Prof T

For walleyes I run bottom bouncers on 20lb braid to a 36"length of 20 lb Seaguar blue label for zebra protection. Double uni, being careful to have winds lay next to each other on the floro, with a nice close snip,, slides through the guides respectfully. That Seaguar is a very nice product, and in my opinion, worth the extra cost.

Are there any Musky Clubs on the US side of the river or is the Gan club the only one up here? That Musky Boys video is tormenting me.......

By the way, intrigued by the rod holders that allowed the tip to be in the water on the rear set. What brand?

Awesome video...on the bucket list for sure!

Google tells me that 71% of the earth is covered with water. The fact that Navionics charts know anything at all about our individual little ponds is astounding. I'm in the process of going through a lifetime's accumulation o hunting and fishing stuff and it's amazing I ever caught a fish with the stuff I used when I got started. If I caught a fish hand lining my lead line on Oneida Lake, I'd throw out my Tide bottle so I could get back onto the spot. On the river it was more about lining the head of the island up with the white cottage while you got the buoy in line with the porch window on the green dock. Thank God I don't have to remember so much stuff anymore. I'm not trying to beat up Navionics, because I also think they are the best out there. I also like having the ability to fine tune the info so it is a good as can be. This thread started because a guy wanted to know what other's experiences were with a product. In my opinion, it's not 100% (yet), but the fact that the company continually works to improve what they are selling us is a testament to them.

Cheers and Merry Christmas to all! A Gen 3 HDS 8 Touch? Wow, I need new elves! You will be in great shape. But if they don't offer a great deal on a bundled chart card I'd hold off till I see what Navionics and Lowrance have come together on for the upcoming year. If you haven't already read this thread on This old boat, check it out: Sonarchart live on you're Lowrance screen ​The video shows exactly what I've been talking about with the inaccuracy of the previous Navionics charts. Watch when he reverts to the base map ( Nav + I assume) and then to his live recording of what is really down there! I can show you 20 areas within 2 miles here that are the same. Lowrance gave us the ability last season to create that level of detail with Insight Genesis, and they kept it FREE. But it was tedious and time consuming. For me, for the way I fish, it's worth every minute. Humminbird seems to have gotten it right, right off the bat. Wallyandre's post has gotten me very interested, mostly because it will let me do what I did last year, but in real time. Naturally, it will require a subscription that I didn't need in the past, but it's a pay for convenience service just like the Nice and Easy... The last consideration, and this could start a whole argument here, is whether or not you are willing to share your findings. If everyone shared every scan, the charts would be perfect, and I could stop complaining. But guess what? No way I'm sharing my findings with the world. I work hard to find my spots. I have a few I won't fish in the daylight or if there are other boats around for fear of being seen. Would you post the location of a hot duck swamp, a brook trout stream, a bay with big post spawn northerns in May, or a woodlot with a good crop of wild mushrooms? NEVER Your new Gen 3 will be Wifi, and you can connect via the cell phone app, to Sonar Chart live (Navionics). Looks like you can then submit your data, they can update their database, and everyone with a subscription can take advantage. (I hope you get to choose whether or not it can be kept private.) This will be a great feature for pleasure boaters and I hope lots of fishermen around me use it .

I got a good deal of experience over the past season using a Lowrance HDS 7 Touch and Insight Genesis. Justin can speak to the Helix, as well a Roybee. The ability of those units to generate a map on the go kicks the snot out of what I had to do. Glad to see Lowrance catching up with this upcoming season's offerings. I've been really critical of Navionics mapping on the ST Lawrence even with Sonar Charts. As they say, DON'T RELY ON IT FOR NAVIGATION. Close in places, but definitely not in all. Bought a Navionics + upgrade when I got my unit but had to play games with my recorded sonar logs to get them to be recognized. $100 bucks wasted. Switched to Insight Genesis and couldn't have been happier. Here's is how I had to do it, though. On each trip, I recorded a Sonar Log to my removable drug store SD card. This log associated sonar data to GPS coordinates for the trip. Once back, I upload via a laptop to my free Insight Genesis account. About a day later, the log is converted to a viewable map where you can see your trail over your newly created map, as well as a viewer of your sonar along that path. Next step is to generate a map for your specific depth finder that you have registered with them and download back to your SD card. Inert the card back into your unit and you have a 100% accurate map of the area you recorded in 1 ft contours. I made over 30 individual recordings, each time broadening my maps to include the fringes of the areas previously recorded as well as new areas. New maps need to be merged with the original before downloading to the card because the unit can only recognize one map on the card. Essentially you end up with one big chart. If it sounds cumbersome you're right. But it's awesome! My maps put me on fish. I found shoals not found on any charts. I found shelves that held fish, and flats that extended well beyond what I thought. I'm a pinpoint, slow troller and can follow edges incredibly accurately. LOTS of walleyes payed the price. The big drawbacks for me are the obvious hassle of recording, removing, uploading, generating, merging, downloading, reinserting before I can see my map. Another unforeseen shortcoming is that while viewing your map, areas that you have not logged have no background map and you are "blind" to contours, depths and obstacles out there. Also, my HDS 7 Gen 2 Touch has only 1 card slot, so I can't easily flip between the Insight Genesis map on SD card and other maps for general navigation. (I get around that because I have a networked HDS 8 Gen 1 running simultaneously). Once you have it, though, it's yours, and doesn't have to be shared unless you want it to. Looks like the new generation addresses these issues. Again, you can get there if you have the older stuff, just takes a while to learn how.

