Had the same problem after my first season with the unit. I would call Lowrance tech support instead of email. I had to send mine in for service (under warranty at the time). Got it (or another unit) back in a couple of days.

I wish I could call it late summer, but these fish migrate like clockwork and they have started their fall migration. Fortunately, it will continue through mid October.

Most people prefer other species to eat, but some really like the taste of Bluefish. The meat is has an oily feel to it and a stronger taste than varieties that have white flaky meat. The key to these critters is to bleed them before after you boat them and before you put them on ice. A little seasoning and throw them on the grill. Good stuff!

That area I was fishing tends to stay warm well into Sept. The in-shore ocean water fifteen miles to the east of this area is 57 degrees.

Funny you should mention Dolphin, because the warmer water has extended farther north this year, they are getting Dolphin not far from here. I have never caught one, but I hear they are very fun.

The CT river is a great fishery. With the quality of the ocean fishing in New England, the freshwater lakes/rivers don’t tend to get a lot of pressure in the summer. Ice fishing is very popular. CT has had an extensive stocking program for walleyes and Northern Park for years. The results are really show and these fish are starting to get the attention they deserve. Maine is an uproar over those “pesky” muskies. They were stocked years ago and over time have spread throughout a large region of southern Maine. The locals feel that the musky will eat all of the local trout. There is no minimum length at this time which is a shame.

Thanks for the comments folks.

Wade, I would have bought from you, but my schedule and yours didn’t seem to match this time.

Wow. Tuffy boats have come a long way since my father had a 1982 17′ Rampage. That boat was decent for its day, but too much hull flex for my liking. The new models look great.

I decided to try a hbird Matrix 17 for this boat. I got a good deal on it ($154) and I could bring it home immediately. I think it has a little bit better screen than the lower-end monochrome eagle/lowrance units. I’ll find out soon enough. Vacation starts on Saturday and I’m bringing this boat. Hopefully, we will put a big dent in the local striped bass and bluefish populations.

Thanks for the info guys. I probably pass on the 480 given the mixed feedback. I have a Raymarine A series on my other boat and love that, but looking for a cheaper alternative for the old boat. I’ll check out the others.

Thanks as always!
Dan

Great story. I miss muskie fishing now that I live in New England.

That said, I am starting to hear that the trout lovers in Maine are not happy with the natural muskies taking over their waters and eating all of their precious 10 inch brook trout. Not that there is anything wrong with little trout, but I prefer toothy critters.

I love the topic of boat design. With fuel prices going sky high, there is a lot of talk about more efficient boats. Boat design is all about tradeoffs. Long narrow boats will give you a better ride in rough conditions and are more economical to run. The downside is that when you stop, their narrower beam will not be as stable.

Along the coasts, Panga style boats are becoming very popular. This style of boats has been very popular around the world for a long time. Do a search in Yahoo or Google for panga. You will see many manufacturers listed. Each has a lot of good info on their site.

I just posted this as an fyi. I find the topic interesting. There is an excellent book by David Gerr called The Nature of Boats. It is very entertaining and provides a lot of great information about the many tradeoffs in boat design.

Here is the basic hull shape:

I reset the unit and it seems to be working again. Thanks

Thanks Wade.

The unit was in a kitchen cabinet all winter and I don’t think that was the problem. I saw the reset procedure in the manual and I was thinking of trying that. I guess I will. I am sure the batteries were ok, but I will have the cig lighter adapter ready to go.

Dan

I want to thank the author again.

Tonight I followed this for the second successful time. Can’t seem to remember which way to turn the drive shaft when pushing the cup onto the impeller.

I had a similar problem and sent mine in for service. A new one was at my door in 3 business days. The card reader (where you install the card) thing was losing contact with the card.

Excluding that one problem, it is a great unit.

$75?? Is that right? I purchased OEM rebuild kits for a 50hp merc that were less than $15 each. I probably paid list price because I was in a hurry.

No contest. I would go with the gps. You won’t believe how quickly you will bond with it. You’ll wonder why you didn’t get one earlier.

I have the iFinder H20. It is a great unit. It did need to be serviced at the end of last season, but Lowrance had a new unit at my door in 3 business days. I can’t blame the unit, it took a beating on my boat last year. I used velcro to attach it to my console. The thing that holds the memory card didn’t like saltwater. Oops. I was changing the batteries when spray hit the battery compartment.

I bought it from Wade and when I needed a copy of my receipt for the service, Wade’s wife emailed it to me within an hour.

Prior to last weekend, I did not have a White Castle burger since I moved to New England in 1992. Last weekend I had to travel home for a funeral and decided that I had to stop and get some sliders on my way to the airport. I was in heaven. The perfect lunch = 4 double cheesburgers w/ketchup, o-rings and a drink.

I too bleed as described for kept fish. I started doing it for ocean fish and now do it for any fish that I plan to keep. It does make a difference. I usually cut the membrane that is behind the last gill.

Assuming that this is a older 2-stroke with carbs, this is usually a sign that it is carb service time. Not hard to do yourself and the parts are cheap.

I agree that you should find out what the problem is. There is nothing worse than getting stuck without help.

