Prof T

Is anyone else running this combo with any accuracy? I just updated to a HDS7 Touch and forked over $99 to Navionics to upgrade to Navionics +. Pretty 1 ft contours on the basemap and couldn't wait head out. Launched out of Sackets to fish the far side of Black River Bay. Couldn't even use it as the contour depths weren't even close to the sounder readings. In many places the drop from 20 to 30 ft of water was off by as far as 50 yards! I was so confused I dropped my rigger weight intentionally to the bottom while stopped to verify that the sounder depth was accurate. It's not that it is always reading deeper than the map contour would indicate, it is equally off in some shallow situations. It is just a sh***y, useless map. My home port is the St. Lawrence between Clayton and Alex Bay. Launched at Wellesley Island State Park. Came around through Eel Bay. Turn off the contours and the Navionics base chart (whatever it is) says 7 ft depth, (water is actually 9 because of present water level). Perfect...turn on contours and it says 2 miles of 2 ft of water....GARBAGE Come out to the river, Shoals I know not located properly, soundings totally off. This chip is not only useless, it is DANGEROUS. Sent an email to Navionics, but it was Saturday morning. So far just an atomated response. Just wondering if anyone else is happy with this chip? Put this package together specifically for the 1 ft contours.

Guffins, You say "usual pattern" and no big numbers "yet". Historically, what can I expect over the next few weeks? Fished it w/Kevin yesterday with no takers. Keep hitting the same areas we did or look elsewhere?

Agree about Dave's, as well as the early spawn. Big problem is that the state park at Northampton has been closed until the end of the month for the past few years. Thanks a lot NYS, launch is locked up as well. It used to be that they opened for the fishing opener and they got a lot of campers/fishermen. Perfect time to camp in the Adirondaks if you know anything about black flies and Memorial Day weekend. Now access is very limited, if not impossible. In my opinion a huge dis-service to sportsmen and guys like Dave trying to run a sport shop. Imagine trying to survive a season when that crap gets added to a year when the weather short circuits the ice fishing.

Decided on a Lowrance HDS 7 Gen 2 Touch. I've got a couple older mapping cards, but none of them upgradable. For eastern lake o, st Lawrence and some inland lakes, which chip?

Mine doesn't start bad but they are known to have weak float needles and want to flood a little while at rest. Especially noticeable if the motor is trimmed all the way down. If I remember to trim it up somewhat when I shut it down, she'll start just fine on the re-start. It's a VRO 2, but I've gone to mixing my own @ 50:1 as I troll on a kicker. If I forget and leave it trimmed down, she'll throw a beautiful blue cloud on the re-start. Two stroke heaven--but I feel comfortable that she's well lubed. I think it has a lot to do with why I'm still able to run a 30 year old motor. Did the compression test to see if it was worth a carb re-build. Think I will.

Ran a compression check on my 1985 well used 90 evinrude. 92-95 lbs on all 4 cylinders w/ engine warm, all plugs out and throttle closed. Now I read I should have had that open, but bottom line is even though they are lower than I'd like, they are even (critical for a smooth running engine). This motor has never let me down, has a negligible resale or trade value, but still does the job. I can't find a reasonable newer used motor and hesitate to put a new motor on a 30 year old boat. So here's my question.....what compression is considered too low? This motor still starts easily and powers to boat as it should.