Watching the video and waiting for a rod to fire ....almost as good as being there.Thanks for sharing.

Pap, As you know I ran my Evinrude 90 (same as your 88) for 30 years and it was still going strong. No motor could ever owe me more. As far as the ETEC, my need was to be able to simplify and I was looking for a motor to troll on as well. That means lots of hours. The 4 strokes get just as much lubrication at 600 RPM as they do at 5000 RPM because its a pressurized wet sump (oil bath). An ETEC is lubricated like any other 2 stroke in that it's a slippery fuel charge (vaporized gas and oil) moving through the crankcase with the oil clinging to the parts which ultimately needs to be burnt away. That, coupled with the fact that a Troll Control on the Merc would allow the motor to drop down slower than everyone else's in 10 rpm increments, tipped my hand. My buddy's ETEC doesn't come close on that end. I can get as slow as 1.4.SOG where he is over 2.3. Depends what you're doing.

Awesome. Lucky to live where we live with the variety of opportunities we have.

Captain H, Thanks for taking the time to write an informative review of what took you months to learn. Gene

Finally did it and will offer my initial reactions. Replaced mid 80’s90 Evinrude 2 stroke with 90 Merc Command Thrust on a 19.5 ft Sea Nymph w/ 7 ft beam. Engine weighs about 375 lbs wet vs 300 for the old motor. Boat doesn’t squat too much while at rest w/ splash well drain holes easily 2†above water line. (I still have my 9.9 kicker on w/ a 6 gal. fuel can also). Although still breaking in, it appears top end will be about 37 mph…more than I need and a little quicker than the old gal. Hole shot seems respectable as well. Have not run with a full load of people yet. Command Thrust: Puts a lower unit from 150 on the 90. Give you a bigger rudder for trolling stability, about a 10% lower gear ratio and the ability to swing a larger diameter prop. Troll Control: Engine’s natural idle is at 700 rpm. Troll control give you digital control through the smartcraft tachometer gauge of engine rpm from 550 to 1000 in 10 rpm increments. Fished the other night. Started in a rather slack area, slight current and a mild head wind. Set rpms to 570 – 590 to maintain 1.1 to 1.3 mph SOG. Seems as though I will able to keep my speeds low enough for walleye troll, definitely better than I could do without the troll control. Moved to higher current area which is more commonly where I fish here on the SLR. Needed about 750 – 780 to maintain. Very easy adjustment. Once set watch gps speed, add or subtract rpms by 10’s to achieve desired speed. Fish on. Shifter to neutral. Land fish. Shifter back in gear. Turn troll control back on. RETURNS TO PREVIOUS SPEED SETTING. So far, one limit of walleyes, no lures lost and a motor that operates as advertised. Two issues to be addressed though. First, the motor came through without a steering trim tab under the cavitation plate, just a flat anode. Definitely pulls hard unless perfectly trimmed. Dealer is getting one. Second one not as easily corrected. Troll control is operated through push buttons on Smartcraft Tachometer. Be sure it gets installed where it is easily accessible. Mine ended up on the right side of the steering wheel. Although it’s big, getting at it unless seated at the helm is a pain. Disclaimer: I’m not trying to promote a brand of motor or dealer…I just did a lot of research and found a system that I think fits my way of fishing. Hope I answered someone else’s questions.

Thanks for the offer, Perry. I've gotten away from boards and don't bow hunt. It did make me look at your boat video. Slick design...hope it's catching on for you.