View Full Version : FLW Electronics
EYEHUNTER TOO
09-30-2007, 12:57 PM
I was just looking at the pictures from day 4 all the Ranger boats that I can see had no electronics visibile,I did see electronics on the G3s,anyone know how they find there spots with out?
Yes, they do have electronics on them. They are "in-dash" models and are all Lowrance units.
Juls
Yes, they do have electronics on them. They are "in-dash" models and are all Lowrance units.
Juls
EYEHUNTER TOO
09-30-2007, 09:21 PM
Thanks Juls
EYEHUNTER TOO
09-30-2007, 09:21 PM
Thanks Juls
Curious
09-30-2007, 10:38 PM
What kind do they have in-dash? Is it the Pro's choice of electronics or how does that work?
Curious
09-30-2007, 10:38 PM
What kind do they have in-dash? Is it the Pro's choice of electronics or how does that work?
curious II
10-02-2007, 11:43 AM
On that same note, If the top 10 run the FLW given boat on day 4, how do the pros incorporate their electronic data? Does each pro use garmin/lowrance and the corresponding rig come with the same so that it is simply a chip swap? Or, do they have to do full head swaps. What if a pro doesn't use garmin/lowrance????
Scott Steil
10-02-2007, 12:27 PM
You use the sponsor electronics that are on the boat you are given. This year and last year those are Lowrance units. You transfer your data over by chip to the unit. I don't run Lowrance but last year at the Championship Ron Hunter was there to transfer all my info from my Humminbird units to the Lowrance unit that is provided.
It is not as convienent as using your own equipment but we all know the rules when we sign up to fish the tour.
Lynn Jurrens
10-02-2007, 12:49 PM
Curious & Curious II,
Scott is absolutely right. I'll add a little because I've done the transfer once or twice. By the way, it doesn't make me the expert. I was a rookie and learned out of need for survival.
All the boats for the final day were rigged with Lowrance Electronics. Lowrance has secured a sponsorship with the FLW and deserves the publicity. Using other electronics would not be a problem for some of the guys who travel with a laptop, an SD card reader and an SD card, which is the same card we use in our digital cameras.
For example, my choice for electronics is Humminbird. They have a very fast processor for mapping and you can't beat the advantages of side imaging for finding structure and therefore fish.
First step would be to pop an SD card in my Humminbird unit and load my GPS waypoints on the card. Second step is to convert your GPS file to a one that is recognized by the others. I have the free Humminbird PC software on my laptop which makes this process easy. Now the file is ready for the Lowrance or Garmin unit. Load the SD card in the unit and download the GPS file. Humminbird's excellent customer support helped me with this process.
It took one tournament to fine tune this process, but it's now a 10 minute process. I save a copy of the file to my laptop. Warning- some of these SD cards are junk, so don't forget to backup on your computer.
Catch More,
Lynn Jurrens
Watertown, SD
Great post Lynn...thanks for the info. :)
Juls
What is this about FLW providing the boats? Or am I reading some of this wrong. I'm a little confused here as to why someone would want to run a boat other than their own which is set up to their specific style. Please enlighten me.
http://walleyetour.flwoutdoors.com/static/2007/WalleyeTourBrochureRevised.pdf
Here's the brochure. Look for yourself....Rule 18.
The FLW provides sponsor boats for the top ten on days 3 and 4.
Everyone who signs up to fish the Tour knows the rules going in. It's not some big surprise that the anglers have to suddenly deal with if they make the championship top ten cut.
Juls
Thanks...No I wasn't trying to insinuate that it was some big conspiracy from what I can tell from the tone of your reply, but had never heard of such a thing and was looking for an explanation. I can't believe that after fishing all season in a boat set up to that particular fisherman's style that they have to take a pre-rigged boat that they don't know if it's set-up with the durability or dependability that some pro's may incorporate into their own rigs to help prevent any sort of failures on the water. Seems like a big chance to take after fishing all season to get to the championship and then have something happen that could have been prevented if they were running their own boat. I just find that interesting.
Those boat mfg. are the ones insuring that the pro's get a very handsome payday. They (the mfg.) are going to get their deserved mileage out of it as well from a marketing stand point. I'm guessing the pro's are OK with this format and are all quite capable of keeping their programs going in whatever craft they are put in. After all, its not like they're forced t fish out of junk and most of them are already running the same hull and components that are rigged.
Geez, I don't think HAVING TO fish out of brand new Ranger for 2 days is such a bad thing...I wish I could be so unfortunate..
Great job to all the competitors, Thanks Bob Crow for keeping the Great NW alive and kicking. Great recovery and strong finish..
See ya, RJ
quinten
10-03-2007, 07:24 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong. I see it like this the FLW are the initials of the man who founded ranger and is sponsoring these tournaments with other big name manufactures.So guess what? If those were my intials and i know that my tours are the mack daddy events in the walleye industry. You had best believe that i would be pushing my product to the fullest.Sorry if i offended anyone but it is what it is.In this day and age only the strong survive.
