Further North

Pike can be tough - at times. We've had a weird lack of them around here the last few years, I'm not the only one who has noticed it. I'm headed to LOTW in a couple weeks for (in this order): Muskie, pike and smallies. Should be fun.

I'm pretty sure I'd be right there with you if I lived there. I have to "settle" for pike and muskie. ?

I bailed 10 days past my 57th birthday, for pretty much the same reasons.

I'm almost three years into it, and it's a lot of fun. Congrats on pulling the pin!

Thanks...do you have an idea how to start down that path? I've run a few searches and can't find anything definitive.

No ideas on the NMEA stuff?

Minn Kota motors are (according to their website) limited to about 4.5 - 5 MPH top speed because of prop design...regardless of pounds of thrust. I'd expect the other brands to be the same-ish. I've run Terrovas since they came out until I switched to Ulterras. They're plenty responsive. I've never quite figured out what the "responsiveness" people worry about loosing with electric steer is all about. ...a little planning ahead takes it off the table for me.

Never mind on the first - I had to change the transducer to "Built-in HW: MDI+ on the Sonar tab. This is less than intuitive...

Question 1: I just installed new G4N units to replace my G3N units, and an Ulterra with built in MDI+ Helix 15 MSI+ G4N CHO up front. Helix 12 MSI+ G4N at the console MSI+ transducer at the transom. I want to run the MDI+ and 2D for the Helix 15 off the Ulterra's built in transducer, but I don't see it as an option in the Network Source tab. **************************** Question 2: I'd like to take advantage of the G4N's built in NMEA capability. I run a 2005 Johnson 140 4 stroke, same motor as a Suzuki DF 140. I can see how to turn everything on in the menus, but I don't know how to connect to the motor. I am digging through the manuals this evening, but any help is appreciated.

That's an esox thing. Lots of them are caught boat-side. It's the reason for the the figure-8 most of us do.

Yep. Even faster than mono/fluoro if it's under tension.

10# mono lasts just long enough that you get to feel a slight tug before the line gets cut. ? Same with almost any leaderless braid.

That's about where I wind up. I usually cut the wire at 14" - 15", and by the time I'm done with the FG knot to the main line and the Perfection Loop at the business end, I'm around a foot.

I go a bit longer than that because of big musky and pike. A four footer can get past a 6" leader if they hit it sideways, or engulf it from behind, depending on the size of the lure/bait/fly.

I'd try the 20#, see if you like it. I don't find that heavy wire is needed.

That's why I tie in about a foot of tieable wire, and a Mustad Fastach clip on those kinds of baits. FG knot to the main line, Perfection Loop to the clip at the other end. It goes through the guides with zero issues, casts like a dream, and if it impacts action the bunches of fish I catch every year don't notice.

You're experiencing a lesser version of why almost everything I throw has a wire leader. Right now Senkos and Ned Rigs are the only thing I fish on regular line. Everything else gets esox proofed.

I'm not laughing at you...but... ?

I'm left wondering why you feel the need to keep coming back and posting that. Not a single person has suggested that congratulations were not due.

Absolutely...but that's not what we were discussing here... You could keep half a muskie! ? I'd love to tangle with a tiger that size.

I agree, to a point. It's not the greatest play, for the health of the resource, to remove a fish like that from the gene pool. She got that big for a reason - possibly several, and we want as much of that in the pool as possible. Big esox like that don't eat well. If we're going to eat them, about 22" - 35" is the sweet spot. Personally, I'm not a "hang-it-on-the-wall" guy, but I love seeing other people's well done mounts. At the end of the day, I know what I caught, and will have pictures, which is all I want, or need. Others feel differently, and that's just fine.

You're 100% correct. Only nuts fish for esox, and all the normal, rational people should avoid them like the plague!

I have a picture somewhere of a pike in that same size range with v-shaped bite marks on both sides, just behind the gills. The measurement, inside to inside, was just a hair shy of 9" We fished that same bay a lot that week... If you've ever been able to watch an esox set up for an attack, it's cooler than heck. They'll go into an "S" shape just be for launching, and then they launch...it's stupid fast... I agree 100%

I buy both of the WI trout stamps, though I seldom use them. I look at it, with my TU membership, as a contribution to the resource. I've caught bluegills bigger than that.

Troll much? Ain't no one dumb enough to eat that bait.