High End Electronics

I see a bunch of really expensive electronic tools these days . They are really cool and to be sure have improved some peoples ketch rates .
In the right hands some of the better equipment seems to generate wins in pro circuit crappie tournaments as well .
Some of the electronics are just hypnotizing to watch operate . They remind me of being stuck to a video game and cant look away . Even spot lock trolling motors and the robot like movements and that there self deploy option , along with so many other gadgets it boggles my mind .
touch screens and color options and the sky is almost the limit , i love the touch this screen on the console on a spot on the screen and watch the trolling motor self deploy and run right to the spot like a bird dog .
but ......is it all really needed to load up the ice chest right quickly is the question ?
to be sure ...NOPE
we hit the water for 2 hours at a spot we have never crappie fished before . ran straight to it on a tip from a catfish person . he said he snagged a big crappie in the gill plate while he was fishing for catfish with stink bait !
i was told this by the boat operator and said to myself .....hmmmmm :dono
i looked the spot over from the shore across the lake and said you know what mister boat operator , that there indention in the shore is a natural location for shad to hole up in when it gets cold . north and south wind protected with a bunch of nice warm boulders all along the shore . might be a good cold water spot , lets make the run over there before we try other spots .
The birds were working the area off shore a bit and we rolled up in his old stick steer canoe looking boat and dropped the HAND operated old trolling motor and turned on the hummingbird PIRAHNA hd graph and before we got to the shore line POP corn all across the bottom in piles ! ! !
I said WOAH mister STOP the boat and WATCH this action ! :yikes
straight to the bottom ,pick it up 6 inches , hold it still and ....THUMP !
we just flat whacked them poor puppies i tell ya .
had one slab straighten my hook on the surface and had one break me off down deep and just hurt them crappie fish something right quickly and quite well .
the fish were in 14 to 17 foot of water right off a steep boulder strewn bank on the flat area right off the rocks . they were tight to the bottom on NO cover and piled up . the water temp. was 53 and they seemed to like a shad colored bait best on a pink or red headed jig . they were not bashful and would bash the bait like they had a hammer in their lil fishy hands .and ...
i want to apologize for lowering the lake level for the next boat out there .....rotfl
good stuff for sure ...
KABOOM is the word yawl on the ballcap under the 2 jackets with hoods up i was wearing btw :Rofl
p.s. at 31 degrees on a monday at 8 am right after a holiday there wasnt a single soul out there when we got there or left, go figure rotfl:cheers2

Good stuff and good read on the area. KABOOM!

I agree. I can't imagine whats next.
Question Ketchn, and I'm not trying to steal a thread here. But will this livescope stuff put an end to spider-rigging and pushing jigs and such?

Good job fella [emoji106]

Sent from my MHA-L29 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Nice haul!

My question would be would you have tried that spot with out prior information? If not then how would you find that spot without some good electronics if at all. Very nice catch by the way wish our Crappies up here would be that size consistently.

We have an instant gratification Society, gone are the days of spending a lifetime of garnering information and knowledge to figure out species, patterns, and techniques.
But I'm all about Technology...with my Knowledge I can use Technology on foreign lakes and have a successful trip.
Being an older parent and having a younger son I have been introduced to Automotive, Daily, Home, and work Technology, that is amazing if used correctly...and with my knowledge!

Goodie. I lost interest in freezing my butt several years ago.

Don't need fancy electronics when someone tells you where there at. :biggrin

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Originally Posted by jay the baptist

But will this livescope stuff put an end to spider-rigging and pushing jigs and such?

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Jay ... it hasn't around here, with the people I know that have Livescope. And me personally, while I don't Spider Rig, I do Push jigs/cranks and cast to areas with & without visible cover ... and I will still be using Livescope to help me find or avoid cover, as the case may be. It (Livescope) hasn't replaced the methods I use to catch Crappie, but enhances those methods ... by showing me the fish's reactions to my baits & presentations, quickly letting me know if there are fish in the area I'm fishing, and helping me find new cover spots in the process of moving from spot to spot through an area.

Are you saying that if you had the extra money to get better electronics, you wouldn't upgrade? No different than upgrading your boat or your motor, if youre a tournament fisher and guys with better boats and motors are beating you to the spots you prefished all week. Most crappie guys upgrade because they can, not because they have too. Lots of us can catch fish in a pothole if somebody tells us which ones are holding fish. I just don't get why people knock the ones that upgrade. Not everybody wants to do stuff the old fashioned way. Why use a hand drill when you can use a battery operated drill?

Lol, I just got a notification my boat is ready for pick up at the shop. New Garmin with livescope at the helm...

Good job, glad you got in to some!!

The new electronics are nice and do help find structure and cover . But something I don't hear mentioned often is google earth and the navionics web based mapping.

We all have computers or we wouldn't be here. Google Earth can be used to learn new areas. web app.navionics.com can be mesmerizing .

Following birds is not too high tech but it works too.

