WIGuide

@Catt has given some great advice. There are some baits that will come through the grass to an extent and allow you to cover some water, but being able to cover water further down the water column is nearly impossible with a ton of grass. You don't need to use a punch weight if the grass isn't super thick, but find a weight that will allow you to get a bait down through the grass efficiently. Cover water by continuing to move and make quick efficient pitches. They don't always have to go to holes. Not sure how thick the grass is there or what kind it is, but I know up here there are days you'll catch them out of the holes and other days they'll be sitting seemingly right in the middle of the clumps. If you can get out earlier in the year before the grass comes up too far a lot of times you can find irregularities that are under the grass that the fish are hanging around. If you don't know they're there it can seem very random because you seldom hit the same spot.

It sounds like Navionics might be the best option for the lakes you fish then. Both companies offer user updated information as well. I know cmap genesis is free to use for any Lowrance owners so you might want to look into that as well as the road beds may have been mapped out by someone, or you could even do it yourself.

Ditto for me. I also like keeping it that way since if one arm needs a break I can switch it up.

The ridiculous weather we've been having hasn't been very kind to a fisherman, but yesterday spring decided to show up for at least a day or two before the wintery mix predicted for the weekend gets here. I had to take advantage while I could, so after work I went back to the same lake I did well on a few weekends ago (when we had mid summer weather...crazy WI weather). Main lake had warmed up a few degrees to 46 and the creek I caught them out of had cooled down about 11 degrees to 49-50. There were fish still there though, although a bit more sluggish. Everything I caught came off of hard cover on either a jerkbait or a jig. Caught 9 in a little over 2 hours of fishing. This one was the biggest of the night. Still haven't hooked into a prespawn monster yet, but I've got a little while yet...the way the weather has been the spawn might happen around August this year lol

Like @InfantryMP said the 3 beeps when pushing the button means it doesn't have GPS signal. They shouldn't have needed to do anything inside the boat, but check to make sure the the GPS/Heading sensor is connected and then move on to the software and calibration.

I'd take a look at both of their websites as they both offer a way to preview the charts they offer online via chart explorer (C-map) and chart viewer (Navionics). It may not always give you the best idea of accuracy, but generally the more detail you see, the more accurate they will be.

I generally just lean my phone up against something and use gesture mode to snap the picture. That being said the pictures usually look better the closer the camera level is to the fish so something like what Jar posted would help with that.

Maybe your experiences are different than mine, but I've never mangled a crankbait storing them vertically. I also store plastics that way often and have still caught just as many fish with them.

Flambeau used to have a "Tuff Tainer Tote" The 5000 model holds up to 8 3700 size boes. They have been discontinued, but might be able to be found on the interwebs fairly cheap. There's a surplus store up by me that has them pretty cheap right now so I bought one just for pulling stuff in and out of the boat, or taking extra treys with on trips where I'm not sure what to expect and overpack, but don't want it all in the boat.

If the chatterbait is getting some interest, but not enough to fully commit, change something about it. Change trailer style, change color, change sizes, change all of them. There's something about it that's causing them to turn away at the last second, but it's getting their interest. If those changes don't work, then maybe try something all together different.

@InfantryMP gave you some great information. The other thing to look at is to make sure it's enabled on the unit itself. If it's not added, it won't show up on the unit at all even if it's connected. The feature can be enabled by going into Settings -> System -> Advanced -> Features and then find active target and make sure it is turned on.

Not here to knock Pflueger as I've got an older president that's still going. It was a solid performer, but it's an older model. I bought a Daiwa RG-AB (now the Regal) at the same time. Both reels were the same price point but the Daiwa was smoother out of the box and now that they both have years of use on them the Daiwa is nearly as smooth as new and the President isn't even close. Talking to someone in the know, Daiwa spent as much on the gear set they put in those reels as Pflueger did to produce their whole reel. Don't let cosmetic fool you, it's the internals that matter.

Way to go!

I currently have one and a second one that I'm waiting until it's slightly warmer outside to put on. Last year fishing with 1 was nice, but having a 2nd will be nicer. Since they aren't on the center line of the boat like the trolling motor is the boat will spin in the wind and will have a tendency to walk back and forth a bit. Personally the 8 footers are enough for me. They don't sit much higher than the motor and let me anchor in about 6.5 feet regardless of bottom composition. If it's harder bottom I can get a little more out of them. Anything deeper I can use spot lock and not disturb anything. Having 2 will not only allow you to stay in one spot, but also pick the best boat position and will stay where you put it. Depending on the water you fish, they might not get as much use so one might be sufficient. That's a personal decision bases on how and where you fish. There's a lot of shallow water up in my neck of the woods so mine get used all the time regardless of season, so for me having 2 is the best option.

A few years ago one of the camera men at B.A.S.S. took a direct hit to glass lens with a heavy flipping weight. The glass shattered and got blown towards his eye. He ended up making a full recovery if my memory serves me right but it took a while. I'm on my second pair of Costas and absolutely love them. They make enough frames that you can find one to adequately block out light which allows the lenses to do what they are designed to do. I've tried on the poly lenses in store and they are very good, but I prefer the glass. I know some of it is just from being taller, but I've been in the boat with enough people and pointed out things they couldn't see to comfortably say they give me an edge.

I looked on Pheonix's website after I saw your other post about ordering one and see they do have it on there as an option, but it didn't show very well on their customizer. Looking at the pictures of that one it does look pretty cool for sure. I've had powder blue gel, grey, and my latest is black with a waterline stripe. Aside from ascetics, I don't think it would be much different, other than maybe being harder to repair if it's ever scraped up so a keel protector would be a good investment.

Units can be used with a wide variety of transducers so they have options to choose which one you're using specifically. When you set the unit up, you're supposed to select the transducer model you're using for best results. I would check to make sure that's set first, then check to make sure the software is on the most up to date version, and also check to make sure it's getting proper voltage.

Do you have the correct transducer selected in setup? What voltage is your graph reading?

I don't recall ever seeing one that doesn't have a plain gel coat bottom unless you're talking about below the top cap.

Haha it's all in good fun man. It's hard to deny that just about every thread here with any mention of FF sonar has a nearly word for word post about mid summer smallmouth fishing and the PMTT ban though.

It certainly is, especially to get in 14 hours or so. Usually these systems move through over a longer period of time, but this is the second time this year we got 15"+ overnight Yeah I have a friend who lives over in the cities who was rubbing that in sending me pictures of his green grass on Monday lol Lucky duck! We're just getting rain down here which is helping get rid of the snow, but with water levels already so high that's not great either. How far north are you? I see you like fishing the Chip, that's one of my favorites as well.

It was one of those deals where I just had to laugh at myself. Made me feel a little better knowing I did still know what a bite feels like! Haha yeah 15 degree swing here can happen if a small front moves through. Last week after work walking the dog I was wearing shorts and tshirt and getting warm. These pictures were taken 3 days apart, I guess on the positive note, I understand where Mercury got their design idea for their 4 stroke pro xs haha. Thank you Sir! On a positive note the sun is shining today and starting to melt away the nastiness. Hopefully you'll be out there pounding the brown bass soon!

glad to hear it's working out!!