Lowrance kicked off the first day of ICAST 2024 with big announcements in fish finders and trolling motors. The new Eagle Eye fish finder brings premium sonar and mapping features to everyone with an affordable and versatile line of displays and transducer options. Meanwhile, new Recon trolling motors offer a user-friendly take on motor control that goes way beyond button pushing.

NRS Boundary 100 packable frame-raft on display at ICAST 2024 First Look: NRS Boundary 100

The Best New Lowrance Gear for 2025

Eagle fish finders

The new Eagle line of fish finders ranges from a four-inch Eagle 4X with traditional color sonar to the nine-inch Eagle Eye 9 with live forward and down sonar as well as down-scan sonar. The live sonars show real time images of fish below and in front of the boat. The down-scan sonar creates photo-like detail of structure and fish.

Lowrance Eagle Eye fish finder on display at ICAST 2024
Feature photo: Kayak Angler Staff

I like the CHIRP sonar with a high-powered signal that produces great target separation so I can identify bait and fish marks. Combining the three sonar options on one screen gives me a more complete view of the action so I can choose the lure and tactic that best meets the conditions.

The GPS models are preloaded with detailed charts of over 17,000 lakes and waterways to combine accurate navigation with detailed sonar to pinpoint the structure and highlight the fish. Best of all, the most expensive Eagle model costs less than $1,000, which is a great value for the long list of features.

Recon trolling motors

To be honest, I struggle with controlling a trolling motor with a remote control. When I use a new model and an unfamiliar remote, it takes me a while to get the hang of pushing buttons and getting a reaction from the trolling motor. With the new Recon trolling motors, Lowrance flattens the learning curve for controlling the motor’s feature with the easiest-to-use remote that I’ve played with.

Instead of push buttons to control direction, the Recon uses a small joystick that is simple to operate and produces immediate and predictable direction and speed adjustment. Using the joy stick, I can go from anchor lock to jog the boat a few feet and then automatically switch back to anchor lock in the new location. So, I can fish all sides of a brush pile or move from one end of a wreck to the other without canceling and resetting the anchor lock.

To make control even easier, the remote has a small LCD screen that displays the speed and direction of the motor head so I can see the motor’s status at a glance. The remote also has customizable buttons so I can set up the controller to work the way I find most comfortable.

The Recon is available in a freshwater and saltwater model. The freshwater model comes with the new remote and a wireless and programmable foot pedal. The saltwater model is set-up with the remote. The freshwater model has shaft lengths from 48 to 70 inches. I begged the Lowrance product development team to add a 36-inch model for kayak anglers and they assured me they are working on the idea. I hope to see a kayak model soon.

Feature photo: Kayak Angler Staff

 

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Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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