To fix it or re-power is up to you. Do you want to spend the money for a new/used engine now? Do you know if you really need a new lower unit? Maybe the one you have needs a minor repair??? If the engine is in good condition and you have confidence in it, I wouldn’t hesitate to fix it. If you buy a used engine, you will have some unknowns. If you buy a new engine, you get a nice new warranty. The downside is the $3500 – $5500 to replace an engine in that range.

Mossydan,

I am a former midwesterner living in Massachusetts. There are many great places to go. For MA and RI, the most productive times are during the late spring/early summer (late May through June) migration north and the early fall migration south (October). That said, the fish are around throughout all summer.

Not so sure about the jon boat idea, but it is worth a shot. If you get out early in the season, you can put it in some of the estuaries.

What part of the east coast are you considering?

If you want to PM me, I can point you to some forum that specialize in these areas.

Last season was a great season. It was not uncommon to take my boat out and land 20-60 fish in a 4 hour period.

I like the glasses from Hobie. I think they are as good as any of the others mentioned. I’m hard on glasses (as we all are) and these have held up the best of any brands that I have owned. I believe they are about $80 per pair.

I could be wrong, but I think you must load the mapcreate map onto a card first and then put it into your unit. When the mapcreate map is selected via the menus, the mapcreate map and the base map are merged and displayed as one. The size of the mapcreate map is limited by the size of the memory card that you are using.

Has this changed on the newer units? I have an H20 that is about 1.5 yrs old.

I live in New England and have been looking at the Navionics and Lowrance Nauticpath maps for the coastal waters I fish. One of the things I have learned is that the Lowrance Nauticpath map, when loaded, is merged with the base map when it is displayed. As you have noted, that is not the case with the Navionics maps. I know the Nauticpath is only for the coastal waters and the great lakes, but I thought I would mention it since it seems like Lowrance is working hard to expand their freshwater maps as well.

Dan

One thing to keep in mind is that gas fumes are heavier than air. If fuel vapors get into the cockpit of your boat, they will collect in the lowest accessible area. I am only mentioning it to help your troubleshooting. It could be any number of things.

Press the exit button 3 times quickly from the map page. That should display the analog looking speedometer.

I have this “baby Ray”. It is a great unit. Its auto features are the best out there in my opinion. I ran mine in saltwater and freshwater all season with the “auto fishing” setting. I never had to touch it all season.

Also, don’t be concerned about the brightness of the screen. It really does work as advertised. The brighter it is outside the better the screen. No problems with good polarized glasses either. The only time it is a little tough to see is on those foggy/misty/heavy cloud days. A little extra back light power would be nice in those situations. I tend to wear polarized glasses regardless and that helped.

The only real decision for you midwest folks is whether you need a high power dual frequency unit. Its the only way it comes.

If I had known that Wade sold these, I would have bought one from him.

I have this “baby Ray”. It is a great unit. Its auto features are the best out there in my opinion. I ran mine in saltwater and freshwater all season with the “auto fishing” setting. I never had to touch it all season.

Also, don’t be concerned about the brightness of the screen. It really does work as advertised. The brighter it is outside the better the screen. No problems with good polarized glasses either. The only time it is a little tough to see is on those foggy/misty/heavy cloud days. A little extra back light power would be nice in those situations. I tend to wear polarized glasses regardless and that helped.

The only real decision for you midwest folks is whether you need a high power dual frequency unit. Its the only way it comes.

If I had known that Wade sold these, I would have bought one from him.

I have this “baby Ray”. It is a great unit. Its auto features are the best out there in my opinion. I ran mine in saltwater and freshwater all season with the “auto fishing” setting. I never had to touch it all season.

Also, don’t be concerned about the brightness of the screen. It really does work as advertised. The brighter it is outside the better the screen. No problems with good polarized glasses either. The only time it is a little tough to see is on those foggy/misty/heavy cloud days. A little extra back light power would be nice in those situations. I tend to wear polarized glasses regardless and that helped.

The only real decision for you midwest folks is whether you need a high power dual frequency unit. Its the only way it comes.

If I had known that Wade sold these, I would have bought one from him.

Here in the New England, the direct injection 2-strokes are becoming very popular. For the larger center console boats many of the charter captains/guides are finding them to be much more fuel efficient than the 4-strokes. For a given cruising speed, they are simply running at lower rpms than were with 4-strokes. E-tecs are showing to be very dependable. I have only heard of one major mechanical failure and I know Evinrude had a factory technician on-site the next business day. They quickly decided to give the boater owner a new engine and took the busted engine back for analysis. The majority of the other issues have been corrected with software mods (settings or updates).

The newest Yamahas and Hondas continue to be good reliable engines. This summer seams to have been a bad summer for Suzuki. A lot of the higher end 4-strokes have been having problems. Mostly lower units and power-head seals failing that result in powerhead failures.

On the smaller end, Tohatsu’s TLDI direct injected 2-strokes are also very good. As quiet and smoke free as the e-tec without some of the electronic wizardry. Tohatsu is now starting to put the TLDI technology into their higher hp engines. I believe a 115 is out or coming out very soon.

Thanks wade. I will take a look.