Janderson45

I saw the Helix Gen 3 mentioned somewhere but couldn’t find any info. I’ll take another look.

I’m curious as to whether or not anyone has knowledge of new graphs on the horizon for this winter? I know a lot of manufacturers save (or target) their new models for release at Icast, but that’s not until next summer. I was looking at Humminbird’s the other day, I’m planning to add another one to my boat this winter. While looking at prices and options I realized that they just released G2 solix units. It piqued my interest a bit- I was hoping they added functionality for Solix to Helix Ethernet networking,but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Without an official press release from Humminbird the only new feature I could find was compatibility with the new Ultrex trolling motors that have the Mega DI transducer built into the trolling motor. It got me thinking though, am I better off waiting for a potential new unit instead of upgrading as soon as possible? I’ll be winterizing my boat in the next few weeks, so not really in a rush. I currently am running a Helix 10 Mega SI G2N and Helix 7 SI G2N. They’re both networked to the Ethernet hub along with my Ultrex/link trolling motor. I planned on adding another 10” or 12” unit, but don’t want to buy a roughly 2 year old graph at full price just to have them release a new model a few months later. I already went through that with the Ultrex, within weeks of buying mine Minn Kota released the new version with Mega DI transducer. Wish I could add or swap out that transducer instead of using the US2 that mine came with...

Yes, needs to be G2N, not just G2. The smallest unit available in the G2N models in the helix 7G2N chirp/gps. These can be had for a little bit over $500. the two units can be networked together via Ethernet, and since you’re not talking about ipilot link with the trolling motor one Ethernet cord between the two units is all that you would need. You will also need the adapter “dongle” cables as the Ethernet cords do not plug directly into the back of the helix units. To use the US2 on the trolling motor you will also need a US2 adapter. So thats -Helix 7 G2N -$550 -15’ Ethernet cable -$50 -(2x) Ethernet adapter -$30 (each) -US2 sonar adapter - $30 Looking at around $700 plus or minus for everything. That’s not including a mapping chip for the helix 7 up front, the units can share waypoints and sonar, but not mapping chips. A mapping chip is going to run another $100-$150.

Mine do the same thing, I thought it was intentional to be honest. Not sure how much “noise” they make, I would imagine it’s a little bit of added noise if you compared it to a rig with no bead, but probably not a lot. The reason that I use them is more to protect the terminal knot from constantly getting crashed into by a heavy tungsten weight. These serve that purpose and will not crack or break from the hard and heavy tungsten weight like glass beads will. If you’re really looking to make some noise with the rig underwater I’d look into rattles.

Tough conditions down the cape today for sure. Got a handful of small keepers and one good bite in the afternoon. Hit a spinnerbait up fairly shallow. Water temps were 52-54.5, wind picked up very stiff out of the west mid morning and got worse as the afternoon went on. Just shy of 4.5 lbs at only 18.5”. Healthy fish for sure. there was a tournament pulling out the same time as me. Looked like a tough day for most guys but one team had 3 largemouth over 5lbs including a 7.6 - Pretty impressive haul of largemouth for this time of year no doubt. The guy caught them so deep that he had to fizz them to release em. Would love to know where and what he was doing, keeps me coming back trying to figure it out.

Keep at it, fishing deep in the right locations will pay off, all about finding the right spot on the structure that is hopefully holding bait. I’ve noticed the smallmouth will often stack up on the wind blown side of underwater humps and points. Opposite of the behavior I usually see from largemouth and lake trout. The smallmouth seem to set up on the wind blown side of deeper structure and gorge on bait as the current smacks bait into said humps and points. There’s exceptions of course, and I have found smallmouth behaving more like largemouth and trout (sitting behind/underneath the stucture feeding on bait that passes over the top) but if I find them on the windblown side in any sort of numbers it’s usually a slug fest. It’s been a weird and slow fall transition period in New England this year if you ask me- smallies were late to leave their summer locations and move up shallow. I’m not sure when it really happened if it did in bulk at all. I expect water temps in the low to mid 50s this weekend, hoping to find them in 25-30 feet but really not sure. With water temps in the 50s pretty much my whole smallmouth Arsenal is still in play.. I’ll have far too many rods rigged up this weekend (14 combos or so) and hope to narrow it down as the day wears on..

