Scherbacj

I installed my Smartcraft Connect (the new Vesselview Mobil) and everything works fine, but even after I turned off the ignition the bottom light was still on/flashing. That light was flashing before I got my phone connected, so I closed out the app, and it still didn’t turn off. Does that normally stay on? I worry about it draining my battery? I know it’s a small light and everything, but still, if that thing flashes all the time it will eventually drain the battery, so I am trying to determine if that is normal? Unfortunately I couldn’t wait around forever to see if it would stop because it was getting dark and I needed to finish loading up and hooking up the boat, so I only saw it for a few minutes after turning off the ignition.

I think I figured it out. It sounds like the Vessel View Mobile was discontinued and replaced by the Smartcraft Connect Module. It does the same thing. So you can only use it if your cell phone has reception? That kinda sucks because a lot of the lakes I go to don’t have reception a lot of places when on the water. I mostly want it to track the hours, confirm my RPM’s, etc. but if I can’t use when I’m on the water it doesn’t do much good. I might look into the full Vessel View Link which integrates with my graphs. It doesn’t make sense why the Mobile won’t integrate with the graphs since they also have Bluetooth and WiFi.

I am looking to add Vessel View Mobile to my 75HP 4-Stroke, but it seems to be out of stock or maybe discontinued? but it looks like the Smart Craft Connect is the same price and does pretty much the same thing, does anyone know the difference? Are there advantages to one or the other? Will either of those connect with my Lowrance graphs? or can I only do that with the full Vessel View Link?

What did you use it for? Did it work well for a lot of techniques? I can’t afford to have 20 rods that do 1 thing each which is why I am trying to have like 5-6 nice rods that do a lot of things.

I’m looking at upgrading my Medium or Medium Light casting rod and am having trouble deciding. I’m looking for a bit of a multi-purpose rod, but will probably use it most for Finesse Swimbaits(3”-4” range), Underspins, 1/4oz Chatterbaits, light t-rigs, Topwaters and jerkbaits. Looking at around 1/8-5/8oz lure range and I generally use braid to fluorocarbon leader. At first I was thinking Megabass Diablo Spec R, but even though they call it a Medium “do all” rod the line/lure ratings feel too high. My Med Hvy Victory has the same lure ratings. I was looking at the Cashion Icon Topwater/Jerkbait Rod since it claims to have a bit of a parabolic action, but the Micro Guides worry me since I use a leader. I have also considered the Shimano Curado Med Light or maybe even the Expride since everyone raves about them. I currently have a very old Fenwick HMX Med/Fast and it just doesn’t do it for me anymore with Poor sensitivity, heavy, etc. So, I’m open to advice and suggestions. Looking to stay around the $200-$225 range but could be convinced to go up to $300 if it’s worth it, like going Expride over Curado if it’s a true leap in quality.

I didn’t even know that Willow Springs had LMB & SMB until a couple years ago. Until I got the boat it didn’t matter much because if I was fishing those lakes it was with my dad and walking the bank long distances and trying to catch bass doesn’t play well with his old body, but I look forward to being able to fish for them now. Your remark about the Spin Cast reel makes me smile because I haven’t used one in so long even though my personal best was caught on an old Zebco 33 and a crudely repaired no name pole my grandpa gave me. Even better, it was caught beside my buddies using $300-$400 combos because their parents were tournament fishers. The good old Zebco 33 were bomb proof. In fact, I recently snagged a pole from the bottom of the lake that was covered in years of sediment and algae, it had a Zebco 33 on it & my dad cleaned it up and oiled it and got it working again just for fun. Getting back to the original topic, I guess I shouldn’t have been that shocked because I watch a video that said they had success in the winter by fishing both extremes, meaning less than 8ft of water or over 40ft depth, and that on either one the fish will hold next to cover that absorbs heat like large rocks instead of timber or brush piles. And that is exactly where all the fish I caught were at, less than 8ft of water & next to large rocks but NOT big rock walls. I guess the big rock walls don’t cause as much of a warm bubble as a large rock that is sort of seperated from the bank/rock walls where it creates a small area of temp change. I guess I should have seared his observations into my brain a little better so I remembered it on the water instead of 2 days after. Either way, I appreciate the advice & input of everyone and it’s good to confirm/be reminded that there really isn’t a “formula” for catching bass on any water at any place in the world at any time.

