Humminbird Installation

I remember my dad's first high-tech Humminbird fish finder. The settings were few and small red blocks would slowly crawl across the screen to signify that a potential fish swam beneath the boat. If turned on, an annoying beep would sound to alert us that a fish was close while alerting the rest of the lake of our presence. In 20 years, the sonar technology has improved exponentially, and now we have the ability to locate underwater structure 150 feet on each side of the boat. Is this cheating? Maybe. Does the improved sonar make us anglers more efficient? Absolutely. Will the technology get even better in the years to come? One can only dream.

This past weekend I had the absolute pleasure of helping my dad install a new

Humminbird 998 Side Imaging and GPS combo unit. I was looking forward to this project all week and my heart started to race, as if I was on a first date, when I saw the boat parked in the driveway ready for our eager hands to begin. Dad had the boat prepped, with all the packaging opened and laid out, a cluster of wires, instructions, and tools. Before we began, I thought it prudent to read the pdf instructions provided, as our wives were close by and we knew we would receive well deserved ribbing should we make a foolish mistake.

To start, we decided that we would begin at the bow of the boat. We have a 700 series Humminbird at the bow that we needed to connect to our linking system. This will allow us to share information such as waypoints between our two units. Also, I decided that we should put our GPS disk at the bow of the boat, since the majority of our waypoints marked will come from our our side imaging analysis, which will be away from the boat.
This will allow me to troll virtually right over my waypoints marked
at the console. With our game plan set, I began the nerve-racking
process of drilling a starter hole for the GPS disk. A funny side note, we used a hand drill for the large hole because the bit wouldn't fit in my handheld drill. Talk about old school!

After we successfully mounted the GPS disk and ran the networking cable, we moved to the most critical piece, mounting the side imaging transducer. After much discussion and reviewing the instructions, we decided on a mounting place on our Ranger's step, which is located beneath the jackplate. It is critical to mount the transducer in a location that will allow the sonar to have no horizontal obstructions, as well as being aware of the turbulence from the prop that can cause inference. Hopefully, we made a good decision, but if not, we can easily remount this piece.

We successfully mounted the transducer and moved to the console. We purchased a heavy duty RAM mounting bracket to secure the unit in place. After drilling 4 holes, and narrowly missing a group of wires, we had the mounting bracket in place. The RAM mount is awesome and is extremely secure and solid. Also, we mounted the networking module to connect the GPS, bow unit, and console unit together. Luckily, the RAM mount was tall enough to position the Humminbird directly above our current Lowrance 5 HDS sonar/GPS combo which we will use in tandem with the side imaging. It will allow us to not have as many split screens on the Humminbird and we can use the Lowrance's sonar at high speeds.

Overall, it was an extremely successful day. Once everything was connected, we tested the units to make sure that they were networked together. After the networking was confirmed, we shared a beer and admired our hard work. Our final test will be a water test once the weather decides to cooperate. I can't wait to begin to learn firsthand all of the capabilities that our Humminbird 998 has to offer. Until then, I will be busy researching images so I can get a headstart on the side sonar imagery. Thanks dad for investing in this awesome unit. I am excited to get on the water and begin my 2011 tournament season.

Bass Fishing Jig

Bass fishermen everywhere have heard of the term "jig 'n pig". The term "pig" refers to a once commonly used pork rind that was attached to the hook as a trailer. While some people still use these baits, many anglers have switch to jigs with craw trailers. In this article, I want to highlight one of my favorite Outkast Tackle jigs and the trailer I love to use to haul big bass into the boat.

The jig pictured above is an Outkast RT jig weighing in at 1/2 ounce. It has two rattling chambers that provide a perfect sound compliment to a crawfish trailer. Crawfish make a snapping sound with their claws and when their body snaps together to propel themselves in the water. The sharp, durable hook is a perfect size to fit a 4" Berkley Chigger Craw. What I like the most about Berkley's Chigger Craw is that it is constructed with a plastic that is extremely soft and flexible. This allows the bait to have effortless action that truly entices bass to react. My favorite color to pair with the jig above is pumpkin green flake. One thing to consider is that due to the soft plastic, bass and sunfish have a tendency to rip off the claws. My suggestion, buy a few extra bags, they are worth it.

One important aspect of this jig that I love is that it has orange and blue strands in the skirt. I think this is a great representation of blue gill colors and I have found these colors to be successful here in the Midwest where blue gill is a main dietary source for our bass. 


The bass fishing is soon upon us and I can't wait for my first tournament in Wisconsin. This weekend I will be installing a 998 Humminbird with Side Imaging and I can't wait to get the boat out on the lake to test the new electronics. Check back after this weekend to see how it went. Also, I plan on grabbing a few of my favorite lures out of my tackle box to give away a few of my bass catching secrets.