nubasser

Look for Plano 964, or 974, both available on Amazon. One of the will fit there, I believe

I like the Fishidy app, as I can get an idea of the waters I will be fishing and it also marks spots where folks have noted things, like stumps, lay downs, rock etc and where they have caught fish. It gives a good idea of what the lake features and which types of places there may hold fish.

. Great pictures Wayne. When I get close to time for that type of fishing I will let you know and try to catch up when you may be out.

Hey Wayne P., I like how the sonar shows the fish symbols, I have a Humminbird and am still learning how to use it. If I can get back to Briery this summer and you happen to be out, could you show me how you approach the deep channel fishing. I think it will unlock a lot of the puzzle especially on my home waters of Smith Mountain lake. I try to fish offshore quite a bit but I really don't know what to look for. I have been wearing the fish out with the weedless wacky rig the past couple of years shallow but I'd like to understand the way to target those schools of deep fish. I'm not concerned about learning your honey holes so much as how to approach the fishing so as to duplicate that no matter where I go. I've learned a lot from your posts here and a couple of other forums, as well as many of the other experienced folks on here, and I appreciate your willingness to share.

Looks like a good day on the water. A couple of things about being a new boat owning fisherman. I would recommend you take a boater safety course, online or classroom setting. In addition to all of the value able information on this site and comments from great folks willing to share, one thing I would add to this is, if you are on a lake with multiple bass fisherman, which you will probably recognize by how they target structure, if you see a lot of this fishing similar stuff then that is a great thing to try to duplicate. Example, if they are fishing long tapering points then most likely the fish are in those areas, are they fishing lay downs maybe the fish are on that, docks, rock etc. in one particular tournament my partner and I were struggling for bites. We observed several boats,not even in our tournament group, with their nose against shore and from what we could tell we're cranking rip rap banks. We found similar banks and managed a small limit by duplicating this.

Thank you, Hi Salenity. I believe I will place my order today. Looks like 999 will be my unit.

Thank you. Some good things to consider. Would external GPS be better for marking a waypoint? Because it can be mounted closer to transducer or is there an offset that can be programmed in the newer unit?

I'm looking to purchase one of the two units with side, down, and switch fire. There is a $20 difference in the two. Both around $1200. Which one should I purchase? They look similarly equipped. Both are brand new.

Thanks for the reply. I guess when fishing that deep you get used to the feel of how far the worm is sinking. I will try this on deeper summertime bass. I hope you wear out those Lake Fork bass.

Wayne, how heavy do you go to fish the wacky that deep? I began using this technique in shallow water, up to maybe 12', when I saw your post here about it a few years ago, and on fishingva.com. I love the technique and use it quite often, but really cannot get comfortable fishing it so deep. I use a 20# flouro leader to help with sink rate .

The best resource I have found telling you all you need about fish finders. Do a YouTube search for Doug Vahrenberg Humminbird seminar. Hours of stuff. He show it in depth. He has some videos showing marked fish along with photos of the fish after catch. Hope this helps you.

I am not familiar with fishing that lake, but if it is late June, the FLW guys were using deep diving cranks, umbrella rigs, and drop shots. So if they happen to be on a similar pattern these would be some good baits to have rigged. If you have access to good electronics they key is to find schools of big fish. I'm sure some folks on this forum will have good ideas on which type of locations to try. It wouldn't hurt to check out YouTube to see how the pros caught them and the episode they have from 2013 even shows some of the general areas they were targeting. That being said their tourney may have been a little later than yours. Hope this helps a little and good luck.

Thank you Buzz, and Mike. This place is full of lots of info. I appreciate your help. I will look into these places and let you all know how we do. All replies are welcome.

The trip will be the end of March. Or early April

I am planning a fishing excursion with my fishing partner to visit some southeast lakes. We plan to fish Chicamauga, then Guntersville, then on the way back toward home, either Norman or High Rock. My home lake is Smith Mountain Lake, VA. We have taken some other trips but usually with other boaters familiar to the areas. I'm hoping you fine folks can help me out with some good places to stay near each Lake preferably closest to an easy accessible launch ramp, or a launch spot near some great fishing sections of each lake. We will have GPS on the water. The trip will last about one week and we are breaking up travel by hitting these spots. The time will be late march. So what I am asking are Hotels/ motels boat friendly, Good boat launch locations and any fees., Lake specific Seasonal tactics- this will help us travel a little lighter so not to bring more tackle than necessary. If anyone is willing to give idea of best sections of lake it would be appreciated, we will only fish here most likely one time ever, and if all goes well we will try to make trips to other great fisheries. Kind of a fishing bucket list.