Structure-Fishing with Mark O'Neill

When fishing the Canadian side of Lake of the Woods and when one is catching many walleyes, that activity can attract the attention of larger predators, in particular muskie. On our most recent trip to LOTW, I saw a number of larger fish on my Active Target and Sonar screens throughout the week, and when I see this, I typically take a screenshot of the image (here are a few examples). Over the years, the muskie sometimes hit your walleye while you are bringing the fish to the surface, but most times that leads to the fish breaking you off or you get a chewed-up walleye after they spit it out. But occasionally, they will simply hit your jig when you are bringing it to the surface, which was the case with this one. Who would have figured, my personal best muskie would be caught while walleye fishing with an 1/8-ounce jig, 6 # line and a 6 ft 3 in MXF rod! My first 50-inch muskie, released without issue.

Lowrance has released NOS 72 (26.2-72.1.36) software updates for the following: HDS-Pro, HDS-Live, HDS-Carbon, Elite FS, Eagle Eye, Active Target (AT, AT2 and AT2XL), S3100, SonarHub and 3D Structurescan.

Software version 26.1-72.1.29 was briefly available before being removed after a bug was identified that affected a limited number of customers.

This issue has been fully resolved in the latest release. Customers currently running 26.1-72.1.29 are strongly encouraged to update to 26.2-72.1.36 to ensure optimal performance and stability.

These updates can be found at:

Software and Manuals Downloads | Lowrance USA Lowrance is a leading manufacturer of innovative marine electronics including Fishfinders, Chartplotters, Radar and Sonar. Find more fish easily.

Every year on Lake Geneva I am always amazed with the 50-degree water temperature mark, it is like a light switch, as the lake simply comes to life once the water hits 50 degrees! A week ago, the water temperature was 47 degrees and there were very few quality targets to see on the sonar. Out on water today testing AT2 compared to AT2XL, as to which is easier to see a 1/32 jig. Found part of the lake at about 52 degrees, while other areas just below 50 degrees, but the switch has been turned on!!

Just a reminder or heads up for those that are new to the Lowrance Recon trolling motor, be aware that when doing a software update on the motor, many times there will also be a software update for the remote included as part of the TM software update. So, when doing an update for the Recon, make sure the remote is turned on because if there is an update for the remote included, it will automatically load the update when the Recon is done with the update.

She is ready to go for the 2026 fishing season...

The boat is now out of storage and let the re-rigging begin. First course of action is the Pro-Guide batteries installation with (3) PGL24M100 for the Recon trolling motor and then (1) PGL31M180-DP for my "house" battery. Have to admit with the PGL31M-180-DP have multiple battery connections and a direct NMEA connection, it sure made the install much cleaner. With the NMEA connection, the battery now shows on my Lowrance Device List, and because of that the battery data is now available for overlays or to make custom dashboards.

How things have changed in the last 25 years, back then fishing on Lac Seul in Canada and this was our navigation system, an 8.5 x 11 paper map and a flasher. We still managed to catch fish, but I just don't think we ventured out as far as we would nowadays. GPS technology leading to better charts is one thing I am particularly thankful for these days.

And I am just going to put this video here, a nice informative video on the new Lowrance AT2XL transducer.

ActiveTarget® 2 XL | How to Customize Settings for Better Fish Detection Getting the most out of ActiveTarget® 2 XL starts with understanding how to move beyond default settings and dial in your view.With surface-to-surface 180° v...