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What electronics do you consider "necessary" for Ontario trolling?


Sicarii

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I bought a Hewes Craft 24' Alaskan from Clemens Marine in Portland last winter and paid to have it shipped east. Really love the boat and the way it is rigged.

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I bought a Hewes Craft 24' Alaskan from Clemens Marine in Portland last winter and paid to have it shipped east. Really love the boat and the way it is rigged.

Your boat looks awesome and Clemens is the marina I have been working with. I think the Alaskan is really sweet but it will be out of my price range. If I go hewes I am thinking about the Pro V ET. I would love to hear about your experience doing this but maybe a pm is best. Did you go out to OR to see them?

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Wooldridge boats are sold in Easton PA. More and more of these are showing up on the Delaware. I know they are quite pricey, but from what I see you get what you pay for. Electronics are a definite plus when it comes to fishing any large body of water. However, they are not a necessity and some do quite well without all the bells and whistles. Any fishfinder that see's bait can be pretty effective. Just like anything else better tools do not make a better craftsman, but they can make life a little easier. If you can afford it, why not?

 

http://www.wooldridgeboats.com/catalog/products/classic-inboard

Edited by shadster
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You might want to take a look at Stanley Boats out of Canada. I saw either a 19 or 21 Islander dual console in the water at Toronto harbor a while back and it looked impressively well built looking at it from the dock. I also crawled around inside one of the larger models with a pilot house at the Toronto Boat show a couple years ago and left with a similar impression.

 

http://www.stanleyboats.ca/stanley/islander.html

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Hello Sicarii

I have an Ipad with GPS. Your ipad must have gps for this app to work. I started using Garmin mobile app as a chart plotter and am very happy with it. Check it out here.

Get your Apple® device onboard with Garmin® BlueChart® Mobile. - YouTube

â–º 3:33â–º 3:33

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmtuk7Kyq4A

Sep 24, 2012 - Uploaded by garminblog

... with our new BlueChart® Mobile Marine & Trip Planning Application. ... Get your Apple ...

This vid will show you it's capabilities. I think the app is priced at about $50. Depending on yor location.

Good luck

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OK I am going to look into the network approach.  It seems like a good setup, and since the boat I am looking at is going to be pretty bare bones I think the additional monitoring of engine functions should be nice since I won't have guages for a lot of things.

 

I see the fishhawk x4 needs a separate transducer.  Will it interfere with the transducer needed for the fishfinder or are they operating on different frequencies?

 

Also I have been looking at various types of sonar systems.  Lowrance for instance has "Structure Scan" and some kind of high definition downscan and some of the other manufacturers have something similar.  Is this stuff as nice as it looks and would you specifically make sure that the fishfinder you got had these features or are they more just toys and not necessary?

 

Thanks for all the help, I think this will get me started in the right direction.

 

Some have reported some interference with transducers that are running a 50khz frequency if the transducers are located too close to each other. The fish hawk runs on a 70khz frequency. I don't think this a big problem though. I didn't take the chance and located my fish hawk transducer on the opposite side of my fishfinder transducer and it works out fine for me. The people at fish hawk can advise you and they are great to work with in my opinion.

Edited by MikeyP
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If you want to see the boat I am fishing out of Oak Orchard every weekend through Sept 8th except fishing out of Oswego Aug 16th to 18th and don't mind you coming aboard for a look. If you want to fish on the boat maybe you could round up some guys for a half day charter while I am out there for a Sunday or Monday. My wife won't let me add any more friends and family trips this year :).post-145902-13752784706213_thumb.jpg

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Thanks for the replies gentlemen!

 

Shadster - I started off on this quest by talking to Grant Wooldridge.  He sent me pricing on his models and was real great about answering questions and sending me literature for all his models.  I really like the wooldridge boats and if money was not an issue I think they would be my first choice.  They really are custom so you can get whatever your heart desires on the thing.  However the issue with pricing is that, firstly they are expensive in base form compared to a HewesCraft/Alumaweld/Rogue (Pro Steelheader)/Raider.  And secondly, they are very bare bones in base form and the options add up very quickly.  So they seem to end up quite a bit above the "cheaper" plate boats in price although they are in line with the higher-end manufacturers like North River/Pacific Black Lab/Northwest Boats.

 

Who knows, I might still go this way if I can get a good deal from Wooldridge.  I'm sure the quality is worth the money.

 

John E Powell - I just saw a post the other day on here about the Stanley boats.  They do have some very interesting looking models.  I am not sure how they price out in comparison or what hoops I might have to jump through to get a Canadian boat imported into the US.  I like the look of the "Raised Deck" model a lot, and the Islander models look pretty bullet proof.  I'll have to check these out.

 

Patio - Thanks for the Ipad info.  Cool video...  I think mine does not have GPS after doing some research, it is an Ipad 3 but I didn't get the wifi add on so I think it doesn't have real GPS either.  It does use triangulation and some other stuff to estimate but it isn't quite the same.  However, an ipad mini or something is kind of cheap compared to a "real" chartplotter so I am still going to consider this option.

