Anglers of the central United States have a new and better chart option for their GPS Units.  LakeMaster  Lake Maps’ Great Plains chart covers Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska on one card. This release brings LakeMaster’s total coverage to 12 states and NW Ontario. These cards work with most Humminbird®  and Lowrance®  GPS plotters. The ‘plug and play’ charts bring with them LakeMaster’s reputation for making the most accurate freshwater maps in the industry.

LakeMaster Digital Charts for Humminbird have five features exclusive to the LakeMaster-Humminbird combination:

1. Depth highlight 
2.  Depth highlight range
3. Water level offset 
4. Shallow water highlight
5. Quick zoom lake list

LakeMaster products can be found at most Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska outdoor Sporting Goods Retailers.

For more information go to www.lakemap.com

Last night I finally got caught up enough to get to a few pending emails I had.  One particular email had one of the more complex questions I have ever received.  The email was from John in South Dakota wondering about finding that "spot-on-the-spot".  Basically in brief John was asking what makes one spot better than others?  My first thought is this could take days to answer as it is an extremely complex question since you have to take into account a lot of factors like, species of fish, time of year, bottom content, ice conditions, oxygen levels and the list goes on and on.  But, there are a few things that make a spot great and recently while fishing bluegill I had to put it all together on the first attempt to be successful and this is how it worked.

I hand carried my Auger, bait, Frabill Ice rod and my Humminbird ICE-55/385ci combo while watching my GPS screen on the 385ci which was running the LakeMaster Minnesota chip to a spot that I hoped would hold some big bluegill.  I didn't have a lot of time and certainly didn't have much for gear.  So, when I went to start the auger I noticed all the gas had leaked out of the tank due to a cracked line.  Thankfully I had enough gas in the line to drill one hole.  Good thing there was only 12 inches of ice because I barely got through the 12 inches.  So hear I sit, on a lake with no one within a mile, one hole and really need to get some photo fish bad.  Not the ideal situation for an ice fisherman that prefers to run and gun.

As I dropped my lure down it didn't take long and I had a little Bluegill, a very encouraging sign.  At least there was something in this area and if there was on bluegill there would certainly be more.  It did not take long and the action was fast and furious with the big bluegill feeding aggressively, truly a great evening on the ice.

So what does this have to do with the original email question?  I did not just drill that hole in a random spot.  I used my LakeMaster chip in my GPS to pick a spot that I knew had the best chance to produce fish.  And, being I only had one chance, I had to get it right.  As you can see by the picture, I am fishing what some call a "saddle".  An area where deep water extends inside to shallow water creating a type of funnel.  There is a classic shallow feeding spot up top before it drops down to deeper water, which you don't see.  Then if you look close you see the spot on the spot, the little point where I sat to ambush these bluegill as they moved up to feed.  Essentially in this scenario that little point in the saddle is the "spot-on-the-spot".

As I said earlier, there are many things that make a spot better than others but we all have access to technology now that makes hitting the "good" spots much easier.  My advice to John in South Dakota is to pick up the LakeMaster Dakotas chip, the info on that chip is priceless to me and will put you on that "spot-on-the-spot"!

Hopefully everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to the new year.  For me Christmas brought a  lot of travel and a lot more snow.  All this snow is making travel on the lakes somewhat tough here in Central Minnesota but this is also the time I start heading  North where the lakes are in much better shape.  Over the next two weeks I will be on Lake of the Woods, Mille Lacs, Winnie, Leech and Cut Foot Sioux, so look for updated reports and photos over the next few weeks.

Despite the tough ice conditions around here I have still been getting out some, mainly to do some equipment testing and photo work.  I am still putting in quite a bit of time with the Humminbird 385ci, basically testing its merits as a viable option on the ice.  I am sold on the fact that the Humminbird 385ci is a great GPS unit and works well in the car, on my sled and on the ice but now I am testing the 385ci to see just how well it works as an ice sonar unit.

For those not familiar with this unit, just read back I have written plenty about it on my blog.  The 385ci has some very cool features that allow you to use it in "ice mode" which basically converts the standard sonar return to a "flasher" type return.  I have been comparing standard ice flashers side-by-side with the 385ci and found that you can really fine tune the return to get exactly the same return you get on the ICE-55 mounted on the other side of this Combo unit.

