Tennessee Boy

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

They do but I'm not a kid any more. I've been in the business for 32 years. Like I said, I'm blessed to be doing something I enjoy for a living. I know most people are not. I'm looking forward to retiring so I can "code" for fun when I'm not fishing.

Buck Perry - The man's contribution to our sport cannot be overstated. Rick Clunn - I like the way he approaches the sport mentally. Bill Dance - I don't care much for his TV show, I don't think he has that much to say about fishing that's interesting, but you've got to love his cap.?

Yeah, be careful what you ask for. I'm a software developer (aka a computer programmer). I enjoy programming, I do it at home for fun. I'm very blessed to be able to make good money doing something I enjoy and I never take that for granted. It is however, not as much fun doing it professionally as it is doing it as a hobby. In any profession you have to deal with business issues, people issues, and doing the stuff that no one wants to do because it has to be done.

Welcome

Great job @everythingthatswims !

It's very hard for me to recommend a unit for you. There are many factors to consider like cost, what type of fishing you will be doing, what maps are available for each unit for the lakes you will be fishing. You said you wanted Humminbird. I have two Humminbird Solix 10s and I'm happy with them but I see no reason you can't consider other brands if they meet your needs. Here are some things to consider based on my experiences. If you will be fishing much away from the bank, GPS is critical. I spend more time looking at the map when I'm fishing than I do looking at the sonar graph. I have found that the Lake Master maps for the lakes I fish are much better than any other available. This is one of the main reason I went with Humminbird. Lake Master maps are not available for many lakes so this may not apply to you. You should also consider how the unit you buy fits into any other electronics you have or will add later to the boat. Do you want to network them? Will you want to add some more expensive options in the future like 360 imaging which will require a Humminbird or Panoptix LiveScope which is coming this fall which will require a Garmin? Will you someday want to use the unit you buy on the console and replace it with another unit for the bow? If so you may want to pay extra for side imaging even though you will not be using immediately. Many things to consider.

The built in transducer supports 200 kHz (20 degree sonar cone) and 83 kHz (60 degree sonar cone). The Humminbird Solix can use both of those frequencies. It can also generate a number of other higher frequencies like 455 and 800 that I cannot use with the built in transducer. These will give you a little more resolution to help in target separation but I don't miss that when I'm up front fishing. Does that answer your question?

When you say you want to pair it with a Humminbird Bow unit, I assume you are talking about using the Universal Sonar 2 transducer that is built into the Ultrex. You can use many different fish finders from Humminbird, Garmin, and Lawrance with this transducer. You will need an adapter cable. A complete list of fish finders that will work with the built in transducer and the adapter cable required are listed here. https://www.minnkotamotors.com/learn/technology/trolling-motors/universal-sonar-2 You probably know you must have the i-pilot link Ultex to pair it with a Humminbird fish finder so you can use the i-pilot features from the fish finder. I have the Ultex i-pilot link and Humminbird Solix fish finders. I use the built in transducer on the ultrex and it works great. Mounting a humminbird transducer on the trolling motor would give me a wider range of sonar frequencies and down imaging but I don't want to deal with mounting the transducer and having a wire running down the trolling motor shaft. When I'm at the bow fishing, I mostly just want to know the depth and if there's anything interesting (fish, cover, etc) under the boat. The built in transducer works great for that.

When I bought my first boat about 30 years ago, I had no idea how to catch bass from a boat on a large lake. I started reading everything I could find and watching fishing shows like Bill Dance Outdoors. I was inspired by the shows and fishing magazines to buy A LOT of stuff. I learned a lot about fishing and started to consider myself something of an expert. I was catching a few fish and decided I was good enough to join a bass club. At one of the first meetings I met a nice older angler who was very friendly and loved to talk fishing. I was surprised that he had very little to say about the latest thing that I was reading about in Bass Master magazine. He said he fished mostly jigs, plastics and spinnerbaits. I thought he was just an old geezer who was stuck in his ways and refused to learn anything new. It was at a tournament weight in that my opinion of him changed. He walked to the scales with a five fish limit for the day that was bigger than the five biggest fish I had ever caught. That's when he became a mentor and I learned that Bill Dance and Bass Master Magazine was helping me spend money but not helping me catch more fish. I learned a lot from the guy. I would summarize it all by saying focus was the key to his success. He had fine tuned the way he fished through a lifetime of learning. He choose the equipment he used not from what he saw some pro using on TV but because he knew exactly what he wanted from the equipment. He made his own jigs, not because it was fun but because that was the only way he could get the exact jig he wanted. He could tell you exactly why he chose every component he used in the jig. I don't try to fish the way he did but I do try very hard to focus on the details of what I do. I'm continually trying to perfect it the way he did. To @Glaucus original question, yes I can say from my experience 30 years ago, fishing was made more expensive and difficult by an industry driven to sell more. I think the great majority of fishermen would catch more fish if they focus on doing a small number of things very well instead of trying to learn the latest fad technique that changes every month. They would also save a lot of money. That new $400 rod is no substitute for time on the water with the old rod you already have. You will see your greatest return when you master in the finest detail whatever techniques you choose to catch fish.

