12poundbass

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.

I'd check out the Helix 5 models. Do your research. Now there is a new Gen2 model so that means the first gen models should come down in price.

As usual Wayne you swoop in at the nick of time and save the day. Makes sense what you're saying. In a nutshell fish can hear to an extent and as we've seen from Bobo they are attracted to sound. They can hear boat noise and sound from our lures but unlikely from transducers.

Interesting. It's appears the fish were curious just like I was and then they thought the same thing I did...man that thumping is annoying. Pretty interesting to see them come right up to it though. The final decision on this topic would be from the fish and I'm guessing they're not going to answer that though.

It is pretty interesting considering there are a ton of lures out there with some type of rattle/noise. Wouldn't that be in the same category as the hydrowave or a transducer as far as sound?

This makes my decision extremely tough. Go with the good Black Friday/cyber Monday deals or hold out for the gen2n's to be released? Wayne you're the Humminbird wizard what's your input?

I just looked at Doug's images he has and they're awesome!!! It's pretty amazing what they've been able to do! Big question now is going to be how's the pricing going to be?

I was just wondering if anyone knew what the big Humminbird news was today?

Lowell...I'm about 30 minutes north of you in Greenville. Good to see some people close by. I've been on here for about 3 weeks or so, pretty good site! Big Pine Island just north of you is pretty good. The state record came out of there back in the 30's I believe? 11lbs 15oz hence my screen name. Murray lake just north of you has some big Muskie if you're into that.

Lol!

TW? I'm guessing you're referring to Tackle Warehouse? I've decided I'm going to get a couple Humminbirds. I was thinking about The Garmin 7sv because of the price but I know I'd regret it because of the lack of mapping.

I haven't purchased a unit/units yet. I'm basically reading up on them so I can decide which is best for me. After doing this I'm almost sure I'm going to go with the Helix 7si or two maybe if the price is right a 7 & 9 both will be the si model. I'm holding out for a while to see if or when the gen2 comes out.

Hydrographics on a reel? I'll bet it's at least a grand for that reel! Shishamo....took one quick look and thought it actually was a Shimano. Lol

I learned using the Abu Garcia Black Max. They're good and not expensive. Between the Black Max and the Silver Max I now have 9. Starting out I'd personally spend a little less on a reel and a little more on a rod for the sensitivity.

New to the site and stumbled upon this. I'm from Greenville (Montcalm county). I mainly fish small state land lakes. Went out last weekend and caught a hammer handle not by choice. The bass have been real hit and miss around here lately.

The striker 7sv doesn't have maps. You can mark waypoints and see your route. From what I've seen and researched it's basically a blank screen with your routes and waypoints on there. I believe you can also use icons for rocks, grass, logs, and other things you find so you can come back and know what it was you found at that spot.

Thanks for the reply. I've been looking on Craigslist quite a bit. I was kind of wondering if there were another sites besides Craigslist and boat trader that would expand my options. I've had 2 trackers but I'm not deadest on Tracker though.

I'm looking for a Tracker 175txw. I've been looking on CL and Boatrader. What are some other places to look? I live in central Michigan so I'm looking to stay close to Michigan for my searches. Thanks in advance.

I too am in the market for a si unit. I'm leaning towards humminbird and waiting for the next generation to come out before pulling the trigger. I've done a bunch of research on using a si unit on the trolling motor. Do some searches on this forum and others and YouTube. I was skeptical about it at first like tj87 said but Wayne P pointed me in the right direction and after plenty of research I'm all in with using a si unit up front.