Spring fishing

[cycleguy]

What electronics do you have on the boat and what mapping chip do you have for it? It's important to have accurate mapping info if you're going to fish near the reefs. You do not want to go over the top of some of them...you could lose your prop, or do some other damage.

Love this thread as someone who is dreaming of making a trip over in the spring for the first time!! I have a good paper map, and a chip in my hummingbird just for this trip. With a 17' aluminum (Lund Fisherman)… I guess I need to go back and look more at the maps and such. Do some of these reefs get that shallow? I hadn't realized that. I assume your advice aligns with part of Matt's post on not being out there at night without experience.

[Ted]

I believe it very well could have been Crib Reef that caused the accident where we lost two women. and two men from Toledo in the Spring of 2014.

[wakina]

Love this thread as someone who is dreaming of making a trip over in the spring for the first time!! I have a good paper map, and a chip in my hummingbird just for this trip. With a 17' aluminum (Lund Fisherman)… I guess I need to go back and look more at the maps and such. Do some of these reefs get that shallow? I hadn't realized that. I assume your advice aligns with part of Matt's post on not being out there at night without experience.

I can say with some certainty that there will be at least one and possibly 2 spots that could give you some serious headaches. The first one that I am going to refer to is the most dangerous one and that is Crib Reef, there is a shallow spot on that reef that will do damage to your lower unit if you happen to get over it and possibly to your hull if it is 3ft or more waves. If the Buoys are in place the marker for the reef is several hundred feet I believe SE from the danger spot. This is due to the fact that the buoy tender that places these marker buoys require more water depth to safely get any closer.

The second one is located on Niagara Reef but that spot can be navigated safely if the water levels are normal to higher and not to low. The depth on that spot is roughly about 3 ft but that is calculated from the mean water levels and can fluctuate with how high or low the lake water levels or with a stiff W or SW wind that blows the water to the east that spot will be closer to the surface. That condition can last for several hours once the wind stops blowing as it takes awhile for the water to traverse back to the west end seeking its own level. Both of these spots are within the Reef Complex which is within the Camp Perry Firing Range Danger zones. Crib Reef is some what centered in the firing range and Niagara Reef is located on the east side of the firing range with some of the reef outside the firing range and the majority inside the east boundary of the firing range.

Check your map/chart for the location of these 2 spots so you are familiar with the areas that you would encounter the danger spots.

With a 17 ft boat and outboard you very well MAY be able to navigate over the shallows at Crib Reef without incidence. If something was to happen you only have a precious few minutes to get rescued before succumbing to hypothermia in the frigid water conditions, even with a life vest on and that is probably one of the
reasons Matt posted what he did.

[mc captain]

I haven't purchased a fish finder yet was looking to spend around 800 to 1000 dollars and a user friendly any suggestions

[Madd Matt]

Yes, I agree with Wakina. Also, we will never know about what caused accidents to occur and claim the lives of well seasoned life-long Erie anglers... However, even knowing the reefs, having them marked well on my navigation, depth alarms and radar will not tell you about the full size tree log that floated out of one of the rivers in the Spring after the thaw, when you run over it (or even a much smaller log) and it knocks your prop or outdrive sideways for a split second and flips your boat, you have a few minutes to be rescued, or maybe a couple hours in a Mustang Suit.... maybe.

During the daylight hours it is a mental task in the Spring to avoid the debris that flows out of the rivers that rise during the Spring and wash off the shores out into the lake. Last year we saw a large blue tarp on Toussaints, I've seen a kayak, coolers, just about anything that people have along their "river banks." More than anything though is the amount of logs and large "firewood" chunks. I would comfortably say that there isn't an April fishing trip that is more than a few miles offshore that you don't need to maneuver around a potentially dangerous chunk of debris or dangerous floating object.

I am not claiming to know what caused the accident 2 years ago and claimed the lives of Brain Huff, Andrew Rose, Amy Santus, and Paige Widmer. But I do know that the next morning while fishing on the reefs and learning about it on the water over the radio as to what the Coast Guard Helicopters and boats where doing in the area was a sombering feeling. The derbis in the water that day was a typical Early Spring day and significant. I remember because we investigated every floating object on the way back to the dock that day and it was a long ride home.

If you haven't been on Lake Erie in the early Spring, and your experience is strictly limited to Summer and Fall trips or trips with a charter, please be very careful of debris and think twice about driving at night.

-Matt

[wakina]

I haven't purchased a fish finder yet was looking to spend around 800 to 1000 dollars and a user friendly any suggestions

I don't know what you are looking for but as far as user friendly goes I would look at the RayMarine Dragonfly7. It is a set it and forget it, no frills but all business type of unit with very few user controls and very simple to operate! It is a combo unit with GPS and Chirp Sonar and Down vision Sonar.


It will also accept certain Navonics map cards, I am running the Navonics Hot Maps East card in mine and love it. The screen can be set to show each individual program Chirp sonar, down vision or GPS on the whole screen. It can also be set to show any combination of 2 of the three programs at the same time, such as Chirp Sonar/GPS. Chirp Sonar/down vision. or Down vision/GPS. It is a standalone unit and will not network with any other electronics.

The only negative that I have found is the Transom mount transducer has a weak link built into it and does not want to remain in the locked down position but instead wants to kick up like you hit something with it, it is supposed to be a safety feature but is a PIA instead.. Easy to fix but is annoying to have to do it on a new unit. You can get the units without transducer and purchase a thru the hull transducer and eliminate the transom mounted one and the problem of the weak link. Transducer extention cables are available if needed also.

There is one other plus, I run mine beside my 2 Lowrance HDS units and there is no comparison in the 2 screens as far as brightness and clarity even in the bright sun. The Dragonfly7 beats them hands down!

[Capt Juls]

I haven't purchased a fish finder yet was looking to spend around 800 to 1000 dollars and a user friendly any suggestions

Check out the new Helix Series from Humminbird. They are very user friendly (they have the same menus as their core units 800/900/1100 series) and are easy to navigate through the menus. The Helix 7 is only 699.00. There aren't any prices listed on their site for the larger Helix units yet (they're new), but will be come February, when they start shipping them. You should be able to do a larger screen with your price range though. You do not need side imaging for fishing on Lake Erie, so just getting one with the 2D/DI (down imaging) will keep your pricing down too.
I'll be running the Helix's this season too.
I highly recommend the LakeMaster Mapping chip for the Humminbird units. There's much more detail than on the Navionics chips.

[skipper9]

Chris, thanks for the very enjoyable phone conversation today. I hope I answered all your guestions if not feel free to call again. I am always ready to talk Fishing and equipment. Can't wait to see you on the water.

[walleye2go]

BBG Electronics on Ebay has the Lowrance HDS 9 Gen2 for $990 w/ free shipping. These were something like $1500 units last year. It has the capability to expand to anything you want in the future like radar, Sirius radio, down/side scan imaging, and will link with autopilot and VHF through NMEA 2000 data networking cables.

[iHunter]

You can view the Navionics maps online for free - its a pretty good pre-trip planning tool.

http://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#@11&key=wre}Fd~ryN