Welcome to BR.

I would just add this to what the others have said. 1) WELCOME TO BASS RESOURCE. 2) Don't EVER think that you have done something wrong if you set the hook and the bait comes flying out of the water. Unlike baseball, you cannot strike out in fishing. You will catch a lot more fish if you set the hook every time something inside tells you you might have a fish on the line. 3) Keep fishing. Your feel will continue to improve.

You also need to consider the towing capacity of the vehicle you will be towing the boat with.

Prayers for the family.

I feel the same way about money. That's why I try not to buy a bunch of tackle that I'll never used. To each his own. ?

I'd pay $600 for a rod tested in the Large Hadron Collider... I mean it would have to be better... right?

This is a very interesting discussion. The importance of rod sensitivity is something I've thought a lot about and honestly it's something I'm not sure about any more. Here are some random thoughts on both sides of the sensitivity argument that I would love to hear your comments on. 1) When it comes to detecting bites, familarity with your tackle is more important than the tackle you use. When I was a kid, I averaged probably 15 hours a week during the summers fishing creeks. I always used the same cheap rod, reel, and line and 95% of the time the same crankbait. It was like I had a camera on my lure when it came to detecting strikes or when the lure hit something. It wasn't superior equipment, it was the fact that I was so in tune with the feel of the cheap equipment I was using. 2) Fishing rods are pretty simple. You can get a quality rod with the desired length and action for under $100. The only way a company can justify charging hundreds of dollars for a rod is to sell it's sensitivity. So companies put a lot of marketing money in to pushing the importance of rod sensitivity and the superiority of there rods. 3) Feeling what's happening to your lure through your line and rod reminds me of something many of us old guy did as kids before texting and cell phones. We tied string to two cans and talked through them. It's amazing how well this works. The can was critical in this set up. You could not hear what the other person was saying by feeling the line with your fingers. Does a fishing rod serve the same purpose as the can in amplifying the vibrations coming through the line? 4) About 40 years ago, I was in a tackle store with a buddy of mine when he showed me how to test the sensitivity of a rod. He would lightly drag the tip of the rod across the floor to feel the texture of the floor tiles. I was amazed at how well you could feel the floor through the rod. I was convenced that I could tell a difference between the cheap rods and the more expensive rods. I few years ago, I was in Bass Pro Shops and I had a friend hand me random rods to see if I could pick out the better rods using this test. I completely failed this test. I couldn't even tell the difference between the graphite and fiberglass rods. Was it all in my head before? Are all rods equally sensitive now? Am I just getting old and can't tell the difference any more?

Yeah I learned the same lesson with my first boat. I bought a new boat this spring, got the smallest big motor option they offered and put an Ultrex on the front. You catch more fish with a good trolling motor.

The most sensitive rod I have BY FAR is a 30 year old original Lew's spinning rod with a graphite Tennessee handle. I think the handle amplifies the vibrations but there could be other explanations.

Welcome!

1) You catch most of your fish on the lures you fish with most. 2) You catch most of your fish in the places you fish most. In other words, once you start following a rule, that rule will govern how you catch fish.

I saw the LifeStraws on sale and gave some thought to getting one for the boat. Then I realized I've made it 30 years without ever needing one so why waste $10.

Very Nice!

Please get help with this. There are people who really can help. If you don't know where to get help, start with your doctor. PLEASE!

I don't think cheaters make it to this level. By cheater I mean someone who has fish in a cage somewhere. But if the angler has $120,000 on the line and the marshal has $2,500 on the line, it's in both of their interest to ignore a minor rules violation that could cost the angler. For example if he forgets how many fish he has in the live well and doesn't cull after his sixth keeper.