nixdorf

I'm wondering if anyone is aware of an AC adapter I can use to power my Lowrance Elite 7 HDI sonar. I store my boat away from my house, but pull all valuables off the boat before I head home. I'd like to use my sonar at home when it's not on the boat (review maps, etc). Anyone aware of an option for powering my sonar when it's not on the boat?

I had a similar problem on a 2004 Merc 90 HP carbureted two stroke. All my research pointed to the temp sensor. I disconnected the temp sensor and still had the constant alarm. I disconnected the oil level sensor in the bottom of the oil tank (bolted to the power head) and the alarm went away. I pulled the tank and discovered the magnetic sensor was external to the tank, but the magnetic float was internal. It turns out the float was sticking. Fixing it was as simple as ordering a new tank, as the float is not serviceable. Not sure how different your Mercury is from mine ...

I haven't done any accurate rate of fall testing, but I have a simple method to do this on the water. It is not very accurate, but it works for me with any jig/trailer combo. I use it to estimate when the jig should hit bottom, and has been useful for detecting strikes on the fall. Before I start fishing deep water, I strip out a little line until my jig is roughly even with my rod handle. Then I drop the jig in the water with the tip of my pole close to the water and count down until the line goes tight. I usually use a pole that is 7' long, and most of my 3/4 oz jig/trailer combos pull the line tight in roughly 5 seconds. Obviously, the rate of fall for the above is 7 feet per 5 seconds. This time of year, I'm usually fishing water that is 20 foot deep, so the jig should be on the bottom within 15 seconds. Again, this isn't accurate, but it gives me a good indication of when the jig should hit bottom. When I cast and my jig hits the water, I strip out line by hand and count to 15. If my line stops moving (sinking) well before it should be on bottom or well after, I set the hook. I've caught fish both ways, but have had a few misses. Not sure if this helps or even makes sense, but it works for me.

I don't have a Chirp, but do have a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI. My unit is not very reliable in 10 ft of water when it comes to finding fish. It will show bottom composition well at that depth as well as weed lines, but no fish. I suspect the noise of my boat's engine likely scares fish away at shallow depths.

Great response. Thank you. Since the previous post, I did try a different head shape (Dredge Brush from Siebert). I rarely got hung up, and only lost one. I'm happy so far, but I'm going to keep experimenting. Thanks for the tip!

I'm thinking of upgrading my electronics. My budget is approximately $1300-1600. I currently have a Lowrwnce Elite-7 HDI at the console with a cheap Lowrance 4" black/white unit on the bow. I'm thinking of moving the Elite-7 to the front and buying a Lowrance HDS7 Gen3 for the console. From what I have read, to move the Elite-7 I would need to buy a trolling motor mounted transducer. To install the HDS7, I would need to buy the unit with transom-mount 83/200 kHz transducer and the structurescan transducer (PN 000-11788-001). It looks like I can use the mounting bracket that came with the Elite-7 for the bow install, and reuse the RAM mount currently on the console for the HDS7. I'd also buy the NEMA2000 cable to connect the two units to share waypoints. Any thoughts on my plan? I'm open to alternative products (HDS7 Gen2, other manufacturers, etc) or installation ideas. Any help is greatly appreciated!

X2lampreys give me the willies.

Do you have a "Start Logging" button? Check out page 22 of your instruction manual.

I have a 2004 Tracker Pro Team 185 with 90 HP Merc. I've experienced both a buzz from the engine and alarm from the console. The buzz turned out to be my ignition key not releasing the electric starter. The starter just kept whirring away even with the engine running. Boat performance was nominal when this happened. I assume the ignition assembly was sticking in the "start" position. Now, I just make sure the key turns back a few degrees from the "start" position to the "on" position. The constant alarm I experienced was a bit of a pain to figure out. My engine has two alarms: high temp and low oil. Even with cool water coming out of the cooling outtake, the engine cool to the touch while running, and a full reservoir of oil, I still had the alarm. It turned out to be the magnet inside the oil reservoir sticking. Replacing the oil reservoir fixed it. Not sure if either of the above problems are what you're experiencing, but maybe they'll help. Good luck, and please post when you figure it out.

Don't get me wrong, I'd go faster than 44 mph if I could. I'd probably just stay around 60 even if my boat could do 80, much like others have said. I just get uneasy when I don't have little ability to slow down quickly, drag or not. We had two wrecks on my local lake in the last two years. Going 70 mph possibly cost one angler his life. The second wreck had two guys going 55 in a boat that can do 80 mph, which almost certainly saved both of them. Even still, I'm still planning on upgrading my boat in the next few years. Doing 60 mph at 3/4 throttle will be nice on time and the wallet!

