FishNChip

Redseal: When you get this resolved let us know the solution. By the way, noticed the name in your subscript heading. I went to high school in Arkansas with a Dan & David Durio from the Lafayette area. Any relation?

My last post on this issue. Per the Humminbird Factory Outlet website, you original transducer (XNT 9 DI T) could generate signals in 3 frequencies: 83, 200, and 455 kHz. The one you have now (XTM 9 DI 25 T) only has 200 and 455 kHz. Everything I've ever read about CHIRP references a low, mid, and high frequency. Oddly enough, the outlet website says your current transducer will work with the Helix 12 CHIRP. What's up with that! Good luck, I hope it works out for you. Have to edit this post, as some of this info is questionable. While CHIRP comes in Low, Mid, and High, these are ranges of frequencies and not individual frequencies. The CHIRP pulse emits all the frequencies within a given range, ie, 80 to 150 kHz or 160 to 250 kHz. So to imply your transducer can't do this may not be correct.

CHIRP was actually developed in the 50s (?). Sub-bottom profiling was a later use. It emits multiple frequencies at once vs standard sonar which sends out only one.

By no means am I an expert on this, so I hope I am wrong and it is just a settings issue and an omission on their website. What I do know is CHIRP is a different technology than the standard 2-D sonar. It was developed for sub-bottom profiling (seeing into the sediment). Was looking at going in on a professional unit with a friend to search for submerged and buried old growth cypress logs south of New Orleans (another story). It makes no sense that HB would make this compatible with the 5 and 7 but not the 9. Been running HBs for a number of years now and they are good units. But it seems there is always another piece of hardware I need to take full advantage of upgrades.

Don't know if this is the problem, but a review of compatible sonars on the Humminbird web page for the transducer model you stated, does not list the Helix 9 DI Chirp. It does list the Helix 9 DI and the Helix 7 & 5 Chirps. So this seems a bit strange. Did some more searching on the HB website. No matter which way I search, starting with the transducer and looking for compatible units or starting from the units and looking for compatible tranducers, the XTM 9 DI 25 T is stated as being compatible with the Helix 7 & 5 DI Chirp but not the Helix 9. Hopefully this is just an oversight on the part of HB.

Sorry for the late report but had to head out to a job site as soon as I got back. Fished TB last Wed-Sun from Housen south to Lows Creek area (Magee Flats?). Underwater points on the main lake with wood and channels near their end. Drop shot was the ticket in 18-27 feet. Redbug, Green Pumpkin, Junebug Red Flake, and Bloodline (red black core) Finesse and Trick Worms. Use electronics to locate bait and bass so you don't waste time on barren water. Friday was our best day. As BF said, bite was weird, but once you got used to it, pull the trigger and a fish was on. One of the best trips we have made in 25+ years fishing The Bend.

This is true, the Navionics phone app maps are not always accurate. Are your Lowrance HDS Gen 3's combo units with both sonar and charts? These should be close. In response to whether or not a small creek can hold fish, keep in mind the top of the dorsal fin to the bottom of the pectoral fin on a 10lb bass is <12-inches. She can hide in not much change in bottom depth so don't rule out smaller creek channels especially where they meet up with bigger creeks. You have to hit it from all angles to determine how the fish want the lure that day.

On that app, both are channels, one smaller creek then San Miguel. Depends on how deep the water is to scare the fish, but yes you can circle a hump or idle around a point/ridge. if you see a bait ball but no predator fish move on till you find them. Not fishing for shad. Sometimes you will see a school of fish but no bait. if you're not sure what fish can look like on the sonar (they can look like the classic arch but not always), check out Jason Courville's facebook page. He often shows sonar screen shots of his outings. A free electronics lesson.

Points and ridges near channels are good places to start. However, there is no guarantee they actually hold fish. The best looking locations won't produce a bite if the fish aren't there. Even entry level electronics are a must, otherwise you are taking a shot in the dark. Do your pre-trip mapping, then when you're on the water, before you wet a line, make some passes with the sonar to see if you have bait fish and then bigger fish to catch in the area you chosen. If not, move on. You may have to check a number of spots before you actually find the fish. A little perseverance can pay off big. One other thing, especially this time of year. Bass follow the forage, forage follow the plankton, plankton are blown by the wind. The wind is you friend (up to a certain point).

Also, don't think of bass depth in terms of water clarity/visibility. Bass will go as deep as they need to for any number of reasons.

Bass can hang out above or below the thermocline. The difference is those above tend to be active (and catchable) and those below tend to be inactive. A very good tournament angler that lives on the south end of the lake showed me his method to find it. He uses his 2D sonar while running. It shows up as a horizontal band of noise that typically tops out in the 20-25ft range. According to him, any hump or ridge that pierces up through the thermocline is "in play", anything below is not.

Been accused more than once of getting too much into the weeds of a subject. From the Graph of the TBLA Lunker Program website, the three standout March months occurred in 2016, 2015, and 2012 (I think). From the TPW TB 2015 Report, Figure 1, water levels were above full pool in March 2016 and 2015. And while below pool in 2012, levels increased tremendously (10 ft) in the beginning of the year. This isn't conclusive, but it doesn't dispel a possible correlation between higher water levels and larger number of big bass caught on TB.

I believe the rising water did have something to do with March 2016 being a banner month. It's when I caught my PB of 11.33. In general there are more bank beating anglers than deep water anglers, especially in the spring. Fish tend to follow a rising water line but not necessarily a falling one. A Perfect Storm (pun intended) sort of situation occurred in March 2016.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1384_2015.pdf I posted this link on the Learn TB forum also. Great information.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1384_2015.pdf Here's the link to all the info you need. Look at page 29, Table 12, especially the bottom of the table % of legal fish released. How you choose to interpret this data is up to you.