Not only do you get the same looking return you also get features like the Target Line, Zoom, 3 color Palettes and different back lighting options (white, blue or black).  In addition, you have the Switchfire options "clear mode" and "Max Mode" which allow you to change your sensitivity levels to meet just about any condition you will find on the ice.  There is no doubt these additional features that many of us are familiar with on our Humminbird open water units are going to make the 385ci a strong unit on the ice.  So far I have been extremely impressed with the unit.  While my intension's were to use this unit only as a GPS, I now find myself using the "ice mode" more often and continue to be impressed with all the features in the unit.

You can see in the pictures here.  The first is a typical return you will get when you turn the "ice mode" on. You will notice the typical flasher type return with some noise return noted a the top.  You can also see my bait and a big bluegill lurking below waiting to see what is on the other side of the ice sheet.  The second photo you can see I made a simple adjustment by reducing the surface clutter and then also increased my sensitivity 1 level.  The great part about using the 385ci on the ice is the fact that you can fine tune your settings just like we do in the summer with our open water units.  In the last photo you can see my jig still hanging their at 8 ft and the fish are gone.  However, if you look close you can see a few of the ones that went home with me!!

My testing on this unit has only begun.  I have a pretty ambitious ice schedule this winter which will give me plenty of time to continue to test this unit in various conditions.  So far I have been impressed with the unit, even in the extreme cold weather we have had this year. If you are in the market for an ice unit, I suggest you take a look at the "package" value you get in the ICE-55/385ci combo, you will not be disappointed!

In between all the deer hunting I have been doing I have been working hard getting familiar with the new Humminbird ICE-55/385ci Combo unit.  While I am very familiar with the ICE-55 portion, the 385ci unit is proving to be a very a welcome addition that creates the ultimate ice package for all anglers.  Here are a few things in my initial testing that I really like.

Last night I used the 385ci in my truck suction mounted to my windshield, powered with the 12v cigarette lighter adapter that came with the package to navigate to the lake.  Yes, I know my way to the lake but I was checking out the road data on my LakeMaster chip and testing the map rewrite speed.  For those of you still using a handheld, the map rewrite rate on the 385ci is unbelievably faster than any handheld I have ever used, even with a data intensive chip.  If you are looking for a unit that can run a GPS mapping chip very fast in cold conditions, this is it!

When I arrived at the lake I pulled the unit off the suction mount with the push of a button and simply clicked it onto the mount on the ICE-55 and was off to the ice.   Once again I used my LakeMaster chip in the 385ci combo to find the 5ft weedline contour on the lake as the kids and I were going to chase some early ice bluegill.  When I arrived I drilled two holes for the kids and put the ICE-55/385ci combo in between them and dropped down a transducer for each of them.  Yes, this package includes two ice ducers, one for each unit and you can use them at the same time.  My kids absolutely loved having their own ice unit even though it was in the same package.  The nice part is both transducers run on different frequencies so you get zero interference between the two units.

While dad spent the evening bouncing from hole-to-hole with an ICE-55 the kids spent the entire evening fishing in the same spot with their units.  Cole ran the 385ci in ice mode while Jadyn used the ICE-55 she is familiar with.  Both kids caught plenty of bluegill and had a great time and dad got to do his thing on the ice.  Although I did have steal the 385ci from Cole for a minute as he assured me there was a bluegill down there "that will not bite"  Well, he was right, dad could not get it to bite either.  Cole snapped a few photos of me fishing which I got a laugh at.  I hope I don't always look that intense while I am fishing.  Anyway, I thought I would share my thoughts so far on the Humminbird ICE-55/385ci combo unit.  So far I am REALLY liking the addition of the 385ci!

I am really looking forward to putting the handlebar mount on the sled yet.  Using the same GPS in my vehicle, then my sled then to the ICE unit is really where you see the true benefits to this package.  I will continue to give updates on the ICE-55/385ci package as I have them.  Lots more testing to do yet.

Humminbird continues to bring products that anglers ask for to market.  The latest, the ICE-55/385 ci Combo is one that every serious ice angler has been asking about for years.  I honestly get 10-20 emails a year asking it there is something like this on the market, and until now, there has not been. Yes, others have tried to combine and sonar and GPS for ice use but no one has done it the right way, until now.

The ICE-55/385ci Combo combines the superior power and performance of the ICE-55 sonar with that of a 385 ci Color GPS with mapping capabilities.  Yes, in this new package you get the ICE-55 sonar paired with a GPS that can run both LakeMaster and Navionics digital GPS maps and it gets even better.

