Rods/Reels & Electronics for Ocklocknee Bay?
Posted: August 16th, 2017, 8:55 pm
Hello all! I have been a longtime lurker here and finally just bought my first boat a 19 foot center console. I hvae been fishing around St Marks to Lanark for a long time mostly in kayaks and wading but dont have any experience out from shore. I have a few questions to anyone who is willing to offer me some advice as I am very excited to get started!
First I am trying to figure out what kind of fishfinder/plotter and trolling motor to get. My plan for the next few months is to spend every single trip just searching for structure while I learn the area. To do that I would like a unit with side imaging to help identify hard bottom and what it looks like down there. I actually prefer to freedive spearfish more than anything but love to surface fish too. I have never had a sidescan unit but think something big like the Helix 12 SI would be good for searching on days when visibility or temperature make it tough to inspect spots visually. I am usually a Lowrance guy but it looks like the Helix 12 would provide the features most useful to me in this area at a comparable price to smaller Lowrance units. I like that the Lowrances are touch screen but feel like the screen size is more important. I would then pair this with a Minn Kota motor of some kind to get the GPS spot locking. I don't really care about which brand of trolling motor, I would just get whichever one interfaces with the finder/plotter I choose. So either HB/MK or Lowrance/MotorGuide. It looks like I could get a Helix 12 and Minn Kota for around $3k which sounds reasonable. Does anyone have advice?
Second I am wondering what rods and reels I can pick up to allow me to bottom fish and troll in Ocklnocknee Bay when searching for structure, and also over deeper off of Carabelle. I already have a good number of Stradic and Saragosa setups from 3000 to 8000 size for casting but wonder what I should get for trolling between spots and fishing the bottom. I guess I would hope to catch grouper, ARS, cobia and kings. If I wanted to buy maybe 4 to 6 budget setups for trolling and bottom fishing while I learn what I'm doing for the next year or two, what would you guys recommend?
Thank you for your advice!
First I am trying to figure out what kind of fishfinder/plotter and trolling motor to get. My plan for the next few months is to spend every single trip just searching for structure while I learn the area. To do that I would like a unit with side imaging to help identify hard bottom and what it looks like down there. I actually prefer to freedive spearfish more than anything but love to surface fish too. I have never had a sidescan unit but think something big like the Helix 12 SI would be good for searching on days when visibility or temperature make it tough to inspect spots visually. I am usually a Lowrance guy but it looks like the Helix 12 would provide the features most useful to me in this area at a comparable price to smaller Lowrance units. I like that the Lowrances are touch screen but feel like the screen size is more important. I would then pair this with a Minn Kota motor of some kind to get the GPS spot locking. I don't really care about which brand of trolling motor, I would just get whichever one interfaces with the finder/plotter I choose. So either HB/MK or Lowrance/MotorGuide. It looks like I could get a Helix 12 and Minn Kota for around $3k which sounds reasonable. Does anyone have advice?
Second I am wondering what rods and reels I can pick up to allow me to bottom fish and troll in Ocklnocknee Bay when searching for structure, and also over deeper off of Carabelle. I already have a good number of Stradic and Saragosa setups from 3000 to 8000 size for casting but wonder what I should get for trolling between spots and fishing the bottom. I guess I would hope to catch grouper, ARS, cobia and kings. If I wanted to buy maybe 4 to 6 budget setups for trolling and bottom fishing while I learn what I'm doing for the next year or two, what would you guys recommend?
Thank you for your advice!