hotsky

I have my inflatable Sevylor boat set up with a MinnKotta and was thinking of adding a fish finder to my ever growing fishing equipment. I'm just starting to learn about sonars, so don't know much about them yet, but I pick up fast . I was looking at a watch sonar from Hummingbird but few members here suggested I look at real ones. I know some have a sensor mount for a trolling motor which might work. I'd rather not hook it up to my TM battery unless it hardly uses any power. Would a 2nd small motorcycle battery work? Maybe even portable with a 9v battery. What would you guys recommend and plz tell me why it would be a good choice.

I drive a Mazda 3 as well and love it. But it lacks space so my next car is going to be Toyota PJ Cruiser.

are you talking about the one where you point the 'beam' to scan the area you want to fish at? I don't know a lot about sonars, but I want to have as few things on my boat as possible. and thought the wrist one would give me a lot more info than I can see for myself (like depth). I'm more concerned about how long it's gong to last. I probably wouldn't even use the rod for the sensor. just have it attached to a boat so it floats a foot away from it.

I was looking thru a catalog and saw a Hummingbird SmartCast RF35 watch fish finder. Where you cast a bobber sensor that looks like a trigger lock. and signal is transmitted to a watch fish finder (up to about 20m). It can be used as a bobber but only supports ~5.5gr of weight. I thought it would be perfect from shore fishing and when I'm fishing from my inflatable to see how deep I am, bottom structure and of course if any fish are underneath. Reviews online are rather mixed tho, so I was hoping to hear from people here who used them. It's about $80; is it worth it?

This is the one I got. (exchanged for the charger I mentioned in the original post) it's half price at $50 right now. http://www.canadiant...A.jsp?locale=en

looks like a great trip, lots of great fish!

Thanks for the info. Any way to extend the cord so I can the battery on the other end of the boat instead of having it right in front of the motor?

I'll get one today, id likely keep the battery in a cooler and use it as a seat. I'll try either go around Weeks or paddle thru them with tm off.

I'll get some on my next trip to sail.

Thanks. So why does it matter if the battery is in a compartment or out in the open?

Last week I got an inflatable Sevylor Fish Hunter FH280 boat, 30lb Minn Kotta motor, battery, charger. Made my own motor mount for $35-40 (couldn't justify spending $100 for one Sevylor sells), even made a floor and covered it with a rubber matt. Just when I thought my boat set up was done I found out I should get a circuit breaker to protect the motor. I still took it out today and had a blast fishing and just cruising around , but don't want to risk it again... In the manual it says to use 60 amp breaker, what are you guys using? and how much did you pay for them? I'm already over budget on this project so don't want to spend too much. Too may other priorities right now. (according to fiance lol) Also I noticed that the minn kotta wires are too short to run the cables to the front of the boat, where I originally wanted to put the battery (to spread out the weight and make it less 'stern' heavy). Is there a way to get an extension?

I also have a Fenwick Eagle GT and with braided line (no stretch) it is very sensitive. My new rod is a Abu Garcia Villain that I used today for the first time with the 40lb mono leader that I decided to try out. It worked fine but one thing I noticed is that the stretch of the leader really takes away the sensitivity big time.

my main consern is visability, which i want to reduce.

i excanged Mine today for Moto Master Nautilus charger thats now on sale half price for $49.99. im not sure if its waterproof but looks like a better charger for what im looking for.

I was at Walmart today and picked up a 140y spool of 40lb mono line, figured for $3 why not! I have 2 reels right now spooled with 20lb and 30lb braided line. I was looking for a fluorocarbon leading material in 20 or 30lb range, of course they didn't have any (I didn't really expect to find it there to be honest). Anyways, I was thinking instead of running a mainline to the lure/bait which is what I've been doing, or using a metal leader (which I almost never do) if I used the 40lbs mono and connect them with a swivel. I was wondering would a 40lb clear mono line be less visible than 30lb braid? I'm sure a metal leader would stick out much more under water than a clear mono line. What do you guys think? I'll be fishing for pike, bass, carp and occasional catfish.

it's one of hundreds, maybe thousands of sports on a public access river, so how can it be 'their spot'? They let me fish there? I was there first. If they got there before me I'd never even think about just joining in.

I'm friendly when people are friendly with me and often even when they're not (esp at work), those guys just walked in didn't attempt to start a conversation or ask if it's OK to join (the spot was pretty small). I always love to learn something new from knowledgeable fishermen, or help someone who's learning as well, this wasn't the case. Going with a buddy is always good too (doing that tomorrow in fact). Correct, I've only been fishing for a few months and didn't know it was illegal to use 2 lines from shore, BUT I've never done it even before!! Once I know it's illegal I'm not going to try it.

I don't know about you guys but when I'm fishing I want to be alone (unless I come with someone I know). I HATE it when I'm fishing and someone walks up and starts fishing close to me. At Mountsberg for some reason when someone else comes in they always decide to pick a spot no more than 15 meters from me Why?? And it's not like they're being friendly and start chatting up. Today takes the cake; I went to Grand River just outside of Caledonia, because last time I hated fishing at the dam for that very reason. Parked the car and started walking down the trail to find a nice empty spot, most of spots were empty; saw some people what looked like camping, then found a spot that was deep enough for my liking (I fished at another spot before that). After I started at the second spot two guys come on my spot, hardly speak English than leave, I'm thinking good! Then they some back with all their crap! Like what there's no another spot close by?!. First one sets up 2 rods I'm thinking must be setting up hit buddies rod too, than other guy walks up with 2 more rods! Now I'm pissed; poachers! I wasn't afraid of them, but didn't want to say anything because their response could've pushed me over the edge, it was getting dark so I packed up and left. I like to fish because it's relaxing and I want to get some alone time, it's not just me is it??

lol must be a nudist. Most nudists are over 50 actually.

I got a different one on sale last week it was either 40 or 50% off paid $49.99 it has a 2, 8 and 12A options as well as auto.

Thanks for the link. Another question Is it OK for the battery to be charged part way than turned off (if I have to leave somewhere), and continued charging later? OR should I make sure it's always charged till full?

The charger is supposed to switch over to maintenance charge after it's fully charged, but I'll make sure to turn it off as soon as it's at full.

I guess it's just just for DC batteries but you can choose from 2, 8, 12A or auto.

I picked up a Deep Cycle battery from Costco (750 cranking amps, 115 AP) to use with my Minn Kotta 30lb and just looked over the manual for my Motomaster Eliminator charger and as I never charged a battery other than AA and AAA before I wanted to hear from people who use them a lot. Manual warns about the danger of explosive gasses, battery exploading and things like that. Now I live in an apartment, is it safe to charge it in my living room? Manual said it needs to be done in well ventilated areas or should I put it out on the balcony? Also is it really that dangerous to have a smoke when you're on the boat with a battery aboard? I was going to get a small cooler and keep the battery in it when I'm on the boat to keep it dry, is that a good idea or does it need to be out? So are these things really that dangerous or it's just lawyer talk? BTW how long do these batteries keep their charge before dropping to say below 80% when put away fully charged? Also, how long should I expect my Minn Kotta run for on that battery if I use 3-4 speed?

thanks will try that when i get home from work.