Fisherpete

Hi Chris I would like to be a captain again Thanks Pete

Nope... didn't do the install yet. Earlier this year I was cleaning out a box of old electronics and computer stuff... found three or four 2GB micro SD cards from older cell phones that my wife and I have had... thought to myself these are junk now since we have 8+GB cards now. Threw them out... went to do the update the other night, downloaded the files onto my computer and hmmmm guess what, need a maximum 2GB micro SD card to do the update on the Elite 5 lol... d'oh. The sister in law has a couple of them that she is dropping off to me this week. Pete

Unit worked much better today - got to my spot, reset all settings and ran the wizard - worked fine after that. Once in a while the signal became faint, so I just bumped the sensitivity up a bit and all was well again. Tried the other setting adjustments as well (sens at 100, colour line 92 etc) and it worked too, but hate looking at the screen when it is like that. As for the fishing... Walked quite a ways to get away from the crowds - the slush was bad. Went 1/4 on lakers, had a hard time keeping them pinned today. Didn't mark a lot of fish, but was pretty mild out there and fished outside all day. Thanks again to all for your tips. Pete

LOL... I just spoke to Andrew and Scott... the two of them attempted to eat a medium deep dish... their estimate was 12lbs... they went in starving... I'll let him tell the rest of the story when they get back!

Hahaha stupid herring Fun video

No, I have seen interference - I have used my buddy's ice 55 a bunch of times near other people and know what it does. We were a few hundred yards away from anyone last Saturday when I couldn't get the fish/lure to mark. 30 feet away my bro was marking all day on the 718. We'll see how she goes tomorrow.

I tried every setting and mode... Did a little more reading (thanks Brian) on another site and found a few more setups to try: 1. Reset to factory default run set up wizard. When. Asked if ice fishing put no when asked if fishing in less the 60 fow no. Run deep water set up sensitivity 100 ping speed fastest color line 88 frequency 83 surface clarity off screen mode to ice setting you can arrange overlay data to your preferred set up I can mark a pin in 130 fow with this set up after done check setting make sure it didn't change 2. Make sure it is set up with these values, but ALSO, it is set up with these values following the SEQUENCE below. SETTING IN SEQUENCE IS IMPORTANT. reset all settings: Menu/menu/System/Restore Defaults Run Wizard - yes Lakes - yes ice fishing - no less than 60 feet - no Advanced - yes Menu/settings/sonar: mode - deep water noise rejection - off/lowest (might need increase when others around) surface clarity - off CHART(x67c) MANUAL MODE - YES Menu: AUTO SENSIVITY - off Range/Custom- UPPER - 20, LOWER - a couple feet below bottom frequency - 83 not 200 ping - fastest Menu/sonar options/color/iceview Menu/Adjust: sensitivity - 100 colorline - 82/84 - lure is just starting to turn blue chart(X67C) - fastest Make sure the following settings: Menu/AUTO DEPTH RANGE - off Menu/Menu/System/Advanced Mode - yes After you are done with the above settings, double check all of them and make sure none of them changed. If you followed the above sequence, it should be fine. The beauty of these setting were that I could run my X67c just 8 feet away from my son's ELITE 4X without a problem. Both sonars were set with the above settings and we had no problems. I could see his lures, he could see mine. Lots to try... Something's gotta work! Pete

I'll experiment with those settings too Landry - thanks - do you have the iceducer or regular? Pete

Colour is nice to look at... it has GPS... and most importantly - IT WAS NOT CHEAP LOL - it owes me haha I do just fine with my cheapie Humminbird, and yeah no setup needed at all... was just hoping to have all season use of the Lowrance. Am baffled why it won't work well in the deeper water. Like I mentioned, with the more powerful beam you think it should be great. I'm also currently doing the software update from 3.5 to 3.6 - maybe that will help too. Pete

Thanks guys - will give it a try. Taking the Humminbird just in case lol. And welcome Nuno - great video! Anyone else going out in the slushfest tomorrow? Pete

I recently bought the ice kit ($150) for my Lowrance Elite 5 so I can use it year round. First trip on the ice was to Quinte - very impressed, marked the fish clearly and had tons of fun with the flasher mode. Fished in depths up to 20' and caught my first 5 eyes ever thru the ice. Only negative from this outing - battery life seemed to be around 8 hours. Died just before the evening bite time. Picked up a second battery and plan to turn down the brightness to extend the life on future outings. Second trip - to Simcoe - fished for lakers in depths from 80' to 125' and felt like banging my head off the wall afterwards. Tried for hours playing with every setting, different lures, etc. and had little to no success marking my lure or fish in those depths. Luckily I had a second unit out with me (Humminbird 718 which I have rigged up for the ice) for my brother to use and he was able to mark fish no problem at all, and caught his first laker too... which happened to be a beauty but that will be another post... For the past few seasons I used a fairly basic Humminbird 525 rigged for the ice and like my 718, marked fish and lures perfectly in deep water, even smaller ones like tubes and swammers. Why are the lower powered units having no issues marking fish and lures at these depths and the more powerful signal of the Elite 5 is? If I get out this weekend I plan to try the following: 1) Only use 200kHz - from what I have read it seems like the ice transducer will work on 83kHz but is optimized for 200kHz? 2) Set the depth range manually to 5 ft deeper than depth where I am at, zoom in to bottom 20-30ft 3) Drill 3 or 4 holes in a close area and experiment with Elite in one hole and lure down another 4) Maybe try the regular transducer from the boat if the above fails I know Landry, Misfish and a few others on the board have had similar issues with their Elite 4/5's... I have looked around the internet for answers too but didn't find much. Anyone have any success or ideas? Thanks - and really hope someone can shed light on this! Pete