I know you are saying what could be better? Well, the best part it the GPS is removable and can be used in your vehicle or on your ATV.  Yes, the accessory package can be purchased that allows you to run you 385 ci on your ATV and/or Vehicle and the package includes everything to do so including the power cord and mounts.

There have been a lot of great products and innovation in ice fishing over the last few years but when it comes to the ice market, this has to be one of the best ones in a long time.  For me, this single until will replace my handheld GPS that goes through batteries very fast and operates at a snails pace.  I am very excited about this new product and a big thanks to Hummbird for putting out a product that ice anglers have been asking for, for years.

As I prepare for my next Tournament, the FLW Spring Valley IL on the Illinois River I can't help but be excited about the things that I have accomplished since the first run of my Live Fishing Web cast at Detroit.  If you tuned in an saw some live fishing in Detroit you know there were plenty of issues but for the most part, the concept is a good idea and did work.

For my next tournament I have upgraded all the equipment and it is very noticeable from a viewer standpoint.  First of all I won't have to shut down the live feed to move spots, my new Web Camera is waterproof, so bring on the nasty conditions.  Second, I have added a wireless microphone to the system so you don't have to listen to hours of wind blowing.  For the viewer, what I say should come across very clear with the new Mic system.  The changes are pretty cool and there is more to come.

I have an exciting announcement that should come to wards the end of the week.  Make sure you check back as their are some really cool things that will unfold this week before I take off to start practicing or my next FLW Tournament.  I continue to try to make things more interesting and if everything works out, this one will be pretty cool!

Sometimes we have to inspire ourselves to do better.  Last week while writing The Reality of Fishing, which talked about how to make competitive walleye fishing more interesting, I believe I inspired myself.  After writing that piece I decided that there has to be a way to show people what really goes on while tournament fishing and the practice leading up to the tournament. So after consulting with some people much smarter than I, this is what I came up with.

Starting Friday April 2nd when I hit the water to start prefishing for the FLW Detroit River Tournament you will be able to watch me fish live in the boat.  By clicking on the link at the right side of the page you will have access to the live camera in my boat.  Weather permitting you can watch hours and hours of true Reality TV. I figure the next best thing to actually catching all those giant Lake Erie and Detroit River walleye is getting to watch me do it live.  Ok, I was just rubbing it in a bit because I am getting really excited to hit the road. Be sure to check back this week for more updates but the testing is done and we are ready to go live.

Humminbird just made a good thing better.  If you haven't read about Switchfire it is worth taking a little time to look into this new feature on Humminbird Sonar units. Switchfire gives you two unique modes that all you complete control to adjust your sonar to fit the fishing conditions you are up against.

The first mode, MAX MODE gives you the ultimate detail with maximum return.  Max mode is great when fishing lakes without a lot of suspended particles and in non-turbulent water. If you want to see the thermocline, changes in current or everything under you, MAX MODE is your choice of modes.

The second mode, CLEAR MODE uses TVG or Time Variable Gain software to sift through sonar returns to display only fish, structure and larger sonar returns.  This mode is great when fishing shallow, in rivers, rough water or whenever you want reduced clutter in the water column.

Personally, I can think of hundreds of applications where I would have loved to have this option.  Last year while fishing the final day in the FLW Championship the stretch of the Oahe River I was fishing became very turbulent and the algae on the bottom was getting stirred up.  As the water became more turbulent it became harder and harder to distinguish fish from the bottom because of the algae layer being picked up by my Humminbird 1197C SI. You can't fault a sonar for being ultra-sensitive, after all that is what makes Humminbird the best.  However, it will be nice to have the ability to adjust the sonar now to the conditions!

While doing a talk last night I got several questions about the Minn Kota i-Pilot.  When I am talking to a group and they have common questions about a product I usually take that as a hint as a subject that I need to do a better job explaining.  For those of you that have questions about the Minn Kota i-Pilot, here you go.

The i-pilot is a a GPS based trolling motor control system.  Essentially the i-PIlot integrates a GPS with your current trolling motor and is available as an accessory for Terrova, PDV2, RTST and RTSP.  It includes features like:

Record a Track
Spot Lock
Cruise Control
Advanced AutoPilot
CoPilot

Record a Track feature is pretty simple, you hit the record button and start to move.  The unit will track and record your trail for up to 2 miles.  If you want to retrace the track ou hit the Start or End button and i-Pilot will steer the boat along the same path.  The nice thing is you can store and recall up to 3 different tracks which is nice for livebait fishing offshore.

