Wayne P.

Did you charge the batteries before storage, and have you charged the batteries recently? Do you use the glass fuses on the unit power cords? Did you clean and tighten the connections at the batteries?

I fished there today. The water temp was about 54 this morning and got up to 62 in some downwind areas this afternoon since the air temp got up to 75 degrees. I fish the weedless wacky rig with 30#-40# braided line, so I use 4'-5' of 20# fluorocarbon line for weight to make the braid sink faster. If it is windy, I use a nail in the worm head to reduce the bow in the line. I was told that someone caught one over 15# recently on a live minnow at the North end of the lake.

I've removed several also. I've had the easiest removal by chipping away the excess epoxy around the transducer before whacking it on the side with a hammer. It pops off easily. The large face transducers are more difficult to remove such as the Humminbird transom types.

You didn't mention what unit's transducer you want to mount. That can make a BIG difference.

THE problem is the sloppy connection between the power cord plug and the unit receptacle. It is a commom occurrence since they are made that way for easy removal from the mount. 1. Remove the unit from the mount and take the cable collector apart. 2. Bend the power cord tab on the metal plate up some so it will hold the plug tighter. 3. Put the cable/s and collector back together. 4. Before you put the unit back on the mount, bend the two power cord pins slightly so they will have better contact inside the unit receptacle. 5. Put the unit back on the mount. 6. Problem solved.

I was catching bass on March 2 with plastic worms. I try them when I can make a cast and my lure doesn't bounce on ICE.

You sure did add some more stuff like Down Imaging, new screen colors, Contour mode, DI zoom, DI depth lines, SI range lines, some new menus, etc. Down Imaging software was released in Jan 2010. Welcome to the modern world. LOL You will need a 1198 manual to figure all that out.

I had snow on my roof, yard, trees, vehicles, and bushes Sunday. The catching was a little tough today at Briery Creek, only caught half as many as I did last Tuesday.

You can put the transducer on the trolling motor with the AD XTM 9 trolling motor adaptor. You have to do the install to see if you will get RF interference. It's a random occurrence.

With the imaging technology, you don't need to visually see the beds, fish, or mark where they are. I was "sight fishing" for bedding bass last year in 4'-6' depths with water visibility of less than 6". I could see them with the Humminbird Side Imaging, getting them to bite is another thing though.

You will probably want to get a SD card for saving screen snapshots and doing recordings anyway, so that will be your media for doing software upgrades as they are released. The best cards are the class 10 SanDisk Extreme III or the Pro, but any will work, Just takes a little more time in the snapshot saving process with the slower cards (like a few extra seconds).

I've only been there once this year on March 13th. It was slow fishing. This cold spell won't be very favorable for that lake.

I've caught hundreds of bass on a 1/16 oz Roadrunner, several in the 6#-7# class. Just about evey species will take it.

I use the uni-uni knot for fluoro/braid with 6 turns, sometimes 7 turns, on both lines. The longer knot passes thru the rod guides better than a short fat knot. I don't do that with crankbaits though, it serves no purpose for horizontal presentations. I use the fluorocarbon as weight to make the braid sink. I have never had that connection to break unless I get hung up and have to break off, but most of the time the leader breaks at the hook. I use 20# fluorocarbon with 40# superline for weightless finesse presentations and retie about every 150-200 fish caught. I do not leave the tag end of either side sticking out from the knot, I cut them off flush with the knots. It passes thru the micro guides with no problem.

Does the 1197 have the latest software update or at least the 5.210 version that has the Contour Mode for SI? Did you register it on the Humminbird web site so you get the waypoint management software and unit updates as they are released?

Yes, its 48' , I'll correct it. Thanks You have the equipment to negate that error using Side Imaging. You can be 600' off and find it since you can cover 300'+ on each side of the boat when scanning.

The range setting is how far the unit is set to scan left and right with Side Imaging. The longer the range is, the smaller objects will appear. The best practice is to use a long range for searching and if you find something interesting, set the range to 3 times the depth and pass by it again for another look. When you are fishing, the 3 times the depth is a good set point also unless in less than 10' depths then you may want a longer look to the sides for searching for fish as you fish. Most of the time I use the 75' range for searching for fish on familiar waters and then set to 50 or less when fishing. The key is the shorter the set range is, the larger the objects will be represented, and vice versa. Use the Sensitivity setting as a brightness control and change that according to the bottom hardness and depth. Choose the SI color depending on what looks the best to you according to the ambient light. I change my color several times during the day. If you need any additional help with that technology, you can e-mail me at purdum43@aol.com Happy Hunting

Haven't been since Tuesday. The highest surface water temp I saw was 62. The dropping water temp should make finding them easier since they won't be as scattered.

I use the 6'6" medium heavy spinning model with 40# braid on a Shimano Sahara 2500

Accuracy is relative. In the diatance around the globe, a mile is pretty close. Saving a waypoint and returning to that waypoint exactly is dependent on the amount of error you have when saving it and the amout of error you have when trying to return to it. The larger the EPE you have, the farther off you can be. The example I posted shows 2' EPE so that can be up to a 4' error when returning to the saved waypoint with the same 2' EPE. I did this in my garage, with the 24' EPE, that could result in a 48' error when trying to return to a waypoint using the same EPE.

The 50 channel will give better accuracy and lock on the satellites quicker on start-up. Compare your unit GPS Diagnostic view with this one using the 50 channel.

7/0 Owner Oversize

I don't need to heat the tubing when used on the plastic baits. For the hooks, I use the barbeque lighters. I use the tubing to attach a stainless steel weedguard to Octopus hooks for wacky Senkos

A circuit breaker is sized to the wire that it is hooked to, It is to protect the wire. A circuit breaker or fuse that is too large just makes the wire the failure point (aka FIRE hazzard)

Senkos 3/8" Finesse and Trick worms 1/4" Hook shanks 1/16" or 1/8" don't remember Trailer hook eyes 3/16" Get an assortment pack from Radio Shack so you can see all the sizes.