Tin Man

Question. Do these PFD'S have manual blow up tubes ? Appreciate info. Not concerned about unwanted activation now. Will not be wearing under jacket. Makes sense, thanks guys. Wife appreciated pic of the bladder.

Note: Just spoke with a product rep. from Cabela's. Seems that the 3500 auto PFD will actuate if you get caught in the rain. It has to be a pretty heavy rain though.I don't care much for the rain but I don't mind fishing in it if it's not too uncomfortable. Rained day and night when I was stationed in Washington State. Since the PFD is so light and compact it can easily be worn below a quality rain suit / jacket which should keep it dry enough so problem solved. I figured in the rain gear so I should be good to go. I used this kind of PFD in the service so I'm pretty comfortable with the purchase. They are very reliable.

Sounds good. I've been researching these for a while now but decided to wait because of the price. So now they are on sale. Space is at a premium on the Stinger 175 so I bought 3 of them. One for each seat. As they were on sale I jumped on them while I could based on what I've read and your feedback. They seem to be made very well and come with a lifetime warranty. I also like the fact that they have ripcords to actuate in case the the auto feature fails. I saved $210.00 over what I would have had to pay last week. Still have other items to buy for the rigging so I was glad to have saved some money. I like the idea that the PFD is 2.5 times as buoyant than the foam vest and it is much more compact. 1 Black, two Crawdad. Now for some raingear. Check off PFD's. Glad I waited.

I felt that they were in line with other Lowe dealers in general. The same boat in Kentucky ran 2k more so shop around. Feel that I got a good price. Just missed the same boat at Cabelas that went for 4k less because it was 2 years old. It was still brand new though. Story of my life :-( I have since seen the same boat in two marinas here in TN. One was over priced by around 1k while the other one was in line with the manufacturers msrp. I feel that Cabelas as a dealer is slightly ahead of the independants.

Need to outfit the boat with some PFD's. Looking at Cabelas Guide Ware 3500 Auto PFD'S What I am wondering is Will these things inflate if I get caught in the rain ? Can you temporarily over ride the auto feature ? . .

Sweet. I went the same route. Black 2017 Stinger 175. It's ready and withing for me to pick up. Ordered it from Cabelas in Dundee MI. Ordered it before I moved to Tennessee. Kentucky Lake will be her stomping grounds. I too got the 60 hp. Sales person talked me out of the 75. Said I would get better mileage and that the difference wasn't enough to worry about. Will pick it up in about four more weeks. When the snow is pretty much gone and I won't have to worry about the salt :-) thinking about adding Mercury's Vessel View. Should help me keep it humming for years. There is a gas station here in town that sells ethanol free fuel as well. Can't wait to pick her up.

Yep. Found that out the hardway. Sux. I probably would not have bought it anyway since what their askiing for the G2N is not that much less than what I paid for the 9 SI. I needed to save some cash though for a few other upgrades. I did find out though that I'm looking at around $500.00 for a pro install. 2.5 hours for labor at $90.00 per hour and about $230.00 in parts.

What advice would you give someone who has never fished a tournament who is thinking of joining a club and competing ? What should he / she be thinking of doing to prepare to compete. First time boat owner as well.

Will be picking up a new boat soon. Seriously considering buying Mercury's Vessel View modal to track maintenance and performance. Plan on using non ethanol fuel only and treating with Stabil. Here in TN. You can pretty much fish year round so storage shouldn't be a problem. Question: does anyone here run Vessel View? And do you like it ? Will be running a new Mercury 60 hp. Four Stroke. . .

Checked out a 2004 Bass tracker with a 60 hp.Merc 4 stroke in good condition but passed on it as he wanted over 8 K. Wanted a nice practice boat. Thought that was a tad high especially for a motor that has been setting around for over a year with ethanol / water in it. I would have paid 5K that would have been a fair price in my estimation.

Good info here. Will pick up my first / last boat soon so no need to replace bunk but it's good to know. In future I will be going with plastic composite material. I may even call manufacturer to see what they reccomend. Should be interesting.

