First, I would like to thank all of the great folks who share their knowledge and experience with the rest of us. I moved to DFW a year and a half ago and gained access to a pontoon on Lake Lewisville. I consider myself an experienced and safety conscious boater and I have been fishing countless times and have good basic skills, but I never had a resource to learn the methods until I found this site. By reading these threads, I think that I can start asking the right questions to become effective at fishing Lake Lewisville and make some friends in the process.

My first issue is the boat. It�s a 24� pontoon with 40 hp Merc O/B that�s kept in a slip at Pier 121. Though a fish n ski is in my near future, by the nature that I acquired this boat I cannot sell it for a year or so. So for the time being I must make the best of it until I buy what I want with all of the goodies. As far as gauges and electronics on the pontoon, there is currently nothing. I do have a handheld gps receiver that I can use for navigation and more importantly speed for trolling. That leaves me without an indication of depth (I know that I must have a depth finder even for non-fishing purposes�what should I look for, what do I avoid, installation tips?) and nothing to mark the location of fish. I would rather not buy a fishfinder until I upgrade the boat if at all possible. Yet I know that I am disadvantaged without one. The other disadvantage is the lack of a trolling motor. Can I be effective fishing without these if my main method of fishing is trolling? I�m familiar with most of the fishing locations on the lake�I just lack the experience and want to do things right.

The only thing else I want to know is not fishing related. I�m an Eagle Scout, 26 years old, and an avid hiker/camper/hunter. I would be willing to take on a role with a local Boy Scout troop in Mid-Cities, Arlington, Lewisville, etc. if you have any info.

My email is Muddler03@aol.com

My suggestion on the depth finder thing is to contact Bob Ridgway at 214-630-8161 ext. 30. He has new and used units and installs too. Bonita

Wobbler, you may see if you can get yourself a portable depth finder. They have some that attach to the transom and some that are completely self contained as in the SmartCast. I don't know how well they work. There was a thread on here a while back that addressed that issue.

As far as marking fish, once you do find fish, use the GPS and mark waypoints. Seems I always end up going back to the same places over and over anyway. Might as well put it into GPS memory. I'm sure your using yours for that now.

For staying on them, use an anchor to keep your position and a drift sock or sea anchor to move slowly.

Hope this helps some.
Good Luck
-Jeff

Having a trolling motor is handy for staying on top of fish and staying with a suface feeding school. It's also nice to move around identified bottom structure when you're jigging a slab. If you're lucky with the wind, you start upwind and drift toward what you want to fish, then once you're downwind, fire up the big engine and do it again. I've fished several time for stripers with Guides on Texoma and never saw one use his trolling motor.

As you stated, a Depth Finder is a must. Do some searches for discussions about the Eagle Fishmark 320. They're made by Lowrance and have gotten great reviews here. The Transducer can be attached to one of your pontoons or buy a suction cup mount at Bass Pro Shops. I'm very biased toward Lowrance/Eagle because they were my customer for many years and I still have friendships with engineers in Tulsa. Find the discussions and let the other's posts convince you.

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steve pine