Robeng

The Bass Anglers Almanac by John Weiss. Also like the all around book Fishing Michigan by Eric Sharp of the Detroit Free Press.

Navionics app for phone-though my phone is kind of small for old eyes. Have to keep zooming in and out. Much better using Navionics Premium on Lowrance. Probably would look much better on a tablet.

Try Lowrance Elite 4 for under $200. Or spend more $$ for higher end units from $299-$600. Thn you get iinto the $1k-$3k. Have fun

Above Springfield site is great place. Concur.

Check out Honda Panther Amphibious Jeep on YouTube. I'll take one.

check out the Field and Stream post in Tackle Forum. One just opened in Detroit area. Not as big as BPS. Fishing section I thought was small and limited. Good fly fishing selection-sort of. At least its another alternative close to me.

You can probably find what you need at Overtons.com. I went thru same thing last year and they have separate parts or whole package deal.

I have a 16 foot aluminum. I bought the 5 foot bunk guides from tie down engineering (www.tiedown.com) from overtons. Make sure you have enough room to mount to trailer and keep clear of other stuff like trailer wheel etc. I've also seen 2 or 3 foot long bunk guides. I thought of using the vertical white PVC poles which you can make yourself just need mounting hardware- but have seen those get broken and I like the bunk guides. They are adjustable with mounting hardware to space out from sides of boat. I put mine to leave one inch gap from side of guide to side of boat. Hope that helps.

Field and Stream store is open today March 11 in Troy michigan. Grand opening week of March 26. I stopped in at lunch and got a couple shadow raps. Good looking store. Yes about 2/3 size of BPS. Prices were competitive. Less fishing selection but some higher end rods. Hunting was large area. They have free rewards program. Buy something then take survey on their website and get $10 off next purchase of $50 or more. Not bad. Overall I was impressed and close to home than BPS for me. Though not a lot of boating items. Check it out.

More ice last year on all Great Lakes. Last I heard this winter was 85.4% ice on great lakes. Last year 2013-2014 was 94.76 percent ice. Two consecutive years with Grea Lakes over 80% ice--first time since 1970's. Here in Michigan, seemed everything was delayed all year long from bass to salmon. Spring was cooler last year. We'll see what happens this year with temps etc.

ok weather temp check: 50 in Detroit. Ice melting at shoreline. They pulled a few off the ice this weekend. Unfortunately, more to come if history prevails. Happy for you Senko Lover. I guess I better go get those new batteries. Thanks for sharing.

Roger that on the bladed jigs.

Nice man! Thanks for sharing that. More ***.

Rip rap, structure, cover, man, what a beautiful lake. As one said earlier, you get it. Just to be out there and even casting. Always nice to catch, but just being there, solitude, ambiance, the waters surface like glass. Lucky you. We still have ice but shore is melting. Getting ready, so preparation and sacrifice meet Opportunity. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting---thanks RSM789. Would be cool to know if same fish.

Bridges, shoreline for bone fish>>>have a great time. Love that place. >>>Envious.

Definitely drop shot. As a foot note, would love to have a nice bass blow up on a top water. Gonna try lighter tackle too. Lastly, break my personal best of 4.25 smallie.

watched a guy last year with his wife cut in front of everyone in line, people started yelling at him. They were quite old, so I was going to cut him "some" slack, but still I dont think this was his first time. Still, he proceeded. But what he forgot to do was raise the motor and as he pulled forward, SCRAPE on the cement ramp. Karma.

I have the elite 5 hdi combo-2013. Though, I have not done a side by side comparison to H'bird, my processing speed seems very quick. I talked with a BPS associate who says unless you get the $2k true CHIRP transducer, I would not see much difference from mine. He advised not worth upgrading to CHIRP. I must say though, there are some nice featured Hummingbirds. But I paid under $500 for mine in 2013 and it was on sale last week for $299 in the 5inch size. I advise to check them all ut in the store and see what people say here and through out the reviews on web.

Lake St Clair, St Clair River, Detroit River, to mouth of Lake Erie.

I have the Lowrance elite 5 hdi combo without CHIRP and like it very much. The Humingbired Onix looks real good too. also look at fishfindersource.com and the fishfinders.com and the gpsstore.com and bestfishfinderguide.net and justfishfinders.com and portablefishfinderreviews.com Those sights kept me busy for a while. good luck.

I also have same unit---elite 5 hdi combo. I would leave on shallow and auto for now. You can adjust later. Best is to spend time on water-not fishing-and play with controls as you pass over weeds, soft bottom, hard bottom, etc. I plan on doing more of this once water opens up and Ive had mine one season so far. Also try adjusting sensitivity up and down to get rid of some of the surface clutter. Most say sensitivity should be 60-70%. I cant recall where mine is set at right now. Also, if your transducer is too close to a motor or wired to trolling motor battery can be an issue. Placement of transducer to just skimming water or just below surface is important. I plan on wiring my finder to its own battery as leaving it on can drain the starting battery somewhat. Lots of good articles out here on what you are looking for. Search elite 5 or Lowrance, or transducer. Wayne P. on here is very knowledgeable about electronics and associative. Best to you.

liked reading this for sure. Thanks guys. Convinced me to try them. I can see it now......

I'd recommend Lowrance higher end units. Gen 2 Touch. HDS - 8 inch - just under $1k. Check them out.

Get Lowrance elite 5 hdi combo as they are dumping since introducing the more expensive CHIRP technology. An associate at BPS told me that he learned at their BPS University where all associates go to learn about new products BPS will sell, that to get real CHIRP quality, you need a real CHIRP transducer for about $2k !! Anyone heard this?