raider44

Thanks for the advice guys. I am calling hummingbird tomorrow about the unit. They sent me a new transducer after the original one never worked correctly. However the whole unit acted up again on Saturday. My dad is a licensed electrician and said all the wiring is in good shape.. I honestly do not know what the problem is. But this is the second crash since April with this model. I think moving on to a different model is best bet. No hard feelings against hummingbird.

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I bought a hummingbird 778c and had problems with it twice. After the first crash I had the transducer replaced, and again today it crashed... Now in the middle of season I am looking to replace the fish finder for around $500-$600 total sonar unit only.

I had a a few in mind- any comment on these or other models would be great.

Lowrance Elite 5X

Furono LS4100

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

If you're wires are getting hits- try reducing the lead length off the ball to 7-10 feet. If you're wire divers are not getting hits try increasing the lead length off the ball 20-35 feet. Just my opinion

Stinger has a color called "Dirty White Boy" that has a white back- I have caught several kings on it over the years.

Thanks Rob. The more I think about it, I dont think it is practical to haul the gear for one rod.

Very Cool! I remember fishing with my old man when I was young.. always a great time. I'm on the left and my old brother on the right. Just came across this the other day- wow!

I just finished reading several threads on copper and with only 1 year of experience really of running it, I have a question still about avoiding tangles.

I fish central lake erie mostly, but make it up to lake o at least once a year. I only have 1 copper rig (400). Previously I ran it right down the chute with a musky float (courtesy of "chinook"). But was questioning to bring my boards up and run it off the side. The problem of this is, it is a lot of extra work for only 1 rod- versus it working pretty well running off the back. And I have the old school bow-mast set-up.

Will running copper off boards prevent tangles vs. running it down the chute? It seems possible (not sure how likely) that a big salmon could hit a downrigger and run into the copper run off the chute/musky float. Typically we kept 100 foot of line between the boat and the float.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

My 2 best combos are; 42 Second spin doc and 42 second fly & green spin doc with crush glo and a green hypnotist fly.

Great idea! I wish I had a hard top, tubes are a hassle.

I know I am in Ohio, and this doesn't relate to NY or Lake O fishing, but I gotta share this..

I fished the Vermilion River late this morning/early afternoon. The instan. value was higher 400's so the conditions weren't ideal. However I did manage to hook one steelhead.

But, the highlight was a Bald Eagle flying 20 feet above the river and 30 feet from me! It was unreal! I have seen Eagles before in a tree while on the river, but this guy was HUGE!! Beautiful white head following the bending river looking for fish I assume. There was another fisherman 100yds upstream I yelled out Eagle, Eagle.. I didn't care if i spooked every fish from me to him.. he saw it as well, he yelled and cheered.

Fishing was so/so, but seeing a wild Eagle that close was better than catching 10 #12lbers in my opinion. It was amazing!! I just wish I could have gotten a picture of him, However as soon as he appeared, 4 seconds later, he was gone. The past few years, I have been saying in 10-15 years people will think they are a nuisance, and wish there weren't so many but man... That sighting honestly made my day!

Makes me proud to be an American!!!

Thanks for the tips guys- Ive seen the fish doctor video before and I knew the twist was attached to a microswivel..

I suppose what I meant to ask was will it ever wear out/need to be re-twisted?

Does the haywire twist ever wear out? Last summer an albright knot gave out and I was out 400' of copper. What are some thoughts between using the haywire twist vs albright knot to connect leader to copper or copper to mono backing? Thanks

Gambler; I have borrowed a friends copper rig in the past while fishing lake Ontario, and he had a 100 feet section of mono in front of the braid.. What is the advantage to a 6 foot leader of mono. Or is it just a way to get more feet of backing, or just a preference?

I used the search tab and could not find a thread about scent since 2007. I was watching fishing a Great Lakes fishing show a month or so ago.. It was filmed during the Pro-Am tournament off Olcott, i believe. The boat the show was following around mentioned human scent on lures a few times, and how important it is to make sure there is no scent on spoons, flashers, flies, etc.

I have personally never really took human scent into consideration while handling lures/equipment- and have had good success over the past 15 years of fishing, but I am wondering if maybe sometimes a lure goes dead is because scent got onto it?

fishbone; 90% of my fishing is for gators (walleye) on lake erie. The typical best rigs year in and year out are as follows;

Worm Harnesses;

Run them off Dipsy's, Jets, or flat line them with a 1oz weight attached 20 feet from the harness. Run between 5-8 foot leader from dipsy to harness, and with the jet use a 5 foot leader.

Spoons;

Stinger spoons are consistently the best walleye spoon. Highly recommend using the Scorpion size with copper plating. Pink panties, confusion, hammer have been good for us recently.

Reef Runners/ other crankbaits.

Run them off big or little boards. Be sure they are tuned correctly.

www.erieoutfitters.com www.ohiogamefishing.com www.walleye.com

These websites may help if you need any researching.

Hope this helps a little!

JD thank you for the link on the ff!

I checked out the units posted above, are there any good quality FF for around $400, or is $800+ the best they get.

thanks for the pic stinger. I will have to mess with the transducer to find the weights

Hookedup;

When you pick up the balls, sliders, and probe on your sonar, what do these appear as on the screen of the fish finder?

I really do need to learn how to keep track of my balls!

How many of you prefer to pick up your downrigger balls on your fish finders? And, is there any benefit to this?

I've tried tweaking my fish finder, and I just cannot seem to pick the balls up.. Any suggestions? I have a Garmin 240 Fish Finder.

Thanks gents!

I'm glad they catch more than sheephead- we have about 150+ on board for walleye. First year they came out, one was $4, now they run anywhere from $6.50-$12.00. There new big thing is this Ultra Violet paint job... I don't know if UV paint makes a difference or not, but I know there arent any black lights floating around the lake

Does anyone run Reef Runner crank baits for browns?

I have been rooting for the Colts during the playoffs this season- My old friend #85 Pierre Garcon is one of their starting receivers. We played together at Mount Union College (small division 3 school) for 3 seasons, last week he led the colts with 11 catches for 150yds and a touchdown. Go Colts!

Any thoughts on the Game?

Thanks for the advice guys.. I just looked at some very nice boats at the Cleveland fish and boat show, but most were a little out of my price range.

I have a question that might seemed a bit far-fetched but it is a legit concern of mine and would like some advice/suggestions. I have been thinking of buying a new boat (used but recently new). With all the push these days for an alternative fuel source, what would happen to gas prices if that were to happen?

I do not want to spend a good deal of money on a boat and within a decade new cars come out with a different fuel source and the demand of gas becomes lower and lower... would the low demand cause a high raise in gas prices? Gas is already a big deal for boaters, and if prices continue to rise, for whatever reason they could be a bigger deal.