Just bought a new boat!

[Mnorman81]

Finally have a boat of my very own to fish mead! It's a 15ft starcraft with a 50 horse mercury outboard and though its older im thrilled to have it. Im taking it out for its maiden voyage sunday and was wondering if anyone could suggest somewhere I might try and catch striper with anchovy or maybe lures as I dont have cast net yet.
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[wolfs4evr]

Congrats! Keep us in the loop how your maiden voyage goes.

Anywhere in the Las Vegas Bay will do.
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[Mnorman81]

Do you mean governemt wash? What is the closest launch point? Sorry for the questions.
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[wolfs4evr]

That will do (Gov. Wash is in the arm of the lake called Las Vegas Bay).

If your boat isn't that heavy and you have 4x4 I "believe" one might be able to launch back in there. There wouldn't be a ramp. Never tried it or been back in there in years but have heard of people launching smaller/lighter boats back in the Gov Wash some place.

Most everyone launches at Boulder Harbor (a nice paved launch ramp with ample parking) and makes the run back into Las Vegas Bay. A 8-9 mile run to the north and the west from Boulder Harbor.
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[Erawk]

Congratulations. Have fun and be safe out there.
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[Mnorman81]

I ended up heading to Callville and fished a few of the coves nearby. I Didn't have a ton of time to fish but I tried carolina rigged anchovies, storm shad AC plugs etc without much luck although it wasn't real easy as my fish finder wasn't working (depth wise). I did however switch over to some bass hardware and caught my first smallmouth ever. So all in all my boat floats, runs and I didn't get skunked. I'm going to try and hit up the Vegas Bay this week. Anyone have suggestions on which fishfinders are good in the 200 range or a good beginners cast net?
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[wolfs4evr]

It will only get better! Each trip will be an adventure. I love catching smallies! They are a ball on the end of a rod and most certainly are purty!

@200 the new Humminbird Helix series appears to be the way to go. Lots of option on which version one chooses. From $200 and up at Bass Pro for a basic 2D fishfinder. IMO I wouldn't go less than the Helix 5 Fishfinder with GPS that is listed as $300 @ Bass Pro. A nice 2D fishfinder that has GPS/mapping. A step above it would be the 2D/DI version with GPS/mapping @ @350.

Cast nets... Legally you are allowed a 4' cast net in Nevada. Available all over the place including Walmart. Cheap item. In the teens or so. Be carefull. Many stores sell all kinds of sizes in Vegas. 4 foot is all that is legal. Practice in your yard!!! They are easy but... Takes a few to get the hang of casting one. Youtube is your friend.
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[fishrdan]

Be aware that if you get a GPS capable fish finder, the GPS portion will most likely be useless until you buy an upgraded map. I have a Humminbird 581 HD-DI combo and the GPS was worthless until I bought a $100 Navionics Hotmaps card.

As for what to buy, the market changes from year to year and it would be best to research what Lowrance and Humminbird offer, "this year". I bought 2 years ago and back then Humminbird was the "best bang for the buck". Go to BPS, Dick's, Sportsman's Warehouse, and play with the fish finders to see what you like. Stand back from the unit as you would be in the boat and see if you can read the display clearly.

The Helix Wolf mentioned looks interesting, screen looks busy and small to me though, I would have to see it in person. The Humminbird 581 HD-DI combo I bought 2 years ago was $299, but it's being discontinued and can be had for $219 on Amazon.
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[wolfs4evr]

Yup, a map card at 100-200 bucks would be needed if one bought a unit with GPS. But it could be put off and not part of the initial purchase if one was on a extremely tight budget.

Picking out a fish finder imo is more complicated than picking a boat one wants to buy. lol

A quality unit is no doubt very important on Lake Mead. Mead is a difficult lake to fish and not knowing what is going on below you will certainly dictate how many Stripers one brings home.

Either go cheap and deal with it or save.

I think the best big bang for the buck deal Bass Pro has going right now is any of the KVD series Humminbird units since they come with a $200 Navionics+ chip/mapping card in the package.

Save and get something like this and never look back/regret it.

[url "http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-Kevin-Van-Dam-859ci-HD-DI-Fishfinder/GPS-Chartplotter-Combo-with-Navionics-Map-Card/product/1409241502/"]http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-Kevin-Van-Dam-859ci-HD-DI-Fishfinder/GPS-Chartplotter-Combo-with-Navionics-Map-Card/product/1409241502/[/url]

Really you are only paying $500 for it since it comes with the Navionics+ chip that one would have to spend $200 on. Smoking dealio right there IMO.
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[frankv702]

Congrats on the boat! Fishing is so much funnet with a boat.


Yea I agree with them, save up some money and buy a nicer one. When I bought my boat, it came with a cheaper black and white lowrance finder that I knew we needed upgrading. I didn't want to spend a ton so I bought a Lowrance Elite 4hds. It has a 4" screen with GPS and down scan imaging. Now I wish I would've bought an elite 7 just because the smaller screen is so hard to read. Although I wouldn't mind leaving that one and getting a Lowrance Elite 7x with no GPS. Most of my time fishing is spent on the casting deck up front.

GPS is secondly a necessity though out at Mead in my mind though. Especially for night fishing. I have two 6 led spotlights, led and a 2 million candle light spotlight and it's still not enough.

I launch out of boulder harbor. I like it up there, plenty of parking and nice big paved launch. I wouldn't try launching from government wash and I have a small super guide v16. Probably not too much bigger than yours.
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[Erawk]

The Helix series finders are very cool. Much bigger screen than any other finders near their price point. The DI model at $249 is a great buy. I bought the SI and I love it.
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[Erawk]

I agree about the map card. My old ff is a Lowrance Mark 4 which is a b&w sonar/gps (paid $170). I opted for the gps instead of the HDI model without gps at a similar price point, thinking it would be more useful.

Without a map card, I made very little use of the gps over the years. Looking back, I would have opted for the better sonar over the gps. When it comes to navigating, I've always relied on my eyes and sonar depth reading more than the gps. If I had gotten the map card, I'm sure I would have made more use of it though.

If I were in the same upgrade point again today I would get the Helix DI for $249. In fact I'll probably get one for the front of the boat when I can. No tax and free shipping from Tackle Warehouse.

The screen on the Helix 5 series is actually bigger than the 598.

[font "Arial Black"][size 2]"The Helix 5’s new 5-inch diagonal 800H x 480V, 256-color TFT Display with its wider, landscape orientation offers improved detail and easier viewing, especially for technologies like Side Imaging. The display alsofeatures a 16:9 aspect ratio like that of HDTV, but in a more compact format."[/size][/font]

I need to get a map card so I can use my new ff to it's full potential. It just chaps my bum that they sell the app for $10 but a card cost much more than that. Sd cards are super cheap these days so the only justification is that it is a captive market and they make more money that way. /rant []

If I could I spend more on the electronics for my boat than I did on the boat, I totally would. haha Dual 999's with a terrova and iPilot. Yeah buddy! One can dream. lol
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