Wondering what the rest of you would do with $150 in Cabelas bucks. I have two Medium Ugly Stik 7 footers with Pfleuger President reels and a pretty decent setup of lures. The last couple trips fishing has been slow for me. Not sure if it was just a couple of low periods of fishing or if I just wasn’t finding them.

How would you spend your money? Has bringing a fish finder improved your success? Just looking for general opinions.

I like to fish for the whole grand slam. Did well on lakers mid-June last year and SMB in August, but didn’t do a good job of targeting walleye or northern (even with leeches). Admittedly, I didn’t REALLY put in the time since the rest of the group isn’t as into fishing, but I’m just looking for suggestions on the best way to spend some Cabelas bucks and improve my success this year.

Thanks!

I have not had a great history of fishing in the BWCA so sought advice here a couple years ago. The best advice I got was “you have to fish where the fish are”, or words to that effect. I got a Garmin Striker 4, converted it to AA batteries, and definitely lifted my game. Not sure how another rod or reel would do that.

If it were me I would buy the depth finder and save my pennies to put $100 towards a good graphite jigging rod.

Find good spots/structure with the depth finder and drop a jig tipped with a leech on their head. Winner winner chicken dinner.

I’d like to suggest the Garmin. I have that striker 4 on my pontoon. It really is a nice unit.

I'd invest those bucks in a nice pair of sunglasses. That way, if the fishing is still slow. You'll still look good.

My fishing success in the BWCA improved greatly when i started bringing in a small depth finder.

Jaywalker: "I have not had a great history of fishing in the BWCA so sought advice here a couple years ago. The best advice I got was “you have to fish where the fish are”, or words to that effect. I got a Garmin Striker 4, converted it to AA batteries, and definitely lifted my game. Not sure how another rod or reel would do that. "

How did you convert it to aa batteries? I have one on my kayak and I been looking for the lightest battery to bring it along this spring.

As far as that 150 bucks, I agree that a depth/fish finder would be a way better investment as far as bettering your fishing.

tarnkt: "If it were me I would buy the depth finder and save my pennies to put $100 towards a good graphite jigging rod.


Find good spots/structure with the depth finder and drop a jig tipped with a leech on their head. Winner winner chicken dinner."

With any luck I’ll have a decent jigging rod with this summer. I bought a mid range Shimano graphite rod and promptly snapped off 6 inches. It was under warranty still so I sent it in a couple weeks back - hoping I get a replacement but won’t count it until it’s in my hands.

I’m glad to hear the rest of you confirming the fish finder is a good asset in the bwca. I’ll pull the trigger on it pretty soon here. I don’t have my own canoe yet and regularly borrow either my dad’s cedar strip or my friends Royalex. Am I right in thinking neither are good candidates for shooting the transducer through the hull? Anyone have any experience using the suction cup mounts? I’m pretty handy so the other idea I had was to build a folding mount onto my rod holder.

In my experience, a fish finder is more useful when fishing for trout than it is when fishing for walleye. Walleye tend to stay on the bottom and in pretty specific structure, where trout tend to be a little more open water. A fish find definitely helps for both situations, but you are going to see the difference more when trout fishing. It can help you with a reluctant bite but you aren't likely to suddenly start catching your limit everyday just because of a fish finder.

On the other hand, a different rod and reel is not likely to catch you any more fish than you do now. Not unless you are losing fishing or travel time because of a poor reel. A better rod might let you cast just a bit further, or it might be a little bit easier to handle in a canoe, but that is more of a convenience instead of something that lands more fish in the boat. After all, you can just paddle a little closer to place your lure exactly where you want it to be.

Honestly, I think that fishing is one of activities things that throwing money at the problem doesn't help very much after you have taken care of the basics. You just need to learn where the fish are and figure out their habits. The fish finder can tell you when you are over fish and how deep they are, but if you have the fish finder on then you probably already have a line out. The only real difference that will make is real time depth, instead of using topo maps or gps, and figuring out how deep the fish are if you are not targeting the correct depth. If you prepare, learn, and gain enough experience the "extras" that you bring with you won't make much of a difference.

I have to disagree a little bit. A decent mid-quality rod will have a LOT more feel to it than an Ugly Stick, and you will catch more fish as a result. I 100% endorse a Berkley Lightning rod. They cost $40 or $50 but they are dang tough and "good enough" for almost all of us fisherman. You just can't go wrong with 'em. You also need a reel that is smooth enough that it doesn't interfere with the light bite sensation transmitted through the rod. I don't think you will go wrong with a Pflueger President reel. So for $120 or less, you will have a setup that will get the nod from most fisherman who know what quality gear is.

I personally use Lightning Rods in Medium or Medium light 6', one piece, and President reels using 8 pound test mono. I light the medium light rod for throwing 1/8 oz jigs with Berkley powerbait 3" twister tail grubs. I use the medium rod for throwing/trolling deep diving crankbaits. That covers 98 percent of my fishing, and we eat fish every night. As far as crankbaits, 80% of the time I'm using deep diving thunderstick JR or wiggle warts.

I saw this thread about the Striker depthfinders....but now there is such a thing as the Stikercast unit you pair with a Smartphone. THAT looks interesting to me.

Joe