w - 11/7/2022 10:20 PM

I agree with BNelson.

But opinions like that dont pay the bills

BNelson - 11/8/2022 10:15 AM

I travel 2 miles to Madison lakes and over half the fish are from home waters. Yah that stuff is neat but in the grand scheme of things besides using Panoptix finding and hovering over fish getting them to bite (which to me is pretty lame) like I hear some Vermilion guides and others do that stuff doesn't magically put a very large % more fish in your boat per year... if a guy is simply relying on that stuff to put more fish in the boat I think they will end up with buyers remorse. Imho there are some very basic things a guy should be doing that are free that will put more fish in the boat. one thing watching the weather...

sjk - 11/8/2022 2:44 PM

Well, I guess it's time I jump back into this conversation. First off, I would like to thank Steve for offering to meet with me and fine tune my setup. Since I live in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, I might have to consider doing this. I do believe I installed the components correctly and it is more probable I am way off on the settings.

Regarding BNelson's comment one should learn to fish first, I couldn't agree more and I believe I have done that. And to address Angling Oracle's thought that more information about me is needed, I will try to comply however this is somewhat problematic as I have traditionally preferred to keep a low profile but here goes.

I am 67 years old and caught my first muskie in northern Wisconsin when I was eight years old. I first fished LOTW in 1969 when I was fourteen. I hadn't missed a trip to NW Ontario for muskies until the Covid year of 2020. I am just two or three muskies short of having caught fifty legitimate fifty inch class fish, all without the help of a guide. When you include the fifty inch fish caught by friends of mine fishing with me in my boat, the number is even higher. These fish have come from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario across a fairly big variety of lake types.

The last twenty-five years or so, I have backed off some from chasing muskies as hard as I used to. Instead, I have done much more international fishing for many of the great game fish this world offers. Fish I have caught include Peacock Bass in the Amazon, Golden Dorado in LaZona, Trout in Patagonia, Tarpon in Florida, Trinidad, and Costa Rica, Tigerfish in Africa, Niugini Bass in Papua New Guinea, Yellowcheek Carp in China, giant catfish in Thailand, and Arctic Char and Lake Trout in the Arctic Circle.

I feel very comfortable in fishing shield lakes for muskies and I believe I understood the limitations of the Mega 360 system prior to buying it. I have many rock only structures on the Canadian lake I fish which consistently produce nice fish and I was really hoping the system would allow me to take fewer casts on those spots and to actually place targeted casts on some spotted fish. I do appreciate how some fishermen would consider this "cheating" and, quite frankly, I haven't come to terms with it myself. The stories we hear about targeting fish on Vermilion and Mille Lacs are very concerning to me. That being said, this new technology is not yet illegal and I really do not want to be left behind as things advance. Yet, I will also state the last piece of electronic equipment I would give up would be my Vexilar flasher although giving up the GPS with all the waypoints would be very painful too.

Going forward, I will give the Mega 360 a chance to fit into my fishing style in a productive way. Should that not pan out like I hoped, perhaps one of you will be buying if off me for a nice discounted price in a few years. Finally, thanks for the input you have all provided so far.

CincySkeez - 11/9/2022 8:27 PM

I am by no means an electronics hater. I love them, absolutely love the new technology that I put on my boat this year. The best fishermen I know utilize side imaging, to great effect. But SI doesn't tell you when to expect to set the hook.

Scope and 360 have their limitations in weeds and shallow water. The product I chose has it's shallow water limitations (like all SI), but is superb in weeds because the swim bladders of fish show up as dots on the graph. Dot size can be tuned by fish size, small fish are blue and big fish orange slightluy less big fish yellow. Stuff that pings on 3d but never would on a non ocean/commercial piece of equipment. This is also valuable fishing ledges, open water, and main lake points. You can see what kind of bait is hanging, how far off the structure and where the big dots are hanging in relation. Been trying to really fine tune all year, but can be tough because i fish solo and suckers, ciscoes and walleyes all have similar size swim bladders.

I'm posting this and not naming brand names because thats not the point. The point is staring at live imaging, waiting for a "thing" to tell you where to cast doesn't feel like an ethical way to put the puzzle together. Im also aware of the instant feedback a vexilar gives, it rules I always keep an FL-8 handy incase my new fangled stuff doesnt want to work, but thats not the same as being able to cast 70 yds and constantly be mobile like you can with a networked rig on a boat.

pstrombe - 11/7/2022 7:46 PM

Personally, I'm strictly catch and release - it's all about the hunt and adds a level of enjoyment to my experience. This year my wife and I have had eaten a total of 6 - 17" walleyes.