12poundbass

Lol I was thinking the same thing.

What I meant by fudge it (with mine at least) is when I weighed a bass it would go to say 5 pounds if I moved just right it would move up or down by several ounces. This wasn't an isolated incident either. Maybe it was junk, I would like to think not considering I spent $25 on it and I didn't use it that often. As far as digital and technology goes I'm old school I don't dive in head first over technology I stick with what works. I don't care if things are the latest and greatest if what I have works I stick with it.

Hello A-Jay from Montcalm county!

Santa Wayne I'm up in Michigan I've been good this year will put these units under my tree?

I wasn't a big fan of the spring scale. I noticed that you could fudge it fairly easily. That's why it's now a toy for my son and I'm packing extra batteries as soon as I get home before I forget.

Frozen in Michigan ice fishing sucks, going to do a little couch fishing. I catch way bigger fish couch fishing anyways!

That's not too far off unless the difference gets bigger the longer the fish. Maybe it's a little more accurate for northern bass since their growing season is shorter, or maybe I'm looking too far into it. Either way I'm packing an extra set of batteries just in case they die on me again. Then again since fisherman always "lie" you could use it to your advantage and tell your buddy I caught a 10 pounder just do the math! Lol!

This is exactly why I asked. Conclusion...carry extra batteries!

I was watching Bill Dance's show the other night and he was talking about a way to estimate a fish's weight only by length. Here's what he explained...the fish is 20" multiply 20x20x20 then divide by 1600. Always divide by 1600. I was wondering if anyone has tried this and if it's fairly accurate. I caught a nice one last year and went to weigh it and my batteries were dead in my scale! If this is fairly accurate it would be pretty handy since most fisherman have a ruler. I don't carry a tape to do the length/girth formula (although I guess I should if I want a replica mount). I haven't tried it yet (iced out in Michigan) and wondering if anyone has?

My approach to everything fishing is I go with what works best for me. That being said I'm open to trying and learning new equipment and techniques. Some would probably laugh at some of the setups I use for certain techniques but I works for me. Could I be missing out by my approach? Probably. Do I catch plenty of fish and enjoy fishing? Absolutely! Greg Hackney had a great article a month or to ago on Bassmaster about what pros do that we don't need to. In a nut shell if we did everything the pros do we'd change our lines every time we go out, change our props every couple months, have 3-4 12" units, haul around 30+ rods, and enough lures to start our own tackle shop! I'm assuming most of us can't afford to do that. I use what works for me, I have enough rods so I don't have to tie a different lure too much, have enough lures to make my wife wonder why, but it's kept simple, and most importantly I catch fish, have fun, and learn every time I go out.

The Helix 7 would work great for you. The gps automatically comes with the Side Imaging unit. There's a thread on here titled SCREENSHOTS you can check out the snap shots people have posted from their units. I think you'll be amazed what these units can do. Like with anything there's a learning cure. There are plenty of experts on here to help you with the learning cure.

I have 3 black Max 3's and an old school black max. Not sure sure what the difference is but both are excellent. The pro max (I have 2 of them) are awesome too!

Abu Garcia Black Max for sure. Best reel for the price and a great reel all around!

Nice! Wish I could get that lucky. I'm in the market for a pt175 also, haven't found a steal like that though.

Assuming the seats are good, I think 5-6k would be fair. I saw a couple this summer in my area in that price range.

All of us on this site (there may be a couple of trolls) are here because we are outdoorsmen/women. We care about our natural resources,wildlife, and the sports we choose to pursue. We love the outdoors. You hear a hundred different birds every day and never think twice about it. You hear a loon and you almost always stop in your tracks and look. My son is six and there are a bunch of birds he can name by sight. He knew the sound of a loon by age three. These are majestic birds that we all love. I'm willing to bet the original poster wasn't expecting this to go the way it's gone. I think it's because we as sportsman (and women) are always on the defensive. The finger pointing is always in our direction. Look at the California Delta a year or two ago or Mills Lacs (I think that's the right lake) over the walleye situation and how the bass is to blame or private waters on public waterways. These are what the general public hears about. Do they ever hear about the conservation efforts of the NWTF,RMEF,DU,BASS Nation clubs, and so many others? Rarely if at all. We as a nation have steered towards focusing on the negative because it's "news worthy" and less on the positive. My belief is the conservation efforts towards our sports far outweighs this whole lead issue by far. Am I open minded to a better alternative to lead? Absolutely! I have tungsten weights. However there are bigger fish to fry (no pun intended)!

Like you're quick search shows you can take numbers from this research and that research twist a couple things and boom you have an eye catching article that grabs everyone's attention. Journalism is dead, we now a days have to do our own research because every environmental group and politician has their own agenda and will do anything they can to get what they want. The 49% stated in the article is technically correct but there's fine print we all have to read. What's the percentage of loons and their eggs/babies lost to predation? How many are lost to natural causes? I'm willing to bet more than 49% per year not per 22 years. Lead weights in fishing isn't the issue. Soft plastic lures are more of an issue to wildlife than lead but you rarely hear about that. Don't get me wrong I use them all the time but I make a conscious effort to properly dispose of them when I'm done, plus the biodegradable lures suck!

I think what onvacation was saying is for your first time with a baitcaster you might want to try a lure a little heavier until you get used to it and get everything dialed in, using a Senko from the start could lead to many many backlashes and steer you away from baitcasters.

The fish aren't smarter. You can still catch freshwater fish using a wire leader, I used to when I was a kid to change lures quicker before I could tie knots. It's just not necessary unless you're going after pike,muskee, and other long toothy fish. Other freshwater fish bass, panfish, ect. It's not needed and they could very well see the leader.

I too thought braid was expensive, but one of my reels has had the same braid on it for 3 years now and still good. Mono for filler a third of a spool and braid the rest of the way and you save even more. Finally talked the wife into 10lb braid for her spinning reel and she loves it. Only time I've ever been right in her eyes! Lol

I'm with you. I have no experience with this reel, but I've had a W&M Skeet Reese caster and it was the biggest hunk and junk I've ever owned. My first caster ever a $30 Rhino was way better!

1-1 Hmmm I thought it might be the dash so I tried it but obviously that's not it.

I'm scratching my head too

The G2 has autochart live, I think there was something else too but someone else can chime in on that.

Most of the Helix units have mapping. I would look at on line marine electronics stores, you'll pay below MSRP.