The bass side of the tournament world has been doing this for many years. Next season will be the first year in a very long time that the BASS Pros will be fishing out of their own rigs in the final days of their events. They used to have to fish out of Tritons... The FLW, Rangers. I think Triton pulled out, but I'm not sure what the details were on that exactly. I would have to go read up on it again, and I'm just too tired to do that tonight. lol
Sorry, my bad! I didn't think I had a "tone" when I wrote that. That's the problem with type...you can't interject voice inflections. I was just telling it the way it is, and obviously it came across as rude. That wasn't my intention. I apologize. ;)
Juls
I have no problems with why they are doing it or the marketing, etc. I own a Ranger myself. I just thought it was odd to jump into a strange boat, if you will, to fish for the championship. A 621 is a 621, but it'd be hard for me to jump out of a boat that has been used on the circuit and proven, into something a stranger set up with who knows what gremlins that haven't had a chance to show their face until it's money time. Wouldn't give me a fuzzy feeling in the back of my mind, but I guess if I HAD to be given a boat to use I'd be glad it was a Ranger. : )
I don't think anyone can argue that point with you. I'm sure everyone feels the same way. I know I do!
Juls
Deeper Throat
10-04-2007, 08:10 AM
Huh brings up some very good points..and in fact most people will never know of the problems faced by at least 3 of the final 10 competitors over the last 2 days of this year's FLW Championship.
RDJ - even though they are new boats, everyone has to transfer gear and ready the boat the night before. Once on the water, there is no check for "rough water worthiness" - as stated before by huh by saying the pro's own rig has been used ie: proven in conditions prior. Little things like having extra fuses in the new boats (which they don't have)for electronics, motor, livewell pumps, etc. - should the pro have to come up with every possible failure contingency? No - not practical.
When you (RDJ) said the guys can fish anywhere - how would you handle a situation where your electronics went out and your spot was 40 miles away? Or your motor fails and you change boats with the camera boat? Or your livewell fails? Or your boat develops some type of structural failure? All hypotheticals?? Maybe not.
FLW does a great job with their tournaments and has a great staff - no doubt. Just realize like with many things, there is much going on behind the scenes that will never, ever make the TV show. Talk to the camera men and boat drivers for some very interesting stories from tournaments if you doubt any of these statements.
Also, the pros are too professional to discuss the specifics. Unfortunately it is not always the fault of the angler when the finish is not what was expected...the equipment can take a person out of the game at this level. At least that is my opinion.
guest reader
10-04-2007, 09:09 AM
>The bass side of the tournament world has been doing this for
>many years. Next season will be the first year in a very long
>time that the BASS Pros will be fishing out of their own rigs
>in the final days of their events. They used to have to fish
>out of Tritons... The FLW, Rangers. I think Triton pulled
>out, but I'm not sure what the details were on that exactly. I
>would have to go read up on it again, and I'm just too tired
>to do that tonight. lol
>>Juls
>
>
Triton did not pull out....the anglers asked to fish out of their own boats...Triton had an "exlusive boat of BASS" agreement, and i suspect that agreement no longer was in effect after the anglers won the battle to be in their own boats...
EYEHUNTER TOO
10-04-2007, 09:39 AM
Heres another question about the boats. How do they decide who gets what boat? It looked like some Rangers had Etec some Yammy's and some G#s
Believe
10-04-2007, 10:25 AM
If you're running an aluminum boat, you will fish the last 2 days from a G3...Jason Kerr fished out of a Polar Kraft and was in the G3 for the last 2 days. There is a clause...
On the Ranger side, I believe they try to match as best as possible...not sure...looked like for the most part the guys that ran ETECs had them and the guys who had Yamaha were running those as well - at least in a few situations I saw.
Looks like you would take it in the shorts if you were in a tiller. I know that happend last year.
MNwalleyehunter
10-04-2007, 01:14 PM
By looking at the pictures, I know of one guy that ran yamaha all year, and he ended up fishing out of a ranger/etec on the final days
>Triton did not pull out....the anglers asked to fish out of
>their own boats...Triton had an "exlusive boat of BASS"
>agreement, and i suspect that agreement no longer was in
>effect after the anglers won the battle to be in their own
>boats...
Ok, thanks for the input. I found what I had read previously, and it didn't really say one way or the other. It did mention that anglers wanted it, and Triton and Merc were redoing sponsorship contracts. I found no evidence of a "battle" being won in any reading material I could find.:confused:
http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk.asp?archive=5/1/2007
BASS boats? 5/16/2007
BassFan previously reported the rumor that the Bassmaster Majors might be cancelled after this year. One other strong rumor among the pros is that BASS may permit anglers to fish out of their own boats during all competition days next season, perhaps because of a change in the Triton and Mercury sponsorship contracts. Triton and Mercury (both owned by Brunswick Corp.) are currently the sole boat and motor sponsors of BASS, and anglers in regular-season events fish from Triton/Mercs on final "TV days." Note that FLW Outdoors also requires its FLW Tour pros to fish from FLW-supplied Ranger boats during TV days. Also note that the chance to fish from their own boats is something many pros have desired for years.
BassFan asked a Mercury Marine official if Mercury and Triton would no longer be BASS's sole boat and motor sponsors next year. The official declined to comment.
BassFan asked BASS if anglers will fish from their own boats during all competition days next year, and whether there will be a change in the Triton and Mercury sponsorships of BASS.
BASS director of communications Jamie Wilkinson said: "We've demonstrated a commitment to all anglers, and would like to accommodate if possible. No decision has been made. We appreciate the continued support of Triton Boats and Mercury Marine, and look forward to continuing our relationship with them."