Buy what you want but you still have to catch them. Enjoyed OP and the pics were great.

i wasnt bashing livescope or self deploy spot lock or solix or any other of the many cool technological advances . if it came across that way i apologize .
i was trying to say that with knowledge and information sharing and some simple tools it is quite easy to load up the ice chest.
i was sent to a spot many moons ago by a sandbass guide who said he caught 2 big slabs with those big metal slabs they use on the bottom for sandbass .
that spot is much the same in that i would have never ventured to it as there are many other spots i know are as good or better on that lake
same thing on this lake we hit , i wanted to hit the other side of the lake pretty bad , but the boat operator said lets at least go over there and look .
would technology have made it easier you ask ? might have , spot lock probably yes for sure .livescope not sure .si not sure . but again it was pretty darn good and the fish came pretty quickly for 2 older fellas in an old stick steer boat that cost 500 bux with 300 dollars worth of electronics on it .
in the end i imagine 4 rods with minnows on each would have made it about ridiculous in the fish haul department , but that isnt technology based either .
this post was to simply remind those out there that the advances in this sport are VERY cool , but you can still hurt fish well without them .

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Originally Posted by chaunc

Are you saying that if you had the extra money to get better electronics, you wouldn't upgrade? No different than upgrading your boat or your motor, if youre a tournament fisher and guys with better boats and motors are beating you to the spots you prefished all week. Most crappie guys upgrade because they can, not because they have too. Lots of us can catch fish in a pothole if somebody tells us which ones are holding fish. I just don't get why people knock the ones that upgrade. Not everybody wants to do stuff the old fashioned way. Why use a hand drill when you can use a battery operated drill?

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Very well said. Seems like a lot of people like knocking live scope I’m for whatever you like to use use it.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Who's knocking? Catch fish anyway you like my friend.
But for me, repeat, I said for me, when technology goes far enough that we are fishing in a goldfish bowl, I'll lose interest. Like deer hunting in a catch pen. Watch, then sports writers will write about "what ever happen to the good ole days" when we would go to a lake with a cane pole and a bucket of minnows?
I've been around a long time. I'm a ole timer. And most of the time, sooner or later, man ruins everything he puts his hand on. Call me foolish now, but you will see.

Just follow the guys with those fancy electronics,,,why waste money?

Fancy electronics simply eliminate unproductive water. I fish a bridge that is two miles long that has around 200 bridge pilings. Crappie are their year round but could be on any of those pilings. Electronics simply eliminates which pilings you should pass up. They are no more than a tool. They are not required but they make the job of locating fish much eaiser.

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Originally Posted by jay the baptist

Who's knocking? Catch fish anyway you like my friend.
But for me, repeat, I said for me, when technology goes far enough that we are fishing in a goldfish bowl, I'll lose interest. Like deer hunting in a catch pen. Watch, then sports writers will write about "what ever happen to the good ole days" when we would go to a lake with a cane pole and a bucket of minnows?
I've been around a long time. I'm a ole timer. And most of the time, sooner or later, man ruins everything he puts his hand on. Call me foolish now, but you will see.

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I figured this needed a repost......

I fish for crappy because I enjoy the challenge......

There's way too many folks that want a trophy for being subpar IMHO......

I DON'T BASH ANYONE BUT I DO HATE SEEING folks that say "you gotta have this to catch crappie" it's just not so and besides that it discourages those that can't afford these ridiculous prices they're getting for these totally unnecessary electronics.....

What gets me is some of the ones that fish my lakes go and spend all that money to make it "easy" and are still so lazy they want to follow guys that either can't afford those units or choose not to get them.......

In the end use what makes you happy and just go fishn.....

Enjoy The Hunt Or Stay Home.......

Basic 2D will get a willing to hunt fisherman on a load of crappie and a cheap SI unit will cut the learning curve by a lot.....

KISS = Keep it stupid simple.....:cheers2

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Originally Posted by chaunc

Are you saying that if you had the extra money to get better electronics, you wouldn't upgrade? No different than upgrading your boat or your motor, if youre a tournament fisher and guys with better boats and motors are beating you to the spots you prefished all week. Most crappie guys upgrade because they can, not because they have too. Lots of us can catch fish in a pothole if somebody tells us which ones are holding fish. I just don't get why people knock the ones that upgrade. Not everybody wants to do stuff the old fashioned way. Why use a hand drill when you can use a battery operated drill?

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If HB comes through with Mega Live I'll have it in my boat, I'm just a bird guy......:highfive
Since I've fished several times under live scope I think of it every trip I make on my boat only having 2D and SI and often wonder how many fish I miss and how much time I spend not getting bit and then THUMP, set the hook and a big ole smile hits my face.....
That surprise is untouchable and I feel that when I do get Mega Live I'll have a bunch of trips with it turned off......

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Originally Posted by SKs Crappie Catching Adventures

If HB comes through with Mega Live I'll have it in my boat, I'm just a bird guy......:highfive
Since I've fished several times under live scope I think of it every trip I make on my boat only having 2D and SI and often wonder how many fish I miss and how much time I spend not getting bit and then THUMP, set the hook and a big ole smile hits my face.....
That surprise is untouchable and I feel that when I do get Mega Live I'll have a bunch of trips with it turned off......

