Tennessee Boy

Not many of you are giving a number. I'm not looking for the right answer to the question here because I don't think anyone knows the answer. I'm more interested in your opinion because it says a lot about how you approach fishing. Are you focused on getting better at finding fish? or would you like to get better at catching the fish you've found?

It’s something we all think about a lot when we’re fishing. Is there a fish there and if so can I get it to bite? If you don’t get a bite, do you assume there was no fish there or do you assume you just were not able to get it to bite. We usually don’t know the answer, we can only speculate. Which leads me to this question. When a fish becomes aware of an angler's lure and has the opportunity to strike it, what percentage of the time do you think it will strike? I’m asking everyone to speculate on an overall percentage over the course of a season. I suspect we will get a wide variety of answers on this.

It's a rod for the person that already has a technique specific rod for every imaginable technique.

Yes or to a fish finder on the bow. The Ultrex comes with an extension cable that should be long enough to reach the console. Also the fish finder must be a Humminbird with an Ethernet connection.

Yes, IPilot link uses an Ethernet cable to connect to a fish finder or to an Ethernet switch. You use the switch if you want to network all the fish finders together. If the trolling motor is on the networks it can be used from any fish finder. With my Ultrex TM the cable is part of the trolling motor so it’s not something extra you have to buy.

When things are slow I go to https://www.speedtest.net and check my Internet speed. If it’s slow I blame my ISP. If it’s okay, I blame the website. I never blame myself for something I did or didn’t do. ?

Is that John Fish the mob boss?

That's a very diverse list. I would be willing to bet that Bill has never been to several lakes on that list. I guess you don't have to go to a lake to sign it.

Glad we have someone that will keep the Bama fans in their place.

“A River Run Through It” is as good as it gets. The part were the bother comes home after being away at college. He looks down at the river he’s been away from and he gets that look on his face. Only a fisherman can understand that look.

In the spring I fish shallow a lot. Visibility is usually pretty limited on the lakes I fish so 360 helps me find unseen targets. That's hard question to answer. That's not part of my usual process for finding fish near the bank. I do spend a lot of time just graphing areas that I'm not familiar with. I might go down a bank and noticed it has a lot interesting cover and return later to fish it. If I've fished a bank before, I don't look at it again with side imaging before I fish it. I usually idle over offshore structure looking for fish and baitfish before fishing it. I often spend hours graphing before stopping to fish. Others who have the technology now can probably answer this question better than I can. Time will tell. I've always end up using new technology differently than I expected before I got it. There are a lot of ways fish can hide from sonar, even live sonar. I don't expect to see every fish before I catch it. I think 360 and live provide very different information. It's much easier to see the log with 360. Much easier to see the fish with Live. 360 runs all the time with little effort on the angler's part. You have to aim live sonar and interpreting the results requires more effort. Hope I've answered your questions.

As I mentioned in your other thread, I have MEGA 360 and have MEGA Live on order. I'm a technology geek so I indulge in all of it that I can afford. About 1/3 of the value of my boat is in technology. I stare at a screen all day at work so I'll admit I don't mind starting at a fish finder. I spend many hours idling around graphing structure looking for fish. I can share my experience using 360 imaging. All sonar technology does is provide information. To some degree it takes some of the mystery out of fishing which some people may not like. Personally, I like having as much info as possible. 360 imaging gives me a very detailed view of the bottom a few seconds after I drop the trolling motor. It allows me to replace random cast with smart cast to specific targets. I fish a lot of offshore structure. I always know exactly where my boat is in relation to the structure. I spent many years learning to visualizing the invisible structure I was fishing. Now those skills are unnecessary thanks to 360 imaging. For better or worst, I guess you could say that aspect of the art of bass fishing can be bought for $1,200. Many people think this technology is ruining fishing. I don't see it that way. A guy makes a random cast that lands next to a log he doesn't know is there. A fish on that log hits his lure and he reels in the fish. A second angler sees a log with 360 imaging and makes a smart cast next to the log and catches a fish. He knows he caught the fish off a log. A third angler see's the fish with his live forward sonar, cast directly at the fish and watches the fish hit his lure before setting the hook and landing the fish. He knows how the fish was positioned on the log, how quickly it reacted to his lure, and if other fish also reacted to his lure. I don't see where having less information makes the first fisherman's catch more impressive. The added information makes it possible to understand why you caught the fish so you can more quickly find a pattern. I want to be as informed as possible. I'm looking forward to having MEGA 360 and MEGA Live. I'll let everyone know how I like it and if it ruins me as an angler.

Many years ago one of my fishing mentors and I had planned to fish a club tournament together. It was on a lake two hours away and neither of us had much experience fishing it. He was an excellent angler and had some success in the BASS opens. I was looking forward to seeing how he would approach fishing water that he new little about. What I learned surprised me. He called every tackle shop near the lake and ask them for some tips on fishing the lake. A couple of them told him to fish mid lake points with a Carolina rig. That's all we did and we placed in the tournament. You can read all you want about how to breakdown a lake. Local knowledge is hard to beat and has to be earned. The bottom line is you can spend a lifetime learning all that a lake has to teach you. The most valuable things you learn can't be learned from a book.

Who knows if you could even get MEGA live in less than 6 months. Right now TW has a ship date of 12-30-2021 but it was 09-30-2021 at one point.

I've kept various types of records for over 40 years. Today I keep several different electronic files like sonar recordings, waypoints, and paths for future reference. The most rewarding thing I do is I keep a fishing journal in a word processing document. I record the basics for each trip but I also explain in words what my thought process was for the day as I tried to figure them out. It's very interesting to go back and compare my way of thinking then and now.

