KevO

Ok I was going to use 14 gauge wire. I already tested the battery it is fine, 6 month old 31 series AGM battery. There's probably a lose connection in there also, but I want to eliminate the fuse panel all together. It can't handle everything, when I turn the nav light it drops the HDS down to 7-8V.

The voltage drop at my fuse panel is making my units reboot when I start the motor, or hit the trim. I want to rewire them straight to the battery. Electrical problems aren't my strong suit, but it seems easy enough to me. I have 2 HDS units and an LSS-2, My plan was to run one wire from the battery to the bow for one unit with an inline fuse near the battery, and run one to the console with inline fuse to control the other unit and power the LSS with the yellow wake up wire. Does that sound right? Do I need a fuse between the LSS / HDS? Does the LSS need its own power cable to the battery?

Also check out smalljaw.com for the best info on Dale Hollow.

Dale Hollow was a phenomenal smallmouth factory for many years. Last years extremely hot and dry weather led to very large fish kill during the summer. It will take a few years before it gets back to normal. Dale also has a huge learning curve, its not a lake your going to go and catch 100 fish a day (esp now). I've been fishing it for about 8 years now and just started in the last few years to have more success. I bet the first 5 times I went I never even had a bite. Right now is still tough, usually the day time bite turns on around Thanksgiving. It's hit or miss right now. Get some jigs, big hammer swimbaits, tailspinners, and silver buddies, then find some bait. Some days you will leave scratching your head, other days you think you have it all figured out. Don't give up on it yet! Winter is the best time to catch a big one at the Hollow!

Still have a spidercast 2 pc spinning rod i keep behind the seat for spur of the moment fishing. Doesn't compare to any of my shimano or g loomis stuff but it still serves me well.

I'm sure glad I can fish year round. Sure it gets tougher as the water cools, but should be able to catch fish until it ices over up there.

Cabelas guidewear uninsulated is what I wear year round. In the winter I put on some long johns, hoodie, hat and gloves and I've been just fine. I'm a little farther south than you but it can get pretty cold with the wind here too. The guidewear blocks the wind great too just like the 100mph gear.

Well, the day time bite still sucks. Don't waste your time for at least another month. Did manage a couple spots but no smallies. Night bite wasn't very good either.

I'm a giants fan, but there's been many years I wondered why they drafted Eli, then he makes a superbowl run and I forget all about it. Now its all coming back LOL. He is definitely no Peyton, but he's clutch when they need him in the playoffs (whether the catches were luck or not). To me it all comes down to they didn't resign the people they needed to and it shows on the field.

Here we go.... Romo's had his chances to be great... he failed repeatedly. LOL, at least you guys can win the division this year. Well unless Romo chokes again.

There's also another team that plays in the same stadium, and isn't as bad as everyone thought they would be. The giants O line can't block anyone, Eli is running for his life every down, and their D can't get to the QB either. I hope we draft well this year, maybe we can get the #1 pick...

I'll see how I like it. It feels great on my dobyns ML795 swimbait rod.

Good luck!

Ha I wish it was that easy, but i'm always going too fast. That's why I like the slower gear ratio.

It just feels pretty fast playing with it. It was just a thought, because all last winter I was catching 3 to 1 against my partner with the rig and the only difference in the setup and baits was I used a curado e5 and he threw it on a chronarch b 6.2:1. I'll play with it Saturday and see how I like it.

Most of the time I would say the water is not clear but not dirty either. Light stain would be the best description I guess. Usually a ft or more of visibility, unless it rains a lot in the next couple week it should be fairly clean. You wont catch many smallies if any, they are in there but hard to come by. You may catch a spot or two but they will be small and not what your looking for in a tx, find some bait and focus on the largemouth. Stay in the channels too it can get shallow very fast.

Unless the weather changes a lot in the next 2 weeks I would imagine the water temps will still be close to 70. Should be getting good real soon.

I bought a new curado 300e last night for swimbaits and A-rig. It has the 6.2:1 gear ratio, is it possible to switch that out for a slower ratio like 5.0:1 like the 200e or a 5.5:1 chronarch e? I just like a slower gear ratio for those applications.

Good to hear you caught a nice one during the day. You're right there are A LOT of unders and 16-17" smallies. Catching an over is a real accomplishment right now. There are overs to be caught though, you just gotta find em! Happy hunting!

It's always a good time and beautiful scenery even if I'm not catching much. The lake will rebound and we will forget about how bad this year has and half has been. Good news is years with high water during the spawn like 2010 and 2011 and this year, usually means a better survival rate for the fry. I've also heard some reports about some bigger slot fish showing up towards the end of the summer. No where near what it was, but its a positive sign!

I started a year and half before you too.

It's taken quite a few years but I finally got there. Thanks to BR I've learned so much from this site!

Sure you can. I throw jigs on my champion 735, but I really miss my 705 it was a great jig rod. I think the 735 is better for moving baits, it's a great frog rod!

I'm going for the first time since the spring this weekend. I know it's early still but I will try day and night bite. It's been a pretty bad year up there, but the TWRA final report says it wasn't as bad as some say. Hopefully the weekend won't be a total waste.

I use 3 different spinning rods when I fish there. Crucial 6'8m xf w/ stradic 2500 FH and 4# sunline for dropshots and 1/8 oz hairflys. Powell max 7' MF w/ 2500 saros 15# braid 10# FC leader for 3' big hammer swimbaits. Crucial 7'2" MH XF w/ 2500 stradic 2500FI w/6# sunline for 1/2oz dropshots and bigger jigs. I'd also wait until at least the end of October to go unless it happens to get really cold in the next week or so. I want to go up there really bad but I'd rather wait til the water temps get into the 60's before I go.