Shimanos mentioned above are 2 piece (handle section about 2', rod 7') TI has a telescopic which has some good reviews I think Fenwick also offers a decent 2 piece rod

Wiser has an 8'6" and a 9' Shimano Compre musky rod (brand new) in the classifieds for $75 each - I used the 9' model for the past two seasons and liked it except it is on the heavy side. Good rod for that price though. I have an 8' premier for sale - but it is a MH, would pair up very nicely with your NaCl but the rod is only rated up to 3oz lures so if you are only looking for one setup to do everything with you should at least go with a heavy. The premier line is pretty nice, and at half the price of a LT may be your best option. They are a bit more than the mojo rods with some better components. The TI rods are also very nice for around $150, I have a 9' xxxh that I throw my big plastics with. Shipping from the US might jack that up though, I don't know any dealers here. I recently sold a bunch of gear and now have two LT rods - and they are sweet indeed, but for $350ish they had better be!!!

The fenwick's are pretty sweet for around $30-35. I have the UL for pannies and a heavier one for lakers. Pete

I have also joined the ranks of the ELITE lol... I recently picked up the ice kit for my Elite 5 - can't wait to try it out. It has been a great unit for me on the boat - and now it will be an all season unit. The GPS will be great too for marking spots on the ice. Any of the experts have advice for settings on the ice? I see it has ice mode, but any other tips for setting it up optimally? (sensitivity etc.) thanks Pete

Another vote for A Christmas Story. "OHHHH FUDDDDDDDGGGGGGGGGEEE!!!" Pete

Incredible!!! Love those spotties. Pete

2013 was a great year for me for a number of different species, and even better, I got to fish quite a bit with my brothers. Paul got his firsts in a number of different species, and I got personal bests in a few as well. I got to visit LOTW for a second time, and once again, it did not disappoint. OK, I’ll let the pics do most of the talking. Ice fishing (Jan-March) – I was pretty dialed in for lakers, and had a 14 fish afternoon – lost most of my pics however as one of my memory cards corrupted. The pics I do have are all sink shots of eaters. Set a personal best with a 31”. Only caught one whitefish during the whole ice season. No idea where they went as the year before caught tons of them in the same spots. I set a personal best for perch as well with a 13.5” As winter turns into spring, I usually have a crappie hunt or two, but not this year. Around the same time, my attention turns to spring cats. I started fishing for them in 2010 and have had a blast ever since. Took Paul out for the first time, and we had a great day, both for numbers and a few piggies too. As spring turns into summer, Carp become the next species of choice… easy to catch and they fight like a runaway freight train. A beauty mirror was caught by my son Nick too – the first for us. The summer months are usually dedicated to chasing esox, but in the past few years I have been bitten a little by the salmon bug… I grabbed a bit of gear near the end of the season and got out a few times with some success. Got Paul into a few – his first… and one good one. I caught a few nice ones, and a few nice rainbows too. You will see more silver from me in 2014 as I am now fully equipped to battle those kings! I don’t really fish specifically for walleye, but there are always a few nice incidental catches during the season. We did spend a few hours targeting them while up at LOTW and I jigged up a personal best. And finally, to pike and muskie. I caught a few nice ones here in the Kawarthas, including my brothers first tiger. LOTW was incredible for pike fishing this year, and I set my personal best a number of times on the same trip with the biggest at 41”. I also managed to catch my heaviest musky ever, a beautiful 48”. I have caught a Kawartha 49.5”, but this fish was just in an entirely different class, thick from head to tail. Still hunting for that first 50”… but having tons of fun along the way. Tight lines all! Pete

Yup in heavy cardboard rod tubes with protective plastic padding inside too - I have ordered 2 rods from them and both arrived mint and fast too. No duty for me either - I have placed 4 or 5 orders with them since August. Pete

There are lots of brown trout to be found in the sewers too Wouldn't touch one though if I were you

Excellent season Mike! I don't fish bass too often these days but when I do frogging the slop and wacky worming structure is lots of fun.

Quality always trumps quantity in the muskie world A pair of beauties Lew!

I tend to get loud during GSP fights, although in the last fight it was more like yelps of fear when he was getting hit...

GoreTex rain suit. Sick and tired of getting soggy. Probably going to wait until the Cabela's spring sale though. Oh, and a fifty incher lol... Pete

Ok twist my rubber arm, pour me one on the rocks. I used to be a Crown drinker but as floatman55 said, Forty Creek is amazing. Maple one sounds good...