Rich s

You folks ALL have great rides !! Thanks for sharing the dream.. I have always been a, if it floats , we can fish... Well, I have to say safety wasn't always first foot forward.. I sat in many tubs feeling like the tidy bowl man.. So after joining the site, learning things and trying to understand what I felt I needed to explore the depth of a Great Lake, I took the plunge into the Daisy Mae in May of 2014: 1989- 221- hardtop 4.3 StarCraft Islander Upon first arrival my eyes were bigger then a kid in a candy store... After seeing many of these exact style in mexico and port Ontario, I knew I wanted it.. A quick walk aboard, walk round and sound of the V-6 it was hooked up to my truck.. Here is My first sighting: She looks like a beauty huh.. well to me After it pulled into my driveway I started the real inspection (dummy).. It needed work, floors, wiring, tires, transom issues and what not.. At that point I decided to make sure it actually ran and floats before I dump more into a piece of scrap dream.. Gosh darn, it did run and run fine on the home waters of the Mighty Hudson River. Here is the first blood aboard the deck of the Mae: And they kept on coming !! After that short'end season of ocean run fish I decided to get to work.. Replaced floor and corrected foam and transom issues.. Upgraded a lot of just plain old tired stuff and headed to some pretty big Adirondack Lakes to shakedown with the riggers and trolling tactics.. It turned out to be a fantastic overnight cabin cruiser !! Many a great times aboard in the north country, ah the fish became secondary.. That lasted until the call of the Lake Ontario United pulled me in.. Safety first, the right tackle, the right areas, depth, temps, it goes on and on as this site is great about.. Helping and learning.. Our first trip was flat seas, deep 300 fow and a fish , two.. The greatest experience however was jumping off: This will be my sophomore season. We didn't set the world on fire with salmon, trout or steelhead but it sure was a sweet ride.. looking forward to many, many more on board my rig and having the pleasure to see all you other folks on yours

My bad and yes I'm going pretty stir crazy. Last year spent 21 weeks straight on ice before I bought new to me starcraft islander 221 hard top in may. Now I've spent 12 weeks on ice and its driving me insane thinking about open water. Striped bass in my back yard will be here soon, the big lake of Ontario will draw me back . Thanks for all the help and great info here . I pulled the trigger on the elite -7 tonight

One question, the unit I'm looking at for that price has a 50/200- 455/800transducer as opposed to the 83/200. Is this better or should I get the 83/200 possibly why I read about the down scan needing a different transducer then the 50/200.. Thanks

Thank you for the response. I am basically clueless and in awe at the different models out there so price point is a big factor but also don't like wasting money as well. We currently have a super old lowrance of which model I couldn't say but it kept us off the ground so it served purpose. We used a cheap handheld gps which again worked . I actually had to take the fish finder apart and found a wire that became disconnected somehow. It's got me worried about failure so its time to upgrade. Seems the elite -hdi 7 should be a good purchase for me then. Thank You: Rich

I am passing the winter blues on the hard water every week but dreaming about my sophomore season with my islander 221 everyday. One of the things that's driving me crazy is looking at an upgrade to the seriously old outdated fish finder . I have been eying the heck outta the elite hdi-7 basically from a price point. For those of you that have them are they worthwhile and a good unit at a sale price of $429.00 ? It says they are no longer in production and I read somewhere that the downscan requires a different transducer ? Any help , pros- cons would be greatly appreciated to keep my sanity . Thanks : Rich

I understand about the $$$$ part , it seems like I'm always diving into the wishing well with all my outdoors adventures but heck , it's a fun ride. Anyways, its also called fishing not catching . Lol. I know we always want to see results from our efforts but some things like catching we just don't control all the time. I'm relativity new at the lake game but in past times I know once they stage close and in shallower water they can hug the bottom and get lock jaw. You literly need to be on the bottom as would be for say lakers. The traffic and cables zinging through the water also puts the fish down as well. If you keep at it your time will come . Good luck Rich

I was up sat 8-9 and was supposed to stay until this past sun 8-17 We made it out of Mexico sat, sun & Monday then the wicked witch of the west showed up keeping us landlocked tues, weds and finally pulled the plug on thurs because the forecast was not improving. We had 2 boats and trolled all day as far as 220 fow. Only 1 steelhead was caught on a dipsy. No other rods fired and very few fish were marked. I also hope things improve ( salmon ) and looking at the long range to this weekend it seems SSE winds are predicted so we are going back for redemption. We did see however a large school of boats working the area of 80 fow just west inside the bay. I assume for browns Rich

Thanks for the cam link. I always wanted a live action look

I was at Selkirk campgrounds from sat and was going to stay until this sunday.. We got out sat, sun and monday then sat on the shore looking at Mexico bay ROLLING tues,weds and finally pulled the plug thurs because the marine forcast had an advisory until fri night and didn't look to promising for tomorrow or sun.. My brother stayed and is still shore bound.. Kinda a bummer to schedule 9 days and only get on the water for 3.. Lady 0 is a tough some ah beach sometimes

Man , if that boat is as advertised then one would be crazy not to jump on a light weight towable but heavy weight fishing machine. I love my 89 islander and wish I had a dual wheel trailer ..