Spot Lock works like an electronic anchor holding the boat in place with the push of a button.  The Spot Lock feature automatically corrects for wind, drift and waves and will adjust you speed and direction to keep you on that spot-on-the-spot. Once again, you can recall up to three Spot Locked locations.

Advanced AutoPilot is similar to the AutoPilot many of us are used to except it uses GPS technology instead of a compass to keep you online by projecting a series of waypoints based on the motor position.  The i-Pilot will maintain the boats heading while compensating for wind, current and drift.

cruise Control uses the GPS to maintain actual "on-the-water" MPH rather than trolling motor speed. So now instead of adjusting your thrust constantly to maintain a speed, the Cruise Control feature will do that by entering a speed that is adjustable to 1/10 mph.

CoPilot gives you wireless manual control of the trolling motor using the standard CoPilot functions.

I have always used a cable driven trolling motor.  First the Minn Kota Maxxum and lately the Minn Kota Fortrex but I have to admit the features on the i-Pilot have me convinced to make the change to the Minn Kota Terrova next year.  When you look at all the benefits the i-Pilot provide it is easy to see why this is a "must have" feature on your boat!
 

This past weekend while on the road I got a lot of questions in regards to "flasher" or sonar basics.  Several people I talked with wanted to know more about the basics of a flasher.  How do they work?  What are you seeing?  This was a good reminder to myself that I need to take a step back sometimes and cover the basics for those that are just getting into the sport or are new to using electronics on the ice.

First, to get started you have to be able to turn your flasher on.  Basically you power up the unit and drop the transducer down the hole.  I prefer to have the transducer just inside the very bottom of the hole.  This will give you the best return but will keep your line from getting caught on the transducer when you catch a fish.  With the unit on you want to determine the depth you are fishing and set the scale.  On the Humminbird you can see I am fishing 26.5 ft so I am using the 2 setting which covers 0-40 ft of water.

With the bottom set, you need set your Gain now if you haven't already.  Drop your jig down and make sure you can see it fall in the water column.  If you don't see your jig falling or the signal is very faint you need to increase your Gain level.  Basically, Gain is the amount of signal return being displayed on the unit. 

Pictured above is a screen shot of my Humminbird ICE 45.  At 12 o'clock or right above the "MM" in Humminbird you see a red line that represents the top of the water column, wherever your transducer is. From there, as you move clockwise, that is the water column.  At 22ft you can see my split shot and just below it you will see my Demon Jig tipped with a wax worm.  Believe it or not, when the wax worm is gone, the signal will come back green instead of yellow.  But, anyways, we can cover that in the advanced lesson.  As you continue deeper you will see bottom at 26.5ft just as the unit reads on the LCD in the center of the screen.  Anything you see after the "bottom" is not important for right now as we are concerned with the area between the transducer and bottom.

The signal below my jig and split shot is a crappie coming in from outside the cone.  The return signal for this is green.  As the fish moves toward my jig the signal return will get stronger and it will turn from Green to Yellow.  As the fish moves to grab my jig offering, the signal will turn Red.  In order to coax the fish I see to bite I place the deepest or second return slightly above the fish and continue to work them up slowly.  Once the signal of the fish and my jig line up on the flasher and appear on top of each other or as one signal, I stop watching the flasher and watch my rod tip.  If the fish bites, the easiest place to see the bite is a bounce of the rod tip......fish on!

The Humminbird ICE 45 has two beam options and since I was fishing over 20ft I was using my narrow beam transducer so the image (approaching crappie) appears a very faint green.  Because the return is a weak green signal I know the fish is sitting toward the outside of my transducer cone, as I mentioned earlier.  If I were using my wide angle cone, this light green signal would appear as a much stronger return, maybe even Red.  In deep water or when fishing around other people with flasher units I like to use my narrow beam to avoid giving out excess signal or also receiving it, in the form of interference.  When alone and in the absence of thick cover or other fisherman, I do prefer to use my wide angle cone, as you can see fish approaching from farther away.

There are a lot of things that I omitted from this to keep it short and to the point.  There are also many other things that I will be covering in regards to flashers that will go more in depth as far as how to read bottom content, how to determine what type of fish you are looking at, etc.  But, for today we will stick to the basics and save that for another day.