Yep. It is a G2. Wish I had known about the G2N though, I would have been able to network with My 9. That would have been perfect. Like the idea of using Smart Strike for pre-fishing a new lake. Just dial in the criteria you are looking for and coordinates come back for the spots on the lake that match up. Quite an edge when used with detailed lake Master or Navionics software. Problem is that the Smart Chip only works with Chirp models and my Helix 7 has just one port which means I would have to use it in conjuction with the much less detailed uni map system.

Thanks. I will check it out. Will call tech support in the morning. It wouldn't surprise me a bit though if you are right.

Noticed that my new Helix 7 came with a transom mount transducer. Had to order the TM adapter. Q: has anyone here made their own transducer guard ? If so can you tell me where I could find the instructions. Thanks in advance. Craig.

Has anyone here used the Hummingbird Smart Strike card ? If so how do you like it ? Is it worth it the money ? When unboxing my new Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS G2 today I noticed that it advertises Smart Strike capability. Last year only the largest, most expensive units could use this technology. Your thoughts.

Reading the box on the new Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS and it indicates a Smart Strike capability. Need to confirm this as only the larger more expensive Chirp models could use this tech last year. If this is true it makes the purchase well worth it.

Thanks. Manual had a absolutely nothing to say about that port. I am not going to put a lot of money into this unit. Just for the bow. May upgrade the 9 SI GPS though. Thanks. As is it should pretty much do what I want it to do.

Can anyone tell me what the COM port on the Hummingbird Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS is used for ? The manual does not cover this port. It is not a Ethernet port though which would be marked.

Question. So I go out and spring for a chart program for my Helix 9. Can I Make a copy of this chip for my Helix 7 to use simultaneously ? I understand that I can not network the two units.

Sorry for the dual post. Smart phone is acting up.

New Lowe Stinger. Upgraded the Sonar. Main unit a Humminbird Helix 9 SI GPS, the Bow unit is a Humminbird Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS G2. Understand that I want these installed on their own power hookup, not run through the fuse box. Anyone have an idea as to how much this is likely to run ? BTW Hummingbird is running a promotion on their chirp models. A free remote.

Vessel View Mobile. $275.00. Is this new tech worth it ? I love this idea. This is a module that plugs into any Mercury outboard from 40 hp. On up. It monitors several aspects of your engines performance and sends you feedback via a smartphone app. Does anyone use this. Seems like an awesome idea.

Thanks fishncamp I will check them out. Latest upgrade. Ordered a Hummingbird Helix 7 for the bow today. It's a chirp model with a remote control. DI with GPS and chartplotting. Still researching the trolling motor upgrade. Looks like the Motor Guide X5 24 volt 70 lb. Unit is going to be the winner though. Thought I would go with another Hummingbird so I wouldn't have to learn two systems.

The trailer looked good to me. Much stronger than the ones I have seen on the competition. I did upgrade it a tad though. I saw one on a Bass Tracker that I wouldn't want if you gave it to me. Pretty flimsey. I would be worried to haul it arond. No, I'm pretty happy there. No it doesn't come with a spare but I wasn't going to give them an additional $230.00 for it when I knew I could get one for $120.00 new. Same setup. Don't imagine I will be taking it out of state anytime soon though so I'm not too worried about it. I will be taking care of that when I pick it up though. A harbor freight mount (which looks identical to the Lowe unit bty) and a tire / wheel assy from a trailer company I know of will fix me right up. The only other upgrades I plan on making to the trailer are Led lights and four foot guide bars that will make it easier for me to line it up for recovery. Not particularly happy with 13 inch wheels but it is what it is. It's a pretty light unit though If needed I can slap some 15's on it later (diy) and still be ahead of the cost of upgrading through Lowe.

Thanks Fisncamp. I like this idea. Don't see myself going one on one with KVD any time soon, just trying my luck at some Largemouth and some local tourneys here and there on Kentucky Lake and maybe chase down a few Tiger Muskies in East TN. Thanks. Have a line on a lightly used 80 lb. Minn Kota Fortrex for $500.00. What should I be looking for ? Thanks for your input. If this doesn't pan out, I will still be upgrading to a 24 volt system. Just don't which one yet. Craig.