Wayne P.

Never seen or heard of a weedless Circle hook. I don't use Circle hooks unless I don't want to catch any. Gamakatsu has a Weedless Finesse Wide Gap hook with a flimsy plastic weed guard and they can't handle a big bass in heavy cover. The hook point is too close to the hook eye on those with or without the weedguard which causes missed hooksets. S13john, I catch the most during mid day like around 10:00 to 3:00

Yes, but my computer that has the photos is being worked on. I'll post it when I get it back.

Yep, that is what it is. I call it the Weedless Wacky Rig. The hook is a Gammy 3/0 #02413 Octopus Hook and the black band is 1/4" electrical heat shrink tubing on a Zoom Trick worm. I do the same with a finesse worm and use the 2/0 hook.

I catch about 90% with the rig shown in my avatar. I rarely use topwater unless there is schooling going on. The only jig type presentations I use there are 1/8 oz. shakey heads. The heavier jigs are just anchors in the timber.

Historically, June has been the top month for numbers and size for me.

I've been using it for about 10 years in all my small engines (2-stroke and 4-stroke). I use it all the time and it takes care of carbon, ethenol problems, and is a preserver.

That setup looks like a drowning waiting to happen.

When I had a 12' jon boat with a 9.9, it would go 25 mph. I ran it on plane at WOT from the ramp to just about any part of the lake I wanted, but I've been fishing there for 20 years. Now the 16' Tracker only goes less than 8 mph with a 9.9-the 4-stroke doesn't seem to have the performance of a 2-stroke. When you hit a submerged stump, keep your momentum going and most of the time you won't get hung up. The most likely casulty would be a transom mounted sonar transducer.

If you mean the unit will not read on plane, that is your incorrect installation of the transducer. The Lowrance/Eagle transom transducers are the easiest to get high speed depth readings with. The Eagle FIshmark 320 is plenty powerful enough when installed properly. You can't go too fast to not get depth readings with a properly installed transducer for the hull type. I saw one of those transducers on a 95+ mph capable boat this past weekend. His unit is an Eagle.

Along the shoreline in the cove the ramp is in on the opposite side from the ramp is a good catching location. Most of the depths in the 8'-15' range on the Briery Creek and Little Briery Creek channel edges at the South end is a good producing pattern. If you have the tendency to beat the banks, the fish will be behind you.

Yes, you can install an Imaging transducer above the hull bottom to protect as much as possible from impact damage, but it will not provide on-plane depth readings in that position (I have mine about 1' above the hull bottom). Most fiberglass bass boat owners that have imaging equipment mount the transducer above the hull bottom and use a shoot-thru transducer for faster-than- idle-speed depth readings. I am fishing this week at Lake Fork with a guy that has Humminbird Side Imaging and his SI transducer is mounted on a hole shot plate on his jackplate. Two others here have the Lowrance HDS with LSS-1 and the Structure Scan transducer mounted on their jack plate. All of them have a shoot-thru 2D transducer.

If you go to Briery Creek Lake, use the Rt. 701 ramp. All of the lake can be accessed easily with electric power from there.

The HD in the model number refers to the screen resolution. It has the highest pixel count per square inch display in the industry. It should work well for you. There are two 597 units, one of them is the 597ci HD DI which has Down Imaging as well as regular 2D sonar. All the new Humminbirds with HD in the model number have that screen type. The "c" in the model number means Color Display The "i" in the model number means Internal GPS Antenna. "Combo" in the unit description means it is sonar and GPS. The Humminbird units have a 50 channel GPS antenna which gives better accuracy.

No colored superline can remain the factory supplied color. The fibers don't absord coloring and they just have a surface coating. Some lines maintain their colors longer than others.

