Hawkeye21

I only really have experience with one and it's the Elite-7 HDI unit. I've had it for a few years now and I like it but I haven't really used it all that much. I actually bought it to use on my buddies boat and figured I'd use it on my own eventually but never got a boat. I know have a kayak and mounted it last week. Can't wait to get out and use it more. What my friend and I really liked was the GPS tracking. It was great for marking fish and keeping us in the right area. The walleye we were catching were in a pretty specific spot and this helped a ton. The sonar part of it I haven't mastered yet but it does work well, I just need to learn to read it better. Haven't had much of a chance to use the down scan yet. I really like how easy it is to switch screens and have the ability to have GPS, sonar and down scan all on the screen at once and still be large enough to see.

Another goal of mine is to figure out how to locate bass better on the Mississippi River. Fished in a tourney last year for the first time and we struggled big time. It's a completely different game trying to find bass on the river compared to a pond or lake.

4.5lbs large mouth two summers ago. Caught on a white chatter bait. Only caught a few the whole day and they were all barely a pound. I thought that was pretty big for an Iowa bass on a public pond.

I like to go trout fishing a decent amount so I use a tackle backpack. This is what I bring on my kayak as well. Since the trout streams I fish are not usually used a lot and are fairly remote I make sure I have enough gear with me if something happens. I like knowing I have some survival gear regardless if I'm in the woods or on a lake in my kayak. I like to have a larger survival knife and pocket knife. Multi-tool. Zip lock bag with some toilet paper, matches and anything else I want dry. Bottle of water and snacks. Whistle. I even have a folding saw just in case. Dry bag for extra clothes and my phone. Since I go into some remote areas occasionally I don't always have cell service. I make sure I tell my wife exactly where I'm at in case something happens to me. I also will take screen shots of a topography map of the area I'm in on my phone so I can have some sense of where I'm at if lost. I've actually had to use this before and it helped a lot.

That's a really good point. I don't have one on my kayak but we always have one on the boat when I go with friends. We use a large bottle that has a handle and just cut a hole in the top side. Works great because it's not as obvious compared to peeing off the side of a boat like many do.

I've always been very good at getting knots out, especially rat nests. It has to be one monster rat nest in my reel for me to have to cut it out.

Almost always have some kind of jerky with me. For a drink it might be a pop, sport drink, water or combination of that. Depending on how long I'll be out I'll bring a ham or turkey sandwich. Sometimes I'll have sunflower seeds too. If I'm going out with a friend or two there's almost always a cooler of beer.

My strengths would be with spinner baits, crank baits, chatter baits, frogs and wacky rigs. What I really need to work on are jigs, the Ned rig and some other finesse techniques.

There are two different trips I go on. One is with a larger group of guys that's pretty relaxed. We fish a decent amount and hit a lot of different lakes each day. We also like to have a good time at night which means some mornings can be slow. The other trip I go on is usually with just one guy sometimes we invite another guy or two. We only fish one body of water and get up at sunrise and hop on the boat to start fishing right away. We'll come back to the cabin to eat breakfast and grab some snacks for the afternoon. Depending on the fishing we'll go back to the cabin again for another meal or we just stay out on the water. We will fish until sun set and then head in to clean fish and make supper. By the time we get done eating it's already about 11pm. This trip is almost all fishing with very little time for drinking at the cabin and screwing around. We'll be on the water from 6am to 9pm with about an hour or two of breaks throughout the day. That seems like too much time on the water but it flies by and I wish I could be out even longer when the trip is over.

Really? You must not have gone on any fishing trips before. On a good fishing trip during the summer we'll spend anywhere from 12 to 15 hours out on the water depending on how the fishing and the weather is. Some times it would be even longer if we had lights on the boat.

I got asked to go on a fishing trip to Lake El Salto and I would absolutely love to go. It would be a pretty expensive trip but it's planned out two years from now so we can all save up. I've read some about the place but was curious if anyone here has been there before. I'd like like to hear of your experience.