A 3 is a good fish anyday where I live in New England. 3+ lbs is enough to get me fired up every time. Nice fish and congrats on getting the skunk out.

Simms makes awesome products, not surprised that you like it! I might have to pick something like that up myself..

Humps and bait works on Mashpee too .

Well I’d be happy to take you out sometime and show you how I locate and catch deep Clearwater smallies. Just gotta make sure I’ve still got them dialed in this weekend, might have to do a fair deal of graphic before I actually start fishing.. not sure if they’ll be in true winter locations yet or still somewhere in between. Will report back for sure.

I’m generally pretty lost fishing for smallies on smaller ponds without major depth or offshore structure. I tend to do much better using my s on bigger bodies of water to locate suitable structure and bait. Probably from all those Quabbin trips, it’s what I got used to and what I’m comfortable with now. Mashpee/Wakeby will likely be where I head on Saturday, as long as the wind isn’t too crazy. Hopefully I can figure something out, that place holds some studs. Might be meeting up with @Dunks N Dinks down there so we can attempt to break down the lake together.

Hit the nip for a few hours on Sunday afternoon, caught a fair deal of pickerel on mainly reaction baits but no bass. I tried fairly hard at getting a jig up in some recently flooded brush and really letting it soak. I got only one good bite doing this, but it came unbuttoned before I could get a look. Think I might go back to braid for all heavy cover jigs, the 16lb Fluoro I had on felt a little slower to transmit the bite to the rod than I like. I assume it was a bass due to the location, but can’t say for sure. Smoked it after sitting still for about 15 seconds after the initial flip. Water temps were a relatively balmy 55 degrees after all the rain on Friday/Saturday and the Nip was about as high as I’ve ever seen it. Still plenty of good weed growth along the northern banks, that’s where we caught all the pickerel. They came on a big glide bait, a chatterbait, a lipless crank, a wacky rig and a ned rig. Needless to say they were a little fired up but for whatever reason the bass weren’t. Plan to get out on these red hot smallmouth waters down the cape this weekend, I’m thinking either Mashpee/Wakeby or Long Pond Harwich. Will let ya know how we do. Got another couple weekends left before I’ll winterize the boat, bite has definitely been a bit stingy for me recently but I’m feeling confident I’ll figure something out sooner rather than later and it’s a great time of year for big bites. Stay at it everyone, you’ll be begging for a day in the mid 40s and open water before you know it!

I throw 12lb tatsu in the manner that you’re talking about. That said if I was just getting into fluorocarbon I’d recommend abraz X, Invis X, or Sunline Sniper which are all cheaper than tatsu by quite a bit... I still use all of them in various applications. Im also a big braid to fluorocarbon leader guy.... if you learn to properly tie an FG knot I can’t recommend it enough. You can absolutely have your cake and eat it too with this setup, best of both worlds.

Yup, seems as if I was misinformed, just goes to show you can’t take everything you read on the internet as truth. I remember specifically reading that smallmouth are closely related to cichlids and largemouth are closely related to grouper which accounts for their difference in anatomy and behavior- I can see why someone would think that but doesn’t appear to be the case. Thanks for setting me straight!

Couple of weird looking smallies! @FryDog62- that’s a pretty crazy proportioned and colored fish... double whammy on that one. Ive never caught any bass resembling orange, blue or white around here ?‍♂️. That said I have always found it pretty cool how you can catch both largemouth and smallmouth that have vastly different coloration or pigmentation, and when you take fired up smallies out of the livewell with those tiger stripes they look pretty awesome. I used to be into tropical fish keeping as a hobby and kept a bunch of South American cichlid fish commonly called a “Discus” fish, I kept wild ones that were harvested in the Amazon river basins, when they were stressed out they would get very similar vertical bars to smallmouth. Smallmouth are related to South American cichlids if I’m remembering right, so that would make sense.