The other thing that made last weekend more fun was they were letting water in, so from one week to the next the lake was up 10 feet, and they are going to continue until Wednesday at about 2ft a day. The weeks previous I knew fish were chasing bait up creek, but after they let the water in, the bait was GONE! I didn’t see any bait all day. That also makes the “knowing your waters” a little harder, this lake can go from 40ft below full pool to 10ft below full pool in pretty short time. I’ve been marking the cover I can see because it had been down 40ft so when the water goes up, I’ll have a better idea of where things are. And yes, knowing your waters is great, but I’ve only had my boat for 2 months, haven’t had time for that yet, that’s why I was trying to follow some of the “guidelines” of bass fishing.

For those with a lot more experience than me, do winter rules really apply everywhere? I live in AZ, last weekend the water temps were 55-60F, I started off following the advice for Winter fishing and wasn’t finding any bait, hi or low, so I threw it out the window, went far up the creek channel to shallow water and started casting at cover on the bank and caught a bunch of fish when everyone else didn’t. Only a couple were decent size, but when everyone else caught a couple, I caught close to 20 in a 1/8 mile stretch of bank that everything said fish shouldn’t be there. So my questions is, do seasonal changes apply across the board? Yes, the water is colder, but it doesn’t match up to most peoples winter water temps. If my waters never get down that cold, will fish really go deep? I thought it was the change in temp that controlled their movements more than the overall water temp, but from what I have seen the last couple weeks, the fish aren’t all going deep and slowing down. Will it only happen below a certain water temp regardless of how slow that change comes?

I guess I should add, my thinking is that I would use the HDS10 for most things, but when I use the FFS I would put it on the HDS10 and would then use the Elite FS7 for my chart & DI instead of doing a split screen. That way I have the largest view possible for the FFS. Doing it this way would also allow me to use the HDS10 for DI and use the FS7 for the chart instead of using the split screen.

I am trying to figure out how to setup my 2 HDS Pro 10’s with and Elite FS 7 and Active Target 2. Obviously I don’t have enough Ethernet ports to do it without the NEP-2, my question is does it matter where I plug each thing in at on the NEP-2? Why do they put one Ethernet port on one side and 4 on the other? Are the all connected together? Or is the single side the “In” and the other side the “Out”? My other option would be to hook-up the HDS Pro 10 & Elite FS7 at the Bow along with the Active Target 2, and then have the HDS 10 at the console not connected via Ethernet but still connected via NMEA2000 so it could control the Ghost if needed? Maybe I will try that first before I spend the $300 on the NEP-2 because I doubt I will need to look at AT2 at the console very often. I guess they wouldn’t share waypoints that way, but can’t I save waypoints to the SD Card and transfer them that way?

It’s a Lowe Stinger 178. I do not have vessel view.

I have a 75HP Mercury 4-stroke that currently has a 4 blade Spitfire 13.4” x 15P propeller and am getting about 5,000 to 5,100RPM at WOT and only getting about 33-34MPH top speed. I would like to pickup a little more top end speed so I was thinking about trying a Turning Point 13.25” x 17P 4 blade hoping that slightly smaller diameter will make up for the increased pitch and keep me around 5,000RPM but wanted to ask the pros if I am thinking about this properly? I am new to boating but currently the boat seems to get up on plane just fine and stays on plane even at lower RPM so other than wanting a bit more top end the current prop seems good all around so I don’t think a huge change is necessary. I also did a prop slip calculation and currently only have 6% slip so I am in the proper range there. I worry that trying a 3 blade would make it harder to get on plane. I welcome any advice/input. P.S.-Do the add on/oversized cavitation plates really do anything?

