markmonkey1

50/200 kHz definitely, if your buying fresh. 83/200 will work if that's what u have, but 50/200 will give much better deep water performance. I recently got an HDS7 and ordered separately an Airmar P66 50/200 with paddlewheel. The P66 got very good reviews. I did lots of research before purchasing. There's another forum, "thehulltruth.com" (THT) that has detailed discussions on this very topic. Also, Lowrance customer svc was good at replying to my many questions.

Don't run a slider with a flasher/SD at the main lure or you'll have a big mess!!!! I admit, I tried it....once.

I always have a monkey puke somewhere in my spread and it's rarely cold all day! But, maybe I'm just biased cuz of my username.

Our summer program at Olcott is usually limited to riggers, dipsys and a LC. Thinking about adding big planer boards to the mix this year. 1) What's the best approach to get lures to depth? Jet divers? Anyone using tru trip divers which seem to be popular for Erie walleye? 2) think it's worth the extra hassle for the boards? What kind of fish are you catching off the boards in summer?

Since jet divers are not directional, I imagine run them off the big boards? 5ft leader behind them? When walleye fishing Erie pa (many many moons ago), I used to run the riggers with lures 100ft back. This still worth trying? -or do all the fish come off divers and boards...so safe to leave the riggers home?

I used to troll for walleye out of Erie Pa before this king salmon thing took over for me! So, I have my supply of crawler harnesses and small stinger spoons and a few reef runners. Seems like trolling, rather than drifting, is the ticket. I'll check out those other sites, thanks !

Anyone here fish western basin of Lake Erie? I'm heading there next month and it's been quite a few years since I've walleye fished. Do they still use Erie Dearies, or mainly troll these days? Should I bring the riggers? I'll be in Sandusky (Cedar Point), should I launch out Sandusky bay or better fishing out of Port Clinton?

Walleyehunter----off topic, but you ever fish western basin Lake Erie? I'm heading there next month and it's been quite a few years since I've walleye fished. Do they still use Erie Dearies, or mainly troll these days? Should I bring the riggers? Maybe I'll start another thread thread for this.....

I usually tie up a bunch of 4ft and 6ft leaders, and loop them around a 16" piece of swimming pool foamie so they are labeled and ready to go. I tried 8fters but they were more difficult to work with, and the shorter ones worked fine for me. I switched to Seaguard leader material last season and lost so many LESS fish. I'm sold on Seaguard. I use 20 (or 25lb) and 30lb. The fish I lost weren't due to leader breaks. Swivels---best luck with ball bearing welded ring sampo size #1 (30#) for spoons. Also great luck with SPRO. Man, their expensive though! I've heard good about Dreamweaver so may try some this year, but they are not as small as the #1 sampos... I'll use a smaller swivel on the lure end, and a larger one "up line" for the dipsy, SD, etc. when wrapping around the foamie, the swivels push into the foamie and hold it nice and neat...Well...at least until you hit a pod of fish and tangle and are scrambling to re-rig!!!

Are those the "bass pro" brand?

What swivel do you use to attach spoon to leader or line? --I've always preferred the smallest Sampo ball bearing coastlocks (size 1, 30#). I've had great luck with SPRO's also. ....but man are these expensive! Are the dreamweavers decent? Their coastlocks aren't as small so I'd have to use a non-coastlock swivel, or a larger size coastlock. Think a larger swivel would negatively impact lure action? What do you use? Markmonkey

There's a magna on eBay right now, NIB.

FYI - I ~think~ the cannon sensors must be over 3mph for them to work...

Fantastic!!! We have big boards, think that'll work or should we invest in some smaller church boards?

We're thinking about first trip with the boat later this week. We may launch at Olcott and troll to Niagara bar. We're coming from PA. How is the bite in this stretch? We've never fished this early...think it's too early?

What are the rules, if any, on doing this? I have heard that the fish must be identifiable, to confirm you're not over your limit or out of a size slot. But seems like a lot of folks still clean them on the water. Further, what if you're sleeping on the boat, so you have yesterday's limit catch cleaned and on ice, on board? I hope that a Fish Commission officer would have discretion---wondered if anyone had any experiences with this?

Thinking about trailering the boat from PA...is April 12 weekend too early to troll on Ontario? We'd either go out out Olcott or Niagara bar. Or we're considering Lk Erie out of Northeast, Pa. Gotta get the boat out!!!!!!!! We've never gone this early...

I'm hearing lots of positives about the P66. do you know if the wire harness needs changed or does it fit the HDS7 (gen2 non-touch) w/ blue connector?

I'm looking for a transom mount xducer in 50/200 KHz for Lake O and Erie. I'm leaning toward the Lowrance (35 deg/12 deg cone angles) for simplicity...plugs right in. What are the benefits, if any, if I go with an Airmar or Furuno unit instead? Would I have to change the connector end?

Here's a link sent to me from Lowrance. It doesn't get into the specific differences b/w 50 & 83 kHz like I hoped, but explains why the lower frequencies are better in deep or salt water. http://support.lowrance.com/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1001&PARTITION_ID=1&secureFlag=false&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=2967

I use torpedoes and love them!

From what I understand, the 50 versus 80 KHZ transducer has to do with depth, and maybe cone angle, not freshwater versus saltwater. I read that the 50 is better for deeper depths, but I'm not sure if they mean deeper depths of water, or deeper depths that the fish are located at. I sent to Lowrance an email inquiry. Just want to understand before I purchase.

I've had great luck with my previous Lowrance, but it was finally starting to crap out last season...but it's 15 years old so I can't complain.