Sometimes people drive me crazy. Other times nothing bothers me. It all depends on my attitude at the time.

I agree. It's amazing how good their fraud detectors are but they don't catch everything. I've never worked for a credit card company but I've worked with people that have. They know there are things they can do to reduce fraud. The problem is, they are not interested in any solution that cost more than just paying for the fraudulent charges. Someone told me what is was about 20 years ago. I think it was around $15 per million dollars charged but I could have that wrong.

No, I've bought several TW gift cards in the last couple of weeks. What I'm saying is that they can also be hacked. Putting a lot of money on a VISA gift card and using it as a credit card so you don't have to use your credit card seems risky to me. I don't know of any way to get a text when one is used. Remember when you hand you credit card/debit card/gift card to a waiter at a restaurant, there is nothing preventing them from writing down your number and using it later. I can't make my credit card 100% secure. I just want to know as soon as possible when someone else is using it so I can respond quickly.

I want to make sure you understand that you do not need By systems do you mean fish finders? You do not need two fish finders to run both 360 and MEGA Live.

It's one thing to know where a good point is. It's another thing to know the sweet spot on that point. Several times I've watched a pro tournament where one of the leaders was fishing a spot I knew about. It's usually one of the most well known community holes on the lake. What the pros usually have figured out is exactly were they need to position their boat to cast to the exact location that's holding fish. A great example is the Haynes Lambert FLW Controversy on Kentucky Lake in 2018. They were fighting over an obvious place that anyone could find on a map. There was plenty of ledge there for both of them but they both knew the sweet spot which is why their boats were so close together. After the spot became famous I'm sure plenty of people fished it in the days following the tournament but how many had the skills to find and catch the fish? This is not a good example of sportsmanship but it does show that there's more to fishing than secret spots.

I have two Humminbird Solix with MEGA 360. I have MEGA Live on order and hope it ships by Christmas (next year ). I'm planning to mount the MEGA Live on my Ultrex . This is the most common way to do it. There is a problem when using MEGA Live when SpotLock or autopilot is on since the trolling motor will be driving itself and therefore will be pointing the MEGA Live transducer where it wants not where I want. Mounting MEGA Live on the 360 pole is not an option since it does not turn. Having 360, I don't expect to use Live as much as some people do. When I want to look at something when SpotLock is on, I plan to just turn the trolling motor to point the transducer and then turn Spotlock back on when I'm done. This will be a pain to some degree and I might look for other options at some point if it ends up being too much of a problem. I don't like any of the other options on the market right now. I really like MEGA 360. At this point I would say if I had to choose between MEGA Live and MEGA 360, I would choose 360. My opinion might change after I get MEGA Live. Mounting 360 on your trolling motor might be a challenge so you will want to look into that if you decide to go with 360. Considering that you want to be able to disconnect everything easily, live would make more sense. Here is a video of Chris Zaldain showing how he has MEGA Live and MEGA 360 installed on his Ultrex.

I’m a software developer and would like add some thoughts. Yes hacking is a big problem. In the last week there have been two major vulnerabilities found that the IT world is scrambling to fix. In the last 3 years I’ve probably spent 75% of my time at work trying to harden our security. Avoiding the Internet doesn’t make you any less vulnerable. Target taught us this a few years ago. When a retailer scans your card it goes into a system that can just as easily be hacked as Tackle Warehouse. Buying gift cards seems like a very bad idea to me. They can also get hacked and you probably won’t know it until you realize that the balance you thought you had is gone. What I do is set up my credit card account to send me a text every time my card is used. I also use Apple Pay when I can. You don’t have to pay for unauthorized use of your card so it’s your bank that’s taking the risk. Also, I’ve had my credit card stored on Tackleware for years and I have never had a problem.

I’m think I’m out of touch. I don’t understand anything in this thread. To me a dime = 10 cents. ?

If we don't stop _____________ , we are going to ruin fishing. This statement gets debated constantly on this forum. The only thing that changes is what goes in the blank. Eating fish, having tournaments, using forward facing sonar, the list goes on. Mother nature is extremely good at managing herself. We play a role as predator in mother nature. Lakes need some fishing pressure to maximize the health of the fishery. Do I think fishing pressure makes fishing more difficult? Yes, but difficult fishing also reduces the pressure on a body of water. Its mother natures way of balancing the necessary fishing pressure. On any given day, I know there are places I can go where I will be practically the only angler on the water. I usually chose to fish highly pressured waters that are also the most productive. Another thing to consider is the role that we play in funding the management of fisheries though the money generated by fishing license sales. That money and influence is reduced if our numbers decrease. There's an on going battle on many lakes around here concerning the spraying of aquatic vegetation. Non fishing boaters want it all killed. Anglers want it left alone. We often win these battles because we have strength in numbers and we generate a lot of revenue. This would change if fishing was less popular. Lake Guntersville is the best example I can think of where great fishing and high pressure coexist. It's one of the most pressured lakes in the country because the fishing is great. It's great because there is so much non-native aquatic vegetation. Pleasure boaters and homeowners have lobbied for spraying the grass. Anglers have fought and won to leave it alone in most of the lake. Guntersville is a popular destination for fishing tourism which generates a lot of money for the local economy. I have no doubt that if they killed all of the grass, the pressure would be reduced, the local economy would suffer, and the fishing would suck.