My boat does 44 mph on the water with its 90 HP engine. I'd like to think I would never need more, but the thought of buying a new boat with 200+ sure does make me giggle. Having said that, I think going 50 mph on the water (with no brakes) is about as comfortable as I'd get (with no brakes) unless it was an emergency (with no brakes). Did I mention no brakes on a boat?

How many jigs do you guys lose? I've been fishing football head jigs on rocks in 2-20 foot of water. On average, I lose one jig an hour due to hang ups. Is this normal? I'm fishing mostly football head jigs with both 12# flourocarbon and 30# braid. I'm on a boat, so when I get hung up I troll over to the other side and jerk. I usually get my bait free. Usually. Should I step up to 50-60 # braid? I don't mind losing 5-7 jigs per trip, but the wife sure doesn't like me buying replacements all the time!

Hit G'ville yesterday. Put in at Honeycomb (Sunrise Marina) at dawn. I intended to head up creek and pass under the 431 bridge to fish shallow top water. Ended up stopping and fishing the causeway first (couldn't resist). Started with a 3/4 oz football head jig and summercraw trailer. Hooked into a 4 pounder on third cast--top water what?! Ended up fishing the bridge and causeway for a few hours. Moved over to flipping docks along honeycomb creek. All told, ended up with 7 bass including the 4-0 mentioned above, a 5-15, and a 4-3. Best five was around 20 pounds (I only weighed the three mentioned above). All fish came on football head or brush head jigs. It was an awesome day for me. Maybe I'm figuring this jig fishing out...

I just hit Guntersville today. I put in at Sunrise Marina, right next to Honeycomb campground. The spawn appears to be over. Had a pretty good day with all the post-spawn feeding going on. Hooked up on a few dragging a heavy football jig down the rip rap at the U.S. 431 bridge over honeycomb creek (up creek from the campground). Also caught a few on submerged grass lines in 6-10 foot of water. If you are comfortable with a jig, I highly recommend hitting the rip rap directly around the bridge mentioned above especially if they are drawing water either up stream or down. Aside from that, a swim jig, swimbait, or narrow bodied creature bait works well in the grass lines. There's a decent article up on AL.com about pulling swim jigs through the grass. Link below. Grasslines can be found all over the area. If you launch at honeycomb campground, head up creek to find some quickly. The north end of the bank is covered with them for miles. Look for a gradual drop off, run over the area in 4-10 foot of water, and your sonar should pick them up easily. http://www.al.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2015/05/swim_jigs--post_spawn_magic.html#incart_river_mobile Good luck!

Hi guys. Life long bass angler here. I recently bought a boat with entry level electronics. Last summer, I upgraded the console sonar to a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI. I must admit that I'm new to fishing off shore. I've been fishing close to 30 years, but mostly farm ponds from the shore or a small boat. Lakes have never been more than 10 feet deep. Since buying the boat, I've had trouble finding fish off shore. I tend to fish the TVA chain of lakes in North Alabama: Guntersville, Wheeler, etc. Usually when I focus on fishing off shore I end up blanked for the day, so I tend to fall back on beating the banks on the next trip (laydowns, docks, and other cover) with okay results. I have no confidence in fishing off shore with the typical baits (deep diving crank baits, jigs, etc) even if I have success with the same baits near shore. So on to my questions: how do you know where to target for offshore fish? What should I look for when picking spots? If you find a likely spot that should hold fish, do you do a once-over with sonar before you fish? I'm used to fishing shallow water and always conscious of spooking fish with the boat. Finally, how do you know when you have your sonar "locked in"? I've been messing with minor adjustments with the sonar in automatic mode, but never seem to get a clear picture of the bottom with the HDI. I can spot fish and bait fish, but not pick out the detail on HDI that I think my unit is capable of (eg a clearly submerged tree instead of a blob on HDI). For reference, the transducer is on the stern a couple feet from the engine. The boat is aluminum hull. If anyone can help answe my questions and possibly refer to other videos/reading materials, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

Last December, I was fishing a bluff wall on Guntersville with a heavy 3/4 oz jig. I managed to cast my jig across a shrub branch at the base of the bluff with the jig hanging down a few feet. I reeled up the slack until the jig was hanging by a foot and started rocking it back and forth like a pendulum. The idea was to jerk it free when it swung away from me. I've done this many times. Well, I jerked way too hard and the jig started screaming back towards me at high velocity! I didn't have much time to react, but did manage to duck my head at the last second. Good thing, too because the jig hit me right on my hairline (approximately where my eye would have been had I not ducked). Despite the thick hat I was wearing due to the cold, I ended up with a bleeding dent in my head from the weight of the jig slamming against my skull. Thankfully, it bounced off my head with no hook penetration. The dent in my head is small but is still there, five months later! I didn't quite rip a fish out of the water and send it to orbit, but it sure hurt like hell!