Better Fishing Starts with Better Gear
Every experienced angler knows the feeling…when everything they do on the water comes together, and everywhere they cast, a fish is waiting to bite.
Capt. Justin Leake, a tarpon and redfish guide based in Panama City, FL, knows the feeling, too. The trick is repeating it, trip after trip, day after day.
“Some days, it’s just easy,” says Leake. “But when you have the right gear, it’s easy a lot more often.”
With a business that depends on making fishing both more productive and more memorable for his clients, Leake uses that lens to scrutinize every piece of equipment that goes on his boat. According to Leake, the APEX® Series excels in every measure of a fishing tool, starting with the eye test.
Eye-Popping Visuals Meet Fishing-First Performance
The high-resolution, full-HD APEX display is available in 13.3”, 15.6″ and 18.5″ screen sizes, giving anglers plenty of options.
“The clarity is amazing and no matter what size your boat is, there’s going to be a unit to fit it perfectly,” explains Leake. “It makes for a really clean, sleek application.”
In addition to the low-profile design, the APEX Series cleans up the helm in other ways. Full NMEA 2000 compatibility allows him to connect his engine controls to his APEX head units for discrete, on-screen display.
“I love to have a clean dash,” confesses Leake. “I can have all my gauges right here in front of me on my APEX without having to mount them in the dash.”
The APEX Series display also features the Cross Touch interface, making it even more versatile. The keypad on the right side of the display allows Leake to take control of his APEX in rough seas. In normal conditions, he prefers the convenience of touch screen control.
Find Fish and Points of Interest with Ease
Another pivotal test where the APEX Series excels is navigation. APEX control heads provide integrated GPS chart plotting overlaid on the built-in Humminbird Basemap. On its own, the Basemap is exemplary, providing accurate chart data from Humminbird, NOAA and other trusted cartography sources.
But APEX offers compatibility with optional CoastMaster® charts as well, giving Leake even more sharply detailed contour lines to find troughs and pockets along the coast that are likely to hold fish.
“I’ve fished these waters my whole life and with CoastMaster, I’m finding spots I didn’t even know existed,” Leake reports.
Dual Channel CHIRP Sonar Support Multiplies Your Odds of Finding Fish
Identifying areas likely to hold fish is one thing. Confirming the fish are present and active before casting a line in the water is where the fishing day is lost or won. And this is where the APEX Series really distinguishes itself among the many multi-function displays out there.
In addition to the 1kW transducer port, APEX offers a second transducer port that can handle up to the 2kW necessary for use of an extreme depth transducer. This complements the already stellar detail and precision of Humminbird’s Dual Spectrum CHIRP sonar.
“What’s great about APEX is that it combines the data from two different sonar ports to create one detailed image,” Leake explains. “This is the kind of clarity that Humminbird is known for.”
The crystal clarity of the screen combined with Humminbird’s unrivaled sonar technology allows Leake to locate wrecks and verify where the baitfish are holding. And after the cast, he’s able to see his jig movement, the fish hooking up, then fighting on its way to the surface.
Win the Battle with the One-Boat Network®
When the fight is on, the last thing any serious angler wants to worry about is boat positioning. And the APEX Series can even help with that. Part of the One-Boat Network, APEX is fully compatible with Leake’s Minn Kota® Ulterra® trolling motor.
Once Leake establishes where fish are relative to a wreck or contour, he creates a waypoint on his APEX unit, hits the Go To button on his APEX keypad and then his Ulterra takes him to the spot, and maintains his position there—automatically.
“The trolling motor holds me on the spot, hands-free, so we can just fish,” Leake explains.
State-of-art technology that makes fishing simpler: it’s no surprise that Leake and serious anglers like him trust the APEX Series. Engineered for the hardcore angler, every feature of APEX has been created with a fishing-first mindset. Find out if you’re Type APEX and watch Leake’s on-water review of the APEX Series at Humminbird.com/APEX now.
