Livescope, spotlock and 360 together.... should be illegal.

[pfisher]

The last three trips I have been on a spot lake. The fish have been in the grass between 5 and 15 feet. I marked the bends with eel grass using my Solix gen 2 scanning at 200 ft to speed things up. Used the spotlock to hold me in place, the 360 to keep my perspective while casting and the livescope to pick off the roamers that swim past while on spot lock. Last Saturday a local tournament was weighing in as I pulled out and 8.46 lbs won it. I had caught three at about 3 lbs and several other keepers among the 25 or so I caught that day. This evening I caught 20 straight off a grassy funnel that I found working a flat with the 360 and livescope.

I'm no pro and really not that good because fishing time is limited. The moral of the story is don't be a fanboy, buy the best you can afford, get a professional install and some training. The last two are a must in my book. I'm fortunate that my installer does training and knows his stuff but most areas have someone that knows how to read a unit.

Last but not least, swallow your pride and ask questions. I spent thousands on equipment and many wasted trips just because I wanted to save money and teach myself.

Good fishing to you all :-)

Pfish

[MonteSS]

Yup I always said a Pro that would be willing to not have an electronics sponsor could put together a hell of a system with multiple brands and features

[Chief Brody]

how do you find time to actually fish using all that equipment?

[pfisher]

how do you find time to actually fish using all that equipment?

One of the most important lessons I learned during training was not to fish if I don't see fish or baitfish. It also helps that I get to fish with my guy every once in awhile. The first time I fished with him we didn't start fishing for over an hour.... lol I was going nuts but in the end we caught several on a day that proved to be very tough for others in the same tourney.

The key isn't the equipment, it the efficiency I have gained while using it. I started this journey about 4 years ago with Lowrance, then garmin and now a mixture of HB stuff. Even without the 360 and livescope my catch ratio went way up just because I listened and someone took the time to help me understand. Once I got the proper setup and knowledge it's been a lot more fun to fish. Throw in the 360 and livescope and fishing is just fun again.

It's no accident that pros spend hours idling during practice at all times of the year.

[Royt]

pfisher,
well stated, a lesson we all need to learn.

[Fishton]

Love my Lowrance Live16 with FishTec HD Charts, Garmin 8412 with LiveScope and Humminbird 360

[CigarBasser]

John, very nice video.. many thanks for sharing!

[pfisher]

John I have found the livescope just does crazy things sometimes. Today it kept cycling depth ranges while on auto range and I couldn't figure out why. I finally just pulled it out of the water and let it back down again and it never happened the rest of the trip. Some days I get a bunch of interference and others none. I've just learned to live with it. It's more than worth it :-)

If you haven't already learned this the real value of the LS is learning fish behavior. A buddy of mine figured out that casting past a brush pile with braid and dragging it through the brush pile was actually chasing the crappie out of the pile. When he started to cast directly on top of the pile they would hit his jig and not run. He thinks the noise that the braid makes dragging through the brush was scaring the crappie. Casting directly on top didn't spook the fish since the braid isn't dragging through the pile. He said there is no way he would have figured that out without livescope.

He also tried moving the LS off his Ultrx and onto a seperate pole. He found it too confusing and decided he liked the trolling motor mount better.

[Chief Brody]

Nice video

[MDBASSNPRO]

Where did you mount your Livescope and 360?

[pfisher]

Where did you mount your Livescope and 360?

Ultrex 360 mount with the LS on the foot.

[MaciejK]

It's not all. In Europe are exist several hand made prototypes of combo units: 360 for Lowrance+Livescope. One motor-shaft, two transducers, two displays.
Next step is using gyro -stabilisation to lock Livescope transducer on position after finding fish on 360view- despite boat moving.
That is final way of fishfinders: combine different views in same time+trolling motor+ lock transducer on GPS position.

[Treeguyus]

Yup I always said a Pro that would be willing to not have an electronics sponsor could put together a hell of a system with multiple brands and features

Monte it is exactly has been my accomplishment over the last couple of years. Personally been quiet on the Boards happy with my system. Let me say my system is a mix of old and newer technology. Garmin (panoptic) and chirp sonar, Lowrance 3D, SI and DI and multiple chirp sonar on the same screen and flasher sonar, Hummingbird, spot lock, mega side scan and 360, Vexilar Edge, multiple transducer cone angles on the same screen. Haven't gone to live scope "because" for me, my need isn't the clearer picture live scope brings. See the same on my "older panoptic" units. Will say this pays to get a decent transducer, on my Lowrance units airmar is where I have gone into higher power multiple, adjustable frequencies so I can operate multiple units without interference providing a wide or narrow dependent on fishing conditions. Garmin in my mind provides excellent chirp, multi-frequency transducers for the fraction of the price of airmars.

Yes, monte I can say this because I spent all of my own cold hard cash to do this. Trial and error were expensive and time-consuming. I used a electronics professional to set up my basic system so I can connect and complete to all the parts to the puzzle myself. When I read so many of the claims to promote one brand over the other, I think to myself based on my experince "it just isn't so"

[carp104]

Ultrex 360 mount with the LS on the foot.

Would you mind sharing a picture? I am installing mine as I type this and am wrestling with where to mount the transducer, but a shaft mount seems like it would be dangerously close to the 360 pod.