Turns out I only fished the North and Middle sections, probably should’ve headed to the south. A number of guys did fish the south section in full sized bass rigs so it’s doable despite the tournament director warning that it may not be acessible due to high water levels- it was. No ramp construction yet, I guess it was postponed yet again but I have no idea when it will actually get underway. Facility was nice if you ask me other than the very steep ramp... I guess that’s one of the things they’ll be fixing.

Fished an open in Cochituate Sunday- it was TOUGH. Not sure how everyone else made out as we bailed about a half hour before weigh in. Looked like about half the field had done the same... Water temps were 51-52 degrees and winds were mostly calm throughout the morning, picked up a bit in the afternoon. I was marking nice piles of fish in around 30’ of water on humps and points, not sure if they were bass as neither my partner or I landed a bass all day. We threw a myriad of baits that resulted in some yellow perch, crappie, and pickerel but not a single largemouth. The shallow sections that we searched seemed pretty devoid of life despite some green weeds still kicking around. Next up is Candlewood next weekend, hoping that goes a bit better! I’m always more confident catching smallmouth this time of year than largemouth, so fingers crossed!

It’s a Humminbird, looks like a Helix series. Funny though, mine shows fish in 25’ of water quite a bit different than that picture. I get arches and lines a lot more often than blobs, maybe it’s because I use high frequency CHIRP or possibly something to do with chart speed?

Just bought the rod you speak of and have a thread started here about it. video review upcoming... 8’6 MLXF SCIV blank with a split grip and a relatively aggressive guide train. St Croix calls it their Dropshot/Hair Jig rod. Fished it this past weekend with a dropshot for deep Clearwater smallmouth and first impressions were good with only a minor gripe or two. Haven’t fished hairjigs on it yet, but plan to do plenty of that over the coming weeks. Will also try a float n fly on it. From what you describe, the rod sounds about perfect to me. When loaded up the action is quite parabolic, and the tip is just a little softer than my 7’6 MLXF, yet sensitivity is still what I would call good to great. It is definitely a little tip heavy though, I have it paired with a size 4000 Shimano Sustain and wouldn’t want to fish it with anything smaller- I think wrist fatigue would be an issue with a smaller/lighter reel.

To the original poster- beautiful bass, something to be proud of no doubt! That said, I’d bet a kidney that it’s well below 10lbs ;).

In depth review still coming... been too busy fishing to make vids! Overall I’d give the boat a B+ so far, generally very happy with it but do have a gripe or two.

?? Edit: no light tackle involved, lol! Tuna spinning setups are a blast, but good luck actually landing a giant on a spinning rod..

Great fish but is sucks that you cant just be happy with what looks like a 5-6lb smallmouth and have to lie and call it 25” and 9+lbs ?. It blows my mind how bad casual fisherman are at estimating fish weight and how quick they are to throw around the term “5lber” - a 5lber is a great fish just about anywhere in the country (largemouth or smallmouth) - unfortunately most of the “5lbers” I usually see caught are between 2-3lbs. I tell my buddies when I’m getting them into the sport that they shouldn’t estimate or brag about fish weight without actually using a scale and it will likely be a long time before they catch that 5lber.

I’ve been eyeing these as soon as they were announced... I own a few Champion Extreme HPs, if these new Dobyns sticks are worth the price increase over the HPs they must be approaching the NRX in terms of blank sensitivity. My Champion HPs are already (arguably) the most sensitive rods I own, I’m expecting nothing less than mind blowing performance out of these new Xtasy offerings. I don’t see myself springing for until Christmas time, but will be sure to report back when I get my hands on one. I’ll probably go with a lighter power than you did and pair it with a Chronarch MGL.

Read my third post. Rod deflection can be a key factor. That “dampening” works both ways, fish have less time to feel you as well. Due to the limber tip my 7’6 dropshot setup was more sensitive in my hands than the shorter 6’8 rod was. Don’t see why this would be any different if the blank is constructed appropriately. Why do you reckon there were restrictions on rod length in competition in the first place, because it was a disadvantage to use a longer rod? Again, I’ve yet to field test this stick, so we will see...but at the very least it’s food for thought. If you’re going to take the “get off my lawn” approach this stick clearly isn’t for you, and that’s fine. I’m excited to try it out. Joel