Got out yesterday for 3 hours before the Lowrance on the water demo rides. First time in fresh water in over two weeks. The guys that joined me grabbed some blue backs and although we did get one fish on blue backs the best deal going for us turned out to me the urigs with white the preferred color. We had one that was the smallest striper I think I have ever caught, several in the 7-10 lb range and a couple in the low teens. Thanks to Pat and Terri for a valid point in the right direction! The fish were hanging in 20-35 feet on the drops for the most part and the 1st screen capture from below is what we were seeing but not catching even though I had small leader and hooks. Finally I convinced the crew that urigs were in order and the other shots were fish caught even when only a fish or two were on screen.

Sometime the u-rig is what it takes. Looks like you figured it out for the morning. Good job, nice fish. Getkidsfishing

I went solo today and had a good day. I got two stripers below browns bridge in front of the marina. I got three stripers at the point to the left of the boat ramp at Balus to end the day around 2:30. All were on down lines 35 ft in 60 to 70 ft water. It was a rough ride out there after 11:30. I cant imagine what its gonna be like next weekend. Half my bait died. My hose blew of my O2 tank. I found it and saved half the bait. Yall might want to make sure yours are on good.

I noticed on your 1st screen shot you are not moving, but yet your charts are clear as a bell. When I slow down to under 1.0MPH, I get solild lines or blobs on the charts.

Also, you screen shots are fantastic, is this the 'best of the best' or a typical view. My SS never looks this clear.

In other Lowrance issues, my charts contour lines and depth finder seem to be way off since upgrading to 3.0. Before the update, the chart and actual depths were right on, now, they are off by at least 20ft.

I was in the middle of the chart 70ft and 90ft contour line, but yet we were in 40ft of water.

LtSmash,

My unit is the same as everyone elses and I installed every item myself so I am not sure what the issues with yours are and I need more info to get to the bottom of it. You can call me at 404.861.9300 and/or I will be happy to meet you and take a look at your system. They are all electronics and thus have issues from time to time just like my computer, BlackBerry, etc. I am happy to help so give me a shout.

Bill,

Thanks for your tips on the sidescan! I'm the guy that called you out of the blue today!

I'm gonna try moving faster and see if that helps.

Thanks again, you are are a gentleman and a scholar!

Big Tex

Had my Cpt Mack 4 Arm 5 bait U-rig out about 205ft yesterday for about 2-3 mins and hooked up with a good fighten 8#.

Thanks Bill for reminding us the U-Rig is still an option in July

Basil

Did yoy say 205'. Wow thats out there.

I think I saw you out there reeling it in the boat.

I've run them out that far when i need to run them at 30'.

According to the chart that came with the U-Rig, thats what it required to get down to the 25ft range...

I know I could add weight, but then Im not sure what depth Im running, and then comes snag city....

After reeling a hooked fish on a U-rig for 200 feet, I for sure got my moneys worth on that fish!!

When i am running with 130# braid, 2oz rigs, with 8 3/4oz jigs and 1 1oz jig, at 200' it is running right at 30'.

Do you troll U-rigs on leadcore or normal line?

Brett-- I'm curious about how you can know what depth they run at any speed/wgt/line combination; how can you determine this without hitting the tops of trees that you know are 30' down and dealing with that mess? I guess I'm just curious about how you determine this.
thanks

I was bumping bottom running thru a very long stretch of clean flat bottom. Remember that the more line that you have out, the more of a curve or parachute effect you will get in your line. So there is not a constant formula to the number of feet of line per ft of depth.

Thanks-- I figured it had to be more of a test and see instead of a set formula. If I can ask one more: Where is such bottom in lanier?

I'm not certain, i was fishing a tx at Hartwell when was running them at that depth, and have used it since then with some success. The depth was so consistant that i just kept letting out line until i started bumping.

There is a chart that comes with the Capt Mack U-Rigs. Tells you how many ft out vs ft down. Of course there are always variables such as braid vs mono, current, wind, but it will put you real close.

Better than just guessing...

If i remeber correct, Macks tables are based upon 1/2oz jigs and 40# mono. But i could be wrong. I think that he said that he may be coming out with some additional tables based upon other weights and line weigths. Someone ought to come up with a set of tables based upon different weights, lines, and speeds; put in on a plastic flip chart and sell them for $10 a pop. I would buy one. That would be a $1,000,000 idea, if you could only find 100,000 folks to buy one!

sounds like a great idea; I'll bet there are 100K fishermen across the US that would be game--- don't forget that u-rigs are used in salt water up the east coast and in the chesapeake.
(Yes-- a great idea--- I'm glad i came up with it...:-) )

Right now I'm working on a type of sticky yellow squares of paper that you can write notes on.

Macs tables are definitely for a standard set of conditions, which are probably not "scalable"(sp?) for every line/wgt/speed/rig combos. Some kind of spreadsheet would be pretty useful

Any physics majors/engineers out there that can still work a slide rule??

Isn't it a fishin sayin to always zig zag big wide sweeps when trolling. You'd think this would drop the rigs deeper than 30 when zaggin out of a zig????

Yeah - Zig Zagging would defintely drop it a bit but how much is the question. I wouldnt think it would be more than a foot or depending on the depth of the zag.

What works very nicely is to pull the motor out of gear for how many seconds you wish to drop the rigs, but the real bonus is when you put it back in gear and they shoot up this is usually when the strike will happen.

I use this method frequently while pulling lead core or for any trolling, this is especially effective while trolling shorter lines and you come to a drop off and they are sitting right on the slope. When you can about judge the distance of your lines, pull it out of gear and then hit it again and BAM!!!
For the faint of heart do not try this method.

I usually run them in a constant tight swerve or "juke". If i am moving, the wheel is turning. My thought is that it is making the baits constantly move up and down in the water column. Maybe Bill will pop back in, he is them man with Urigs.

Based on my experience today I think Brett is pretty close. I ran the U-rig out about 200ft on 130 lb braid and caught trees at around 30 feet. Came back looking like it had been through the trash compactor, but the 130 lb braid definitely gets the majority of your rig back.....