Gator

Our probe rigger has started acting up. First, it began coming to a stop slowly on the descent so that it ended ~2 ft below where you stopped pushing the switch down. Then a couple weeks later it began to freeze up and not go down until you pushed the switch up again. It's intermittent, but I want to fix it prior to storage if possible. Has anyone else had this type of issue? I ordered a new three prong toggle switch from Fish307. Hopefully I won't have much difficulty replacing it myself and it will do the trick. Thanks in advance for any advice.

You got that brownie program dialed in Joe!

Awesome!

X3!

Yep, sure did. Played with all of the configurations. it still doesn't mark as well as the old lcx-20c. That having been said, I never turn down help. I'll pm you when it's less crazy later this weekend. Thx

I'll add my two cents. After putting a new transducer on the boat this year, our old Lowrance marked better than ever, but I got a smoking deal on a new Gen 2 Touch. Nice unit, but I couldn't get it to mark the bottom well while running and it seemed inferior to the old 15 year old unit, which of course bothered me. I went through the adjustments and options, and finally ended up e-mailing Lowrance. After a detailed explanation of the situation, their answer was, "It should work as well or better than the old unit". I pressed them for potential solutions/options, but they didn't have anything else for me. Well, duh! Everything's compatible and we're comparing apples and apples, empirical results show that it doesn't perform better. Ergo, there's an issue. They are a bunch of chumps.

Got to say, I'm no fan of social media. Even the guys that I've been friends with for many years seem to think that if they post something on Facebook, then the whole world knows it and there's no need for actual communication with an individual. There's guys I haven't spoken to in months that I used to hang with regularly. Yeah, I really hate it, this bright, new world. I don't see how Facebook is a surrogate for real interactions... As for posts, I know that there's boats that are tired of being followed around or having spots blown up because they posted a good report. There's places on the lake where the fishing has been hot this year, and the increase in boat traffic has been unreal. Word gets out. Which is great for everybody, I guess, but it makes for some tough fishing, especially when you're flying solo like I am a lot. I think that folks get weary of it after awhile. And as stated above, instant access to on-the-lake reports on social media and an increase in the number of sites that have reports has resulted in an interesting dynamic.

Double diver sets are very commonly run, usually in conjunction with riggers and coppers in fact, so you shouldn't have a problem. The most common setups are wire line (Malin or Mason 7-strand or Torpedo 19-strand), with 1000' spooled straight onto a 47 size linecounter reel...cinch onto a single pass of mono to reduce slippage, or tie off to the cleat on the spool. In August it's probably good to have Magnum Dipsy Divers or Deeper Divers to achieve depth (we've been running Chinook divers lately with good success). Each side gets an 8' and a 9 1/2 foot rod. The 8' rod is rigged with a diver set to run deep on the inside, using a #1 setting; the 9 1/2 foot rod runs shallower to the outside on a 3 or 4 setting. We generally will run each of the two rods with the same amount of line out. One side might be set with both rods at 180' and the other side at 260', for example. This seems to help reduce tangles. It doesn't matter whether you put the inside short or outside long run out first, so long as you maintain tension as they deploy. I like to hand set them to 50' then let a loose drag do the rest. Good luck!

I suspected that might be the case, but it's interesting nonetheless. Generally the Stokes shift between the shorter high energy absorbed wavelength and the longer low energy emitted wavelength isn't huge.In practical terms (and generalizing horribly), this means that blue light becomes green fluorescence, green becomes yellow, etc...right down the spectrum. So orange emissions should evolve from yellow absorption. Yellow penetrates to a greater depth than orange, but it's still not great. I suspect that's why the lure manufacturers use phosphorescent paints that actually store energy to make spoons "glow" at depth.

I use a large plastic lidded container that I lined with fabric foam top and bottom. It takes up virtually no space in the cabin, stores easily under the life vests on the floor, but with four torpedos it's heavy as all get out.

Does the camera emit any light itself? Roygbiv applies to horizontal distance as well as depth. Or is the paint on the lure fluorescent/phosphorescent?

I'll just post a polite correction to finding spare parts easily. Esgdirect.com got me a new probe in hours last week (my bad broke the cable) and they apparently have everything you need in stock. I have no doubt that parts will become scarce as time goes on, but for now I think that the sports who are running them can rest easy that they're covered, for now. I do foresee a fishhawk in our future, though, once this unit fails. I've got to say, though, we've had it for 15+ years and it doesn't owe us a dang thing.

Yep, it's likely your cable. Maybe a mouse? I had a scare today when our Subtroll stopped working, but it was just that it came unplugged at the rigger from a big steelhead that went nuts at the boat and had to be passed under a wire rod and the downrigger cable to get him in

Deck and boat are both clean! The lake was white capping, but didn't look too intimidating...we'll see what the temps look like tomorrow.

Power washing the deck, then off to the boat for some suds time with the mop and Magic Erasers. We'll get her dirty again tomorrow and Sunday.

Bought a new replacement for $179 with all the fixins. Thx to all who responded...I finally decided that I had to just bite the bullet and replace it before Thursday's trip. Of course, then I find out after I order it that a friend who just left for California on Sunday has a probe in his basement that I can have when he gets back Good to have a spare...

I'm guessing from the posts above that most of the folks experiencing better fishing are east, from Sodus and perhaps beyond. It also sounds like the fish are still relatively shallow. We used to fish Wautoma, but it's been a while, but I'd love to hit it again if the fishing improves. The past couple times were a complete bust.

A fair price...they go $200 new, so $100 seems right, in good condition. Unfortunately, the paddle wheel axle can rust, and replacing that alone is ~$30. Thanks to the guys who pm'd me.

Oops. Anybody have one they want to part with?