Yes, it’s a different hub system. I’m obviously not an expert, but from what I have seen you might have a FloTorq 3 or 4 Hub system whereas I have a FloTorq 2. The only reason I used the torque wrench was to make sure it was done properly since I didn’t do the initial install. As it turns out, the torque wrench wasn’t very helpful anyhow because when I reached the suggested torque the nut and locking tabs were nowhere near lined up so if I had just tightened the nut until I felt it was tight and then lined it up, I probably would have ended up in the same place.

I knew the lower number was gear ratio, but I didn’t know what the two on top meant, but that makes sense, the tooth count of each gear. thanks!

Anybody know what this sticker on my engine is for? At first I thought it was the prop size & pitch followed by the gearing of the lower unit, but it’s not cause my prop says 13.4 x 15p right on it. is it like the max size & pitch that can be used?

I bent them down when removing it, bent them back up after checking everything and retorque of the prop.

I figured I would just take it back to the store and have them replace it. I doubt they’ll fight, it’s hard to argue with and it’s Sportsman’s Warehouse, I doubt they care about a $5 hit. you have to figure, if they churn out 10,000 chatterbaits a month, and that’s probably just one type, they are bound to have a few end up bad. Plus they probably don’t even make the hooks themselves. Now, the Evo’s with an open ring, that’s on them for sure. That’s sad to hear cause I have gotten 3 Evo’s over the last month and none of them have had any issues. I think the Evo, and now the Tungsten Evo, might take over the Jackhammer. For me, they have been amazing and I almost prefer them over the Jackhammer. Plus, they are something a little different than what fish see 99% of the time. I really like the speckled blades on the Evo.

I just got a new Z-Man Crosseyez Chatterbait and when I pulled it out of the package, I noticed the hook looks like this. I got 2 others in different colors and those hooks are fine, so it’s probably just a lemon, which any mass production item has every now and again, but my gosh, any moderate inspection should see this pretty easily. My camera sucks, but you can still see the tip is bent, offset, and almost flattened out on one side. I put a paper towel behind it to help make it visible and up the contrast but the photo still wouldn’t come out as good as so would like.

I decided to pull it off, and I think when I put the torque wrench on it the first time I must not have had the locking tabs flattened out enough because when I went to take it off, it required almost no resistance. I took it all apart, inspected it, and put it back on, torqued it to 55ft-lbs, and then had to torque it a fair amount more to align the tabs. But now it has zero slop, just the tiniest amount of shaft movement which is normal based on all my research. I guess that’s probably why they say to re-torque it after the first couple uses.

After looking at more closely it’s a combination of the two. A little movement of the prob on the hub adapter, and a little movement of the shaft. But after doing more research that’s normal. I put a torque wrench on it at 55ft-lbs and it clicked without moving the nut so it’s at least to spec.

It’s a Mercury Spitfire 4 Blade 13.4” x 15P and I believe it has the FloTorq 2 Hub.Attached is a picture from my owners manual that shows all the pieces. It does use some sort of adapter piece and a thrust washer based on the Owners Manual. It seems like the propeller is moving slightly back and forth on the hub adapter piece. I can’t tell for sure, but it seems like the propeller and part “D” are moving back & forth on part “B”. It’s hard to tell though so the prop might be moving and part “D” might be staying still. When I push it all the way forward, the Nut Retainer has a little play in it so I think part “D” is also moving. That makes me think I might need to tighten up the nut a little. But I guess since you have to line the nut flats up with the retainer tabs, you might have to back the nut off a little and make that retainer be slightly loose, right? It’s definitely not the shaft moving in and out of the lower unit. At most, it would be the adapter moving back & forth on the splines, but I’m pretty sure it’s the prop moving on the adapter. I just remembered last time I was out I was in a narrow cove and the wind blew me back into a underwater tree or rock. It wasn’t very hard, and there are no marks or scratches anywhere from on the prop, cav plate, skeg or anywhere so I can’t even tell where exactly it hit. I caught it right as I was about to hit and engaged the trolling motor so it wasn’t like a hard slam, but if the whole weight of the boat hit right on the propeller I could see the possibility of it damaging the thrust washer. I just can’t remember if that play was there to begin with. I guess tomorrow I will just pull the prop off, inspect the thrust washer, if it looks okay I’ll re-install it per the instructions and tighten the nut to the proper torque spec. If it still has a little play at least I’ll know that it was installed correctly.

