31Airborne

Ssshhhhhhhhh!!! Before you go to the lake be sure to check performance in a sink, tub, or better yet a fish tank. You want the bait to sink nose first. You may need to play around w/ placement before you get it just right.

Not dumb, Steve. You'll find them in the terminal tackle section of any tackle shop. I get them from TW - just type 'suspend dots' in the search engine.

Jamie - the slow sinking effect can be killer, esp in colder water. Think about it: when the shad die they kinda slowly fall to the bottom. Easy pickings for predator fish. A couple of strategically placed suspend dots is all it takes. And they won't affect the action on the bait when you're working it. Not much to figure out. You're still gonna give the bait those long pauses. Now, instead of just sitting there the bait is slowing falling. Doesn't get any subtler than that. I keep a tray of jerkbaits (all sizes, colors) doctored up to do this.

The MB Ito Vision 110 is my go-to jerkin' bait. The LC Bevy Shad is a very, very close second.

My FoM partner drives an FX21 w/ the 250 SHO. That motor is a beast. Best hole shot ever, quiet, smooth running, and as fuel efficient as advertised. Boat is a superb fishing platform - stable, smart layout for storage. The FX21 performs equally well in calm or chopped water. It's a very smooth ride.

I strongly recommend keeping the 24v system as an option. The dwell time you'll have w/ the 24v set-up is significantly more than w/ a 12v system. If it gets windy or you get into one of those power-fishing days you'll burn thru that single batt in no time. Lots of lighter weight battery options out there.

The short answer is baitfish. It's about tome for that fall feed so the predator fish are keying on bait. Recommend using your electronix to learn where the baitfish are holding. If they're deeper spoons, drop shots, or a heavy swimbait head may be the best way to get something in front of feeding fish. If the fish are suspending you might consider a damiki rig or a-rig. A weightless fluke would be a great way to target fish working the shallows or holding on wood. I was on Cherokee 2 weeks ago and the topwater bite was killer. My next presentation was a squarebill - they wore that out, too. As the sun came up I switched to the jig and c-rig. This set of patterns held up for the entire week I was there. Everything I did, every place I stopped was based on the presence of baitfish. If I didn't see baitfish I didn't fish it. The transition from dead of summer to fall feeding can often be a fickle time for fish. Recent heavy rains can have an effect, good and bad. A little bit of time spent over your electronix can help break the code as to where the fish are holding.

good luck with the move, doug. hope it goes smoothly.

You'd have to have a link to a search capability that would enable you to retrieve then display archived data. The microprocessor on your Lowrance units is certainly robust enuff to do this. I just don't know if there is code embedded in the unit to allow you to do this. Maybe a call to the Lowrance customer service people will help you??? As for pinning and registering WPs, there is a manual entry mode for these. You can also add/transfer them using an SD card. May require you to store them in an intermediate medium (like iCloud). Not hard. You'll find how-to info on the Lowrance site. There are prob 100s of You-toobs on how to do this if you're a visual learner.

Congrats on the new sled! I love my Triton.

Check out the ALX Zolo Grind. I have 4 ALX rods in my sled - 2 of them are cranking sticks. I have Revo Winches (5.4:1) paired to these.

I haven't fished out of Toobie's Skeeter but I did fish out of my FoM partner's for 3 years. Same set-up - SHO 250, ultrexx, electronix. This is a superb ride and fishing platform. Holeshot w/ the SHO is crazy fast. The FX hull handles exceptionally well in choppy water. Very smart storage layout.

welcome aboard! yep, summer is a tuff time for fishing, kind alike the dead of winter. it's slow and sometimes painful. there are fish to be caught tho'. if you give us an idea of where you've been fishing and how it'll help us give you some ideas on adjustments.

Yep, you can do that, Steve. I had my 1198 networked w/ a 2nd GEN Helix on my old sled. Worked fine. Once you see the images on the Helix you'll get the 2nd one. Just sayin' . . .