Season 16 Episode 3 – First Ice Crappie Fishing with MEGA Live

James Holst and Konnor Kleist head to western Minnesota to fish for slab crappies on 3 inches of fresh clear Ice. Check out how they utilize Humminbird Mega Live to pin down schools of crappies.

Great early ice show! I’ve yet to hear James call a fish a “magnum” until this show. Is that the go to name now! 😂

These Live units are pretty dang neat to watch. One day I will have one.

Well that got me fired up for my first trip on the ice!

James,

I really enjoyed how you used mega live. you stated “time to go consult the oracle” .

We use garmin and have for 3 years now. And that is precisely the way that we use it. We find fish with it, then set up the liveimaging in a central location and and chase fish until they are gone and see where they went. i say this because I mostly see people trying to just fish with it. while possible, is definitely not optimal for the on the go fisherman. I could see doing so in a shack you’ll be hunkered down in, but for us its strictly a fish finding tool.

hnd wrote:

We find fish with it, then set up the liveimaging in a central location and and chase fish until they are gone and see where they went. i say this because I mostly see people trying to just fish with it. while possible, is definitely not optimal for the on the go fisherman. I could see doing so in a shack you’ll be hunkered down in, but for us its strictly a fish finding tool.

We’re still getting familiar with the best way to utilize the technology but based on our first couple times out on the ice I think what you just described is the way we’ll likely use it the vast majority of the time.

Not ready to pay the mucho bucks for that tech,so I do like hearing what you are seeing, for instance I always wondered if the talk about walking on the ice spooking fish was overstated but I guess not. I wonder too if you see a pattern to how fish move if spooked by a catch, toward open water, to weeds, or is it random. Thanks for all the great content!

Having used Mega 360 extensively on the ice last year, and now Mega Live this year – my go to search tool is without doubt Mega 360. It’s not that Mega Live (or any other active sonar) can’t be used as a search tool but it shines as a targeting tool. Mega 360 is constantly radaring a huge area (100 foot diameter is typical) at a great range. Asking the active sonars to do the same is comparable to using a crescent wrench rather than the real thing- it can do the job but not as well. That being said, I love both and use both- just correct tool at the correct time. The active sonars are a bit a a head scratcher – can be used as a search tool, but not the best. Can be used as a fishing tool, but 2D sonar really shines spot on the spot. In context, I use it to show me “signs of life” and as a learning tool in seeing how fish react (which is amazing). One thing I am curious with is how it will shine used for deep water, suspended fish location– if water depth is too deep, 360 (like side imaging) can lose it’s effectiveness. Time will tell and look forward to how James and the Gang figure out using all these cool new technologies together!