Should my propeller have a small amount of movement fore/aft? Or should it be completely snug with no movement? I have a new boat with about 6 trips on it, and I just noticed that there is a tiny bit movement or play fore/aft or front/back. I know some bearings and stuff are supposed to have a small amount play to account for thrust, etc. but is that how an outboard propeller should be? Or should I snug up the prop nut a little more?

Correct, I am keeping it under 5mph based on the manual. Most times I am idling as slow as I can which is usually around 3-3.5MPH. But, as I said before, if I am selecting the target from the history and just hitting create waypoint at my location, speed really shouldn’t matter. I will take a screenshot next time I do it, but I am pretty sure that when I select the target it shows Lat/Long Numbers as well as depth data for where the cursor is, which is why I assumed that is where the waypoint is being placed, not at the current location of the head unit. Even if it was creating it at the current location of the head unit, I wouldn’t think it would be a football field behind me if the target is still on the screen and I am only going 3mph. I have tried driving past the waypoint a fair amount and even then I don’t always find the target again. Maybe I am just stupid and not understanding this, but if the waypoint is placed where I have selected it in the sonar history, the waypoint should be at the target, not the boat. I would love to, but I live in AZ, a lot of times there aren’t specific trees or rocks on shore that I can try to line up with. Also, I am talking about targets that off shore, so a tree/brush pile on top of a hump in the middle of the creek channel, the bank might be far away so using a target on the bank to line up with isn’t always an option.

I am talking about dropping a waypoint of something that I just scanned with my transducer, not something I marked from home. Obviously if I am marking a location from my home I am not expecting it be exact because at that point, it’s like you said, it’s general map data, not sonar data. When I create waypoints from home I am only selecting general areas, points, flats, etc. not a specific piece of structure. What I am talking about is idling over a target, scanning it with the transducer, seeing a piece of structure in the sonar data, selecting it, dropping a waypoint so I can return to it and fish it that same day, but once I turn around and try to pass over it again and fish it, I am not finding the target. Even when trying to turn around, pass over it again and rescan it, confirm its location and get a better look at it, even though it shows I am passing over that waypoint just going the other direction, I have trouble finding that target again. I have done the things others have suggested like going at it from a different angle, trying to pass over it again and create a second waypoint to make it more accurate, etc. but I am rarely able to find that target again even when I drive to it and then beyond the waypoint I just made. I will say most of the time I am doing this it is with down imaging because I know that Side Imaging offsets are greater. Maybe next time I will find the target with down imaging but when returning to it I will pay more attention to the side imaging so that even if I am off by a few feet I should still see it in the side imaging and what side of the boat it’s on. So my questions remains, with a Lowrance HDS Pro unit, if I select a target on the screen and create a waypoint, it creates the waypoint at the target and not the current location of the boat/head unit, correct?

I understand that in concept, but when you select a target on the screen you are selecting a part of that history, when I hit “create waypoint” shouldn’t the waypoint be placed where the cursor is in that history? If that is the case, it shouldn’t matter how fast I was going, or how far away I was when I created the waypoint. If it is creating the waypoint at my current location instead of at the cursor then I can understand the offset, but I don’t see why you would be able to select a point with the cursor and then create a waypoint if it isn’t making the waypoint at that location anyways. so I guess my question is, which way is it? When I have a target on the screen, I select it with the cursor and create a waypoint, is the waypoint being created at the cursor location? Or is it still creating it at the current location of the boat/head unit?