Sorry for the late reply, I've been traveling to get to a good spot to fish, Lake Fork. To take care of your concerns with damage to a transducer, purchase an Alumaducer for whatever unit you get, even the one you have now. The Alumaducer is a shoot-thru transducer for aluminum hulls (I use one with my Tracker). You would have to get the adaptor that fits your sonar unit. It is not available for the imaging technology, just regular sonar. Any unit in your price range will do a good job of showing depth, fish, and bottom features after you learn how to use it properly. As far as which unit, every company makes good stuff or they wouldn't still be in busines. Take a look on some on-line catalogs like Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops and see what appeals to you and your wallet. Then ask here about a specific unit (pros, cons). To get the best price, do a web search for that particuar brand and model number. The before mentioned general sporting goods places sell suggested retail. Lots of other suppliers sell below SRP. Places that deal specifically with marine electronics have better prices. If you want some specific suppliers, send me an e-mail to purdum43@aol.com after you decide what you want. Generally, Humminbird units are easier to learn how to use and if you are the computer geek type, you may prefer the Lowrance units. Garmins are kind on in-between.

I ment reposition the transducer on the motor the other way so the cable won't get direct impact if you crash into something.

It didn't pass the fingernail test for me. That one Teflon thread among the 7 Dyneema threads does all that as advertized? No thanks.

What material is your boat made of? There are solutions for most boat types. 3dees, you made your transducer cable vunerable to impact damage, turn it around if it will function correctly that way.

After you break the transducer off your trolling motor. You can still use it for that purpose with a device made by Transducer Shield and Saver. It will make your transom transducer a trolling motor puck. You can use it before you break it off also.

Well you did exactly what you are NOT supposed to do when installing a transducer for shoot-thru operation. For the system to work, the transducer has to vibrate the hull when sending the sonar pulses and it has to receive the return pulse vibrations thru the hull material. That means the two surfaces have to act as one. The PROPER adhesive is a two part SLOW CURE (24 hr)epoxy. What you have is a flexible installation that may have come loose because it is not water tolerant. Before even doing the install, the best area to place it should be determinded by placing the transducer in the hull where you think is a good place, put about 2" of water in the hull, use some weight to hold it in place and run the boat to see if you get satisfactory readings in that location, move it around some if needed. After the testing, drain and dry the hull, lightly sand the hull at the determined loacation and transducer face, then install the transducer with the epoxy properly mixed (sturred slowly to avoid making bubbles)and about two table spoons of mix. Put epoxy on the transducer face and the area sanded. Press the transducer down in the epoxy to get the least amount of epoxy between the transducer face and hull, put some weight on it to keep it from moving while setting up. The pool of excess epoxy will hold it in place after it hardens. Some make a dam of plumbers putty around the installation area to keep the pool of epoxy from spreading before it sets up. If you want the best possible install, purchase a transducer that is made for that purpose and has a round flat bottom and a remote temp senser or no temp sensor at all. Add an auxiliary temp senser for water temp. If your sonar unit is a dual freqency model, the XP 9 20 is the non temp sensor transducer and the XP 9 20 T is the one with a remote temp sensor, both come with the proper adhesive.

That line which is made of 8 strands with ONE of them being Gortex isn't going to offer any more performance than any other 8 strand weave braid. The color comes off easily with the line pinched between fingernails. Marketing to the gullible again.

PM sent

You mentioned you put the transducer "in the hull". What kind of boat and what adhesive did you use?

Actually Jigman's transducer is the trolling motor puck with temperature sensor. The Lowrance skimmer transom transducer is shaped like a torpedo. The SCC-1 is the Transducer Shield and Saver mount for that style.

A lot of people that upgrade to the newest equipment that requires more amps to operate find out that their boat wiring harness is just not adequate. Using the boat wiring involves several points that have resistance that causes a voltage drop. The switch is one of those along with any other connection along the wiring harness as well as the minimum wire size used. Your best option is extending the unit power cord directly to the battery with conductors larger than the cord conductors (14 ga or larger),and use a spade type fuse. Additionally, maintain your battery just like you do your trolling motor battery/s. Keep it completely charged and the terminals tight and free of corrosion.