To a point and on coastal waterways.. Not messing with this thread and only seeking advice from the good folks that have helped but it seems like.. and to be blunt, how much insurance is the right amount.. AAA, sea tow, boat tow, home owners, car, boat, atv, life etc... Like said the water stuff is very limited to specific water bodies.. I like to know that folks, like neighbors help each other out in time of need and not looking for a hand out.. I will lay this to rest at that but is there a specific raidio # that is best for communications ? Thanks : Rich

I don't see helping someone else out as such an inconvenience .. Seems like good karma to me because someday it's not "if" , it's "when" we will be the recipient.. Having 2 motors is not always an option.. It's a good idea but ... Paying for insurance for different water bodies to different services is too.. If there was only tripple A..lol

Yea my home port is the mid hudson river.. Sea tow is the service.. At least on the muddy river there is always some local to help out and shore to shore is not far.. Also frequent the deep water lakes in the ADK's.. There it's locked down real estate with lots of boaters about so in a pinch I would think a friendly boater would come to aid.. I'm in a bit of quandary about the big great lake and after hearing about the captain that came to aid it kinda eases the concern.. Dang shame the weekenders wouldn't.. I always would do what I could.. Heck I blew up a flat spare tire with a bicycle pump for a stranded motorist before, because I could.. Being a newbie I believe channel 16 is the coast guard, at least it is here ? I heard chatter on #68 from some sail boaters last time I was out.. I'm not quite sure my radio scans well and I always do a radio check before leaving the docks.. I will be spending 9 days out there in 2 weeks . What is a good channel to frequent on the lake ? I'm not looking for reports, just knowing there is communication

being fairly new to the big lake game a breakdown is always my concern.. It's not a matter of if, it's when will I or someone need a helping hand .. I'm glad you found a kind person to bring you into the harbor, a bummer that others made excuses to help with the ramp, thats just not right .. I checked out sea tow, boat tow us , etc I but frequent a vast array of waterways that these services don't cover.. To me it's more about doing what we can to take care of each other to get out of a jam.. Nice to hear you caught a Lake 0 Bonus out of the deal..

That is a sweet deal. I own the exact same boat

Hey folks, Thanks for sharing your reports, tips and stories.. I am a pretty green Rookie when it comes to the Lake but in the few times out over the years am loving and respecting the big pond. Got my first real capable fishing vessel back in May, a 1989 221 Islander hard top which I absolutely love.. We used it a few times for Stripers here on my home water of the Mighty Hudson and a shakedown trip with the riggers at Schroon lake but it was bought for the purpose of the big lake 0.. Sat afternoon the lake played very nice for us so we set up our gear in about 60 fow .. A hammerhead w/ peanut dragging bottom, a stacker at 20' with a spoon off 1 rigger. The other was a sipn doc/fly with a stacker of FJ-11 at 20'.. We could care less what species, it's the tug thats the drug for us.. Dragged around towards 100 fow without a touch.. Just so happy that things were in tune (boat wise) we decided to just have fun and fish hard the next day: Pretty neat swimming in 120 fow (please correct me if I'm stupid) Sunday we awoke to a small craft warning by noon.. Decided to give it a go early and call it when things looked bad.. We tried to head to 200fow but she was rolling pretty good once we got out of the bay.. Set up in 100fow, bobbed and rocked around for about an hr and half then had enough.. The boat handled the waves very good while up to speed but just bobbing while trolling was not much fun so called it a day.. Monday: what a change from sunday.. Nice and flat with a slight breeze so we went straight for the deep.. Set up at around 160fow 80' down with spin doc's /fly with a stacker up 20-25 with a spoon on 1 and dodger/J-plug on the other.. Once we hit the 200fow the doc/fly rod popped and it was game on for my friend.. It was his first (not last) time ever to the area and sport so it's all him on the rod.. We landed a nice king , gave some high-fives and went right back to fishing.. Trolled for hrs without another touch of the rod.. Called it a trip and packed up by 2pm.. I, we will be back for a 9 day run starting Aug-9th .. Look forward to listening and learning from all the good folks here.. Thanks: Rich