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I would suggest waiting until a few people have it and trying to get a fishing trip with one of them to see how well it works. I know people who jumped on the Lowrance Livesight when it came out, only to discover it wasn't near as good as LiveScope. I have always bought HB until I bought LiveScope so I'm not knocking HB. I am just saying that I would want to see proof before I spent that kind of money.

:popcorn

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Originally Posted by SKs Crappie Catching Adventures

If HB comes through with Mega Live I'll have it in my boat, I'm just a bird guy......:highfive
Since I've fished several times under live scope I think of it every trip I make on my boat only having 2D and SI and often wonder how many fish I miss and how much time I spend not getting bit and then THUMP, set the hook and a big ole smile hits my face.....
That surprise is untouchable and I feel that when I do get Mega Live I'll have a bunch of trips with it turned off......

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I don’t use my livescope every time I’m fishing. As a matter of fact, I rarely used it on my home lake this season. Don’t need it to catch fish there. I have over two hundred waypoints on that lake and I know which will produce and at what time of year to fish them. I’m pretty successful without it. I don’t need it to catch fish on any lake I’m familiar with, even Kentucky lake. I’ve been fishing that lake for a long enough time to know the spring migration routes and do pretty well with just 2D. I use my livescope for the fun of it when I feel like it. I’m an old timer that just wants to enjoy what time I have in front of me so I do.

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Originally Posted by chaunc

I don’t use my livescope every time I’m fishing. As a matter of fact, I rarely used it on my home lake this season. Don’t need it to catch fish there. I have over two hundred waypoints on that lake and I know which will produce and at what time of year to fish them. I’m pretty successful without it. I don’t need it to catch fish on any lake I’m familiar with, even Kentucky lake. I’ve been fishing that lake for a long enough time to know the spring migration routes and do pretty well with just 2D. I use my livescope for the fun of it when I feel like it. I’m an old timer that just wants to enjoy what time I have in front of me so I do.

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Amen! I don't have many years left to fish myself. I'm not ashamed to use anything that allows me to feel more thumps each fishing trip. I only keep a few fish each trip but I want to catch and fight as many as I can each trip. Unfortunately have LiveScope does not guarantee you will catch every fish you see. I spent five hours on my last fishing trip and didn't catch a single fish of any species. LiveScope let me fish the areas that had fish but did not make the fish bite. Given the weather conditions I didn't expect to catch many that day but thought I might catch a few. Without LiveScope I would have thought there were no fish in the areas I was fishing. With LiveScope I could see the fish were there, they just had lockjaw.

And yes, SK, I fished a lot of brush piles, lay-downs and stumps on this trip. The only thing I didn't fish was open water and the conditions did not allow that or I would have. I tried a lot of different jig sizes and color. The only thing I did not fish were minnows and I would have tried them if I had any on my boat. :Rofl

great job i like that color jig

Nice report Ketchn with a great result. Going fishin' and havin' fun... no matter how one chooses to go about it... is really what this great sport is all about. Isn't it???
Thanks for sharing your trip and the good read with the rest of us.

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Originally Posted by Special K

Nice report Ketchn with a great result. Going fishin' and havin' fun... no matter how one chooses to go about it... is really what this great sport is all about. Isn't it???
Thanks for sharing your trip and the good read with the rest of us.

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it is about fun for me and not money or gratification because my fish is bigger than the next persons.
big fish are really fun ,but i love numbers of bites .
i have used high end electronics of all sorts and or been on rides with the guys that do and in more than one occasion it has made the difference between no fish and a pile of fish . but .....
yesterday i went to spot and stood on the bank with just a bare jig and float , my total crappie count was 76 in 1 hour and 15 minutes ,its heavily fished and under a bridge and the fish were mostly really small , the ONLY reason i went was just to have fun.
and watching the float go away every cast was in fact great fun :highfive

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

it is about fun for me and not money or gratification because my fish is bigger than the next persons.
big fish are really fun ,but i love numbers of bites .
i have used high end electronics of all sorts and or been on rides with the guys that do and in more than one occasion it has made the difference between no fish and a pile of fish . but .....
yesterday i went to spot and stood on the bank with just a bare jig and float , my total crappie count was 76 in 1 hour and 15 minutes ,its heavily fished and under a bridge and the fish were mostly really small , the ONLY reason i went was just to have fun.
and watching the float go away every cast was in fact great fun :highfive

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Agree with you 100%. I'll take number of bites over size of fish every day. Don't keep many but love the catching, the more the better. And it is especially nice when they are hitting the jig hard each time.

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Originally Posted by ezgoing

Agree with you 100%. I'll take number of bites over size of fish every day. Don't keep many but love the catching, the more the better. And it is especially nice when they are hitting the jig hard each time.

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Same here.