (hint: you probably should be- wait n see): 1.) YES, it's very simple to link a HDS gen 3 to a iPad, Lowrance purposesfully made it that way. 2.) YES, you can use the iPad to see AND DO evrything you would do as if you were at the helm or wherever the head unit is mounted. 3.) VERY SIGNIFICANTLY, at least for me as charter capt without a mate, you can use the Lowrance autopilot commands from the back of the boat which is awesome!!!) 4.) numerous people have reported that by turning brightness all the way and leaving the iPad plugged in and using a polarized screen cover and waterproof cover (an investment of about $30) there are no significant issues with visibility or potential damage to the ipad screen. So, I think I'm gonna give this a try before I put the salmon boat away. probably gonna learn the hardway that a cheap $60 used iPad isnt the best econo option but what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained...

Not looking to add another $creen to the boat. iPads are wireless ,can be fitted with simple glare hoods and waterproof covers, they are used in many industrial automation settings because of low cost (good,used ones around $50-60)

I’m not savvy with this Bluetooth technology or iPads but I was finally watching my Lance Valentine Vimeo tutorial on the HDS gen 3 and he mentions controlling the HDS unit with an iPad so I am figuring you must be able to see the screen to do that. I’d like to have an iPad in the back of the boat to see my screen when I have customers on board and I am busy helping them in the back of the boat. Any help on this much appreciated . ( I have an HDS 12 for sonar and a HDS 9 for gps/radar mounted in the wheelhouse)

Thanks, yes I figured out how to move around in what options I was presented with. As I replied to the other poster I think the issue is that my unit is an XTS not the TS . It was a ‘value’ model and has no preloaded gps map , does not support a card and I cannot for the life of me access any serious sonar settings which in my mind probably is the case on a unit with no preloaded background map or ability to support a SD type. Oh well

Yeah, I tried using this manual but mine is an XTS - the X units were apparently a ‘value’ unit and I can’t get to any of the options listed for the sonar shown in the manual. I discovered after getting a used Navionics chip for it that the X units don’t support a chip and they have no preloaded background map. I’m thinking my options with this thing might be limited….