Hit up the lake with my kid to find the fish scattered. We worked hard for 10 or 11 bites. Lake Temps between 36 and 37°. Our best producer was a super slim sea sick wadler in the overcast conditions. FYI the channel out of the creek is at 2 feet deep max
We launched at 8 a.m. and went searching. Had to dodge a lot of floating ice. Found a good stretch of warmer water right as the sun popped out of the clouds and it was game on. Everything we put out got bit but a uv mixed veggie stinger took the most hits by far. Best stick bait was a emerald shiner long shallow bay rat . Wind picked up and we got out of there. We will be out again soon.
Yes a thru hull would be best for you. If you can't get any help from simrad then try their parent company which is navico. Talking to airmar would be the way to go. I have emailed them and had a response the same day
I am assuming this is a trolling only boat? You want a transducer with the wide cone angle for trolling. A lot of guys use the airmar p66 ducer. It has a 45° cone angle but it isn't chirp. The airmar 165 hw is a chirp transducer and has a cone angle of 30° . That is the widest angle chirp transducer that's available right now.
The higher the gear ratio in a reel the less torque it has. 36 inches per turn isn't that much and should still have good power. When you get to the reels that have 48 inches per turn then you really notice the lack of power.
I have been wondering how well this would work for salmon and trout for a few years now. It would be nice to see a study in the great lakes on this subject. I know it can't hurt to try. I think I will order one too