Obviously getting out more often is number one. Get out on my kayak more and to more locations, Mississippi River is first on my list of places. Use the Neko Rig. Get better at using the Ned Rig. Beat my personal best. Learn how to locate bass better in the Spring.

Being by the Mississippi I love a day out on the river fishing the wing dams. Bring a cooler, sit back and crack a few beers and drown some worms. The best part about doing this is that I never know what i'm going to catch. I see the tip of my pole twitch, set the hook and hope it's a big one. It could be a bass, bluegill, catfish, sturgeon, walleye, dogfish, perch, crappie or even an eel! Such a relaxing and enjoyable time.

Most people don't wear them because they say they know how to swim. What they fail to think about is if they were to hit their head and get knocked out. Hard to swim when you're unconscious.

Here's a screen grab from my map app. I zoomed in a little more for detail.

I don't like spending a ton of money on rods so I keep using them until I can't anymore. The pole I use the most has about 6 inches broken of the tip and I still catch a ton of fish on it.

I'm pretty early in my kayaking career but so far I bring 3 poles with, one for top water one for a crank bait and one with a wacky rig. I put my tackle bag in front of me by my feet but plan to downsize my tackle just for my kayak. Must have a knife, cutters, scale, pfd and sun screen. One thing I haven't seen listed is a towel. I always like to have a towel with me to wipe my hands off after catching fish to keep the slime down some. I also make sure I have something to drink and snack on. I like to throw an extra shirt and shorts in my dry pack just in case. I use a dry pack for my phone that I keep around my neck so I can check the time and take pics of my nice catches. I do have an anchor and use it occasionally. All my extra stuff I keep in a crate behind my seat. I have a Lowrance Elite 7 but haven't mounted in on my kayak yet. I plan to add that this Spring along with a cup holder and rod holders.

Not sure if anyone knows this but Bass Pro Shops purchased Cabelas. It think the deal gets finalized the first half of this year. I wonder if any of the issues here have anything to do with restructuring the business.

When the lakes and ponds are frozen over and you hate ice fishing then you need to finding moving water. Here in NE Iowa we have great trout fishing and winter is usually when i go the most. The streams are always open and hardly anyone ever goes. I'll have the entire stream to myself and it's rare that I'll even see foot prints from any of the previous days. No weeds to walk through. If there aren't any trout stream in the area then find a river or stream that has some kind of game fish in it. Fishing below dams is generally good all year.

I have the Pelican Catch 120. They usually retail for $749 but I bought mine for $599 on sale last summer. It's just under 12 feet long and weighs 69 pounds. It's not incredibly fast but still moves well. It's very stable and easy to stand on and fish which is one of the reasons I bought it. It has a fantastic seat that's very comfortable. There's plenty of room for gear. There are two rod holders built in that are ok but that's it for any type of accessories. It does have plenty of flat spots to install tracks on to add any type of attachments you want. I added an anchor trolley to mine last year and this year I plan to install some gear tracks so I can put my rod holders and fish finder on. Since I'm in Iowa I have to wait till spring to do anything.

I don't think you're going to get anything all that great for under $400 unless it's used or on sale. I bought my Pelican Catch 120 last summer during a Father's Day sale for $599. Regular price is $749 so it was a great deal. I know that's above your budget but if you keep your eyes open for sales you may be able to get a nice one in your price range.

I love throwing crank baits and my favorites are the KVD 1.5, Shad Rap and Flicker Shad. I think my all time favorite lately has been a Strike King Red Eye Shad in orange craw.

I caught my personal best LMB last summer. It was 4.5 lbs which is a decent size here in Iowa. Caught it on a white chatterbait.

I rarely ever keep fish. If I'm fishing by myself I never keep them because I don't care to go through the hassle of cleaning them. If it's a nice fish I take a picture. If I'm on a fishing trip with others then I will keep any fish that we care to eat. That's just part of the fun when on a fishing trip, having a great meal with your buddies after a long day of fishing.

I've had two Berkley Lightning Rod Shock rods and both broke off about 6" of the tip. I still use the one since it broke right at the eye but it still ticked me off. Not sure if they have that tendency or if it's just my luck. I really like the rods overall otherwise.