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Daybreak - Thanks so much for the offer.  I would love to come out and check out the boat, but I'd like to do a charter even more.  I am out of town this week and next but I will try to drum up some interest.  Shouldn't have to twist too many arms!  The boat looks beautiful all rigged up for fishing...

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K Gonefishin: you're full of **** about crestliner.

Sent from my Lenovo P770 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Don't get all defensive about your Crestliner, they build a nice rig with great fit and finish. I know alot of walleye guys who have them. They are wet boats and ride terrible but they do build a good boat. But let's be real here, they aren't in the same league as the pacific northwest boats that guys are talking about here in this thread.

 

Glass is superior on the great lakes, I know countless guys who have split hulls and have leaky hulls from too much pounding on Erie. 

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As a guy with lots of electronics on my boat, I would rank in order of importance for me:

 

1.) VHF Radio - safety is more important than catching fish. It's also nice to listen to some of the charter chatter from folks on the water.

 

2.) Downspeed/temp probe - personally this is a must have for me, as I'm not patient or skilled enough to just "throw 'em out" there without a starting point

 

3.) Autopilot - I'd actually probably rank this a a tie for #2, or even #1 as it has made fishing so much more enjoyable - especially with 2 man crews. Honestly, if it was a choice between giving up a toe or the autopilot, I'd cut off my toe and that's the honest truth.

 

4.) Fishfinder/GPS - I can get GPS on my phone and honestly other than depth, this is my least favorite piece of equipment. If I didn't have it though, I'd have to carry a chart with GPS coordiantes and depths which would be a pain.

 

Good luck,

 

Chris

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I have a 2012 Pro V and fish out of I-bay just about every weekend.  Would you like to came out and see how she is set up and go fishing? Then you would have and idea of what size boat you want after fishing with Daybreaker. I fish for fun and have just as much fun no matter who is on the rod.

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I have an Eagle Ultra ( 1995 Version) w/surface speed & temp, I also have a hand held Magelan  GPS. Also a permanant VHF Radio on my 21' 'hardtop .

No down speed & temp,although I must admit, There are times I wish  I had it.

 

 I feel I do as well as most on the lake & better than most .

 

 The Electronics are tools to help you catch fish, but nothing beats angler expertise.  Knowing What to use when , and most importantly,WHERE. Location is the most important piece of the fishing equation IMO.

 

 I learned long ago it's not the tools, but the guy using them.

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I have a 2012 Pro V and fish out of I-bay just about every weekend.  Would you like to came out and see how she is set up and go fishing? Then you would have and idea of what size boat you want after fishing with Daybreaker. I fish for fun and have just as much fun no matter who is on the rod.

I would love to!  I am going to be out of town for a while starting tomorrow, I will shoot you a PM when I get back.  Thanks for the offer.  I have a friend who has a slip at Ibay, unforturnately he hates fishing... go figure!

 

I have an Eagle Ultra ( 1995 Version) w/surface speed & temp, I also have a hand held Magelan  GPS. Also a permanant VHF Radio on my 21' 'hardtop .

No down speed & temp,although I must admit, There are times I wish  I had it.

 

 I feel I do as well as most on the lake & better than most .

 

 The Electronics are tools to help you catch fish, but nothing beats angler expertise.  Knowing What to use when , and most importantly,WHERE. Location is the most important piece of the fishing equation IMO.

 

 I learned long ago it's not the tools, but the guy using them.

 

 

Do you find the surface temp helps with anything?  And with the handheld GPS are you using paper charts or do you have waypoints or something plotted in?

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Surface temp helps me a lot in certain situations. Early inshore brown bite, look for warmer temps . Summer when lake sets up , I use it mostly when the lake turns over , I head north till I hit 65 degrees  & keep going till I hook up.  I fish marks & bait.

 

 I use my handheld GPS for SOG , my home port so I can get back in in the fog, & man overboard  to mark a hookup & stay on that spot.

 

 Mu attitude about why I fish has change for my over the last few years. I want it to be about my knowledge  instead of the equipment I use. I am living proof you don't need the best of everything to catch fish.

Edited by Has Been
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IMO, a speed/temp probe is critical. A fishfinder to see the targets and depth and a probe to monitor lure speed and temp. You could get by with only that and a radio for emergencies.

I whole heartedly agree with this.

10" split screen Lowrance/Navionics chip.

Basically how we are rigged, but with a back-up fishfinder, and handheld radio as back-up also.

Works for us.

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After reading this thread, I am covered with the VHF so I can check that off my list. I need a new FF with GPS for sure and I might bite the bullet an get a new Fish Hawk with D next year. Around $600 but hey, might as well. so between the new FF of about $600 and a Fish Hawk with Depth  I am gonna budget $1500 for electronics next year. Here is to hoping that my maple syrup season is as good next spring as it was this spring cause that is my boat Money!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Saw the mention of "black box" and am interested if anyone has experience with Pro Troll's back box that is supposed to allow you to control the charge on your rigger cable to attract the species fish you're after. Went with a charter out of